Weight gain + CPAP

Making progress with my CPAP therapy. Have been on it for two weeks now and I am definitely sleeping better and have more energy throughout the day. Still feel a little tired, but think it is just a matter of catching up on a lot of lost sleep. My goal is to hopefully lose enough weight that maybe, some day, I can get off the machine. With that in mind, I had been losing weight by dieting prior to going on CPAP. Had lost 16 lbs., but when I weighed in this past weekend, I was up 4 lbs.!! I waited a couple of hours and did not eat and then weighed again and was only up 2 lbs!! This is certainly better but I DO NO WANT TO GAIN WEIGHT. As a matter of fact, I was told that with CPAP therapy, I would probably find it easier to lose weight. I am on Weight Watchers and am tracking and measuring faithfully. Can someone please reassure me that CPAP does not cause weight gain? This is not a vanity issue -- but most certainly is a health issue.

Hi - I know how much of a struggle it is to keep at a healthy weight.

CPAP does not "cause" weight gain. It's a fluke - just like any other week where you gained at WW.

It might make things less stressful if you come to the realization that CPAP in 99% of the cases is a lifelong therapy. Losing weight may - but probably won't - have an affect on your OSA. Of course, being a healthy weight is a super goal for many other health benefits. Just don' t beat up on yourself. You didn't cause your OSA. Hang in there. It can take months to feel better.

CPAP doesn't cause weight gain directly and often many people lose weight after successful therapy is obtained.
Mainly because they feel better and do more...the old calories burned thing.

A few people do seem to report a weight gain and no real increase in calories and no change in calories burned.
I wonder sometimes if it is just maybe something that has to do with the efficiency of the digestive process.
Better sleep equals better digestion and unfortunately better absorption of the calories in vs calories burned thing.
I haven't seen any specific studies or anything like that. Just an idea that I came up with to help me figure out why I didn't see any weight difference myself and I would like to lose a few pounds myself.
I know that since I am not waking up 30 times a night and tossing and turning and all that...that I am burning less calories in bed at night. Bummer for sure.

inyourdreams wrote: My goal is to hopefully lose enough weight that maybe, some day, I can get off the machine.

I also was stimulated to start a weight loss program by the shock of my apnea diagnosis and I too had this goal originally. Now, 5 months later, I have lost 25 pounds, but I no longer think that I'll ever get off the pap. My autoset sends me up to a pressure of 10 regularly to fend off the apenas. So I'm taking a wait and see approach and am glad that I can monitor the pressures and see concrete evidence that I do need them. Maybe more weight loss will make a difference, but maybe not. I don't think I am losing any weight in my throat! But in the beginning I had a horrible time with the therapy and did need to believe (or at least hope) that the pap would be temporary, or I might have gone out of my mind. Now my advice is to just take it a day at a time. As you recognize, the weight loss will have great benefits even if it doesn't change the need for pap.

As for your weight gain, if you are like others, there is always a lot of day to day variation due to water retention (one pint = one pound), balance between muscle and fat (muscle weighs more, so you might gain if you are doing strength training and add some muscle) and other factors. My weight fluctuates hugely from morning to night, so I always get weighed in only once a week at the same time of day, wearing the same clothing. I wouldn't worry about a gain now and then unless it becomes a long-term trend.

You know, since I started this therapy, the covers actually stay on the bed during the night whereas before they were always on the floor. I have undergone so many lifestyle changes in such a short period. It started with being diagnosed with arrythmias. That diagnosis led to taking me off caffeine, no exercise until further notice, and having me undergo a sleep study. I am overweight and have been for some time and yes, I have kicked myself a million times for being so overweight and believing that I caused my OSA so thank you for reassuring me that I didn't necessarily cause it. However, losing weight is something that I need and want to do because just with 16 lbs. gone, I feel much better -- throw in the fact that I am now sleeping and I truly feel like a different person. I understand that my weight will fluctuate, but I have read a lot about bloating with CPAP and I wondered if this could be a contributing factor in the gain. I do tape my mouth shut at night plus use a chin strap and I believe it is working, however, sometimes my mouth feels dry even though my mouth has been taped shut. Can't figure it out. I assume that the reason they say CPAP will help you lose weight is that you have more energy to exercise. Makes sense to me and I will try to be patient as my body accepts and adapts to these changes. On a positive note, the arrythmias have stopped which proves that the sleep apnea was the culprit and, as a result, I have been given the green light to return to exercising. Things are looking up.

inyourdreams wrote:You know, since I started this therapy, the covers actually stay on the bed during the night whereas before they were always on the floor. I have undergone so many lifestyle changes in such a short period. It started with being diagnosed with arrythmias. That diagnosis led to taking me off caffeine, no exercise until further notice, and having me undergo a sleep study. I am overweight and have been for some time and yes, I have kicked myself a million times for being so overweight and believing that I caused my OSA so thank you for reassuring me that I didn't necessarily cause it. However, losing weight is something that I need and want to do because just with 16 lbs. gone, I feel much better -- throw in the fact that I am now sleeping and I truly feel like a different person. I understand that my weight will fluctuate, but I have read a lot about bloating with CPAP and I wondered if this could be a contributing factor in the gain. I do tape my mouth shut at night plus use a chin strap and I believe it is working, however, sometimes my mouth feels dry even though my mouth has been taped shut. Can't figure it out. I assume that the reason they say CPAP will help you lose weight is that you have more energy to exercise. Makes sense to me and I will try to be patient as my body accepts and adapts to these changes. On a positive note, the arrythmias have stopped which proves that the sleep apnea was the culprit and, as a result, I have been given the green light to return to exercising. Things are looking up.

Morning and welcome.
You are right, arythmia and osa usually go hand in hand, if you have one you will usually end up with the other....and again you are right, using the machine helps the arythmias. Loosing weight will be an OVERALL health benefit to you in the long run....keep it up, excercise and healthy eating are a good thing. Once you get into this therapy more you will be surprised at the amount of energy that you do have....no more falling asleep in front of the boob tube...or heaven forbid, while driving...you have the RIGHT attitude to succeed at not only your osa and arythmia...but weight loss too.
Congrats!!!!!!

One thing that's consistent for me since starting Cpap 8 yrs ago, and that is that gaining 5 lbs can affect how I sleep (or AHI, etc.) even if losing more isn't so immediately obvious... it's definitely a strange situation!

I have lost about 7 or 8 pounds since starting CPAP 7 weeks ago. I wasn't trying (so I know you all will hate me), but I think what is happening is that my craving for sweets is pretty much GONE, my appetite is naturally less, and my will power has gone up with my energy levels. I still eat chocolate, but I don't do it every day. I can look at chocolate in the store and not want to bring it home with me (awww...it followed me home, honest!) I can limit myself to one serving of even food I love and am enjoying eating.

I lost weight about 24 years ago on Weight Watchers. You will have weeks it appears that you have gained weight even though you have stuck to the program. As long as you look at a graph of your weight loss and see that the general trend is in the right direction, the occasional weight gain shouldn't freak you out too much.

The clothes you weigh in with can make a big difference. A pair of jeans can put a few pounds on you! I used to remove everything that could be removed (shoes, belt, glasses, watch) and make sure I didn't wear jeans or a heavy sweater on weigh-in days.

A lot of people do seem to gain weight after starting CPAP even though others lose. Perhaps sleeping soundly burns fewer calories. Or perhaps we just get careless about dieting after being assured by the sleep docs pushing CPAP use that it will be a magic weight loss cure which I am now convinced they say just to encourage compliance.

'Still, one days weigh in is not a trend. And if you do notice a trend you can adjust your diet before it becomes a problem. It is true that you should have more energy, more hours in the day to fit in things like exercise, and less need to eat to stay awake.

inyourdreams wrote:Had lost 16 lbs., but when I weighed in this past weekend, I was up 4 lbs.!! I waited a couple of hours and did not eat and then weighed again and was only up 2 lbs!!

Hi,

My body does stuff like this all the time. I have been on a clinical weight loss program, so I have been tracking weight every day for the past 2 years. I notice that I can stick to my diet plus exercise like crazy, and over the course of 8 or 10 days hardly lose even an ounce. Then one day, I'll wake up and be down 3 pounds. Or I'll be chugging along, and suddenly pop up a few pounds one day.

If you think about this, your body is mostly water. Water is pretty heavy. A glass of water can weigh a pound. So, if you eat some salty food, like a bag of chips, your body can easily retain a few pounds of water. The trick to this is to try to keep a consistent diet (ie, don't experiment too much with food if you are serious about weight loss), and then weigh your self only once per day at the same time each day. I get my best numbers if I weight myself just after getting up in the morning. You simply cannot compare a morning weight with a weight taken after drinking water or eating a meal.

I can verify that it gets easier to lose weight after starting CPAP. I am down 147 lbs from peak. Unfortunately, it didn't cure my sleep disorder, but it has improved a lot of other things (blood pressure, cholesterol, A1C, breathing).

-john-

well, i definately don't think CPAPs CAUSE weight gain, but i know for sure that sleep apnea, which causes me to be too tired to bother to exercise, sure does!

MidnightOwl wrote:A lot of people do seem to gain weight after starting CPAP even though others lose. Perhaps sleeping soundly burns fewer calories. Or perhaps we just get careless about dieting after being assured by the sleep docs pushing CPAP use that it will be a magic weight loss cure which I am now convinced they say just to encourage compliance.

I agree. My cardiologist told me this several times. THEN he told me he went on a massively strenuously biking program so he could stay off cpap. WTF. He was the one that ordered the sleep study. So, I'm grateful. Glad he's not my sleep doc.

I wondered if all that air blowing in your body might cause bloating - hence, I might show a weight gain. I am tracking faithfully and following the plan plus, now that I have been given the green light to exercise again, I am on the treadmill daily. Guess I will just have to be patient and see what happens in the next few weeks. Can't quite understand why I have a dry mouth sometimes since I am taping and using a chin strap. The tape is still on in the morning so I don't think my mouth could be opening. Any thoughts?

inyourdreams wrote:I wondered if all that air blowing in your body might cause bloating - hence, I might show a weight gain.

No. That won't cause it. Think about it - all that air is pushing down on the scale whether it's inside your body or outside. Perhaps the confusion comes from the way bloating is often used to describe water retention. That would make a difference.

inyourdreams wrote:Can't quite understand why I have a dry mouth sometimes since I am taping and using a chin strap. The tape is still on in the morning so I don't think my mouth could be opening. Any thoughts?

Can't answer the why but I've experienced the same thing when using a full face mask.

Weight changes of up to 5 lbs are easily explained by flux changes in your body's hydration levels.

Besides one day's data does not a trend make.

Check back with alarm if you've gained 25 lbs after the first month of CPAP.

Oh ... and keep a food diary to keep track of diet changes during the next month so you can figure out that it was just the extra doughnuts that probably add the extra weight.