Weight Loss

Proactive wrote:When the weight goes, the CPAP goes too (preferably in the dumpster). If weight loss is not the answer then surgery is. I will not be hooked up to this degrading device for the rest of my life.

So... why did you come on this forum, if you do not want help or advice?. You have already been told the lack of success with weight loss... guess what.... the success rate with surgery is even less.
If you really want help or advice my suggestion to you is to start reading both in the search field above and the cpapwiki light bulb in the blue banner. If you don't want to educate yourself on this therapy either..... then just go away and do your own thing.
I wish you good luck in your endeavor to get restful sleep in the dumpster with your cpap machine . Because right now ,there is NO CURE --- maybe in ten years time there will be a different method or cure, but not right now.

What a fool I was for giving you the benefit of the doubt. You came here to strictly taunt people.

49er

I did my research. I also saw studies that CPAP compliance rates are low. Why would something so wonderful need support teams to encourage a person to use one. My local sleep clinic has a TV commercial. Shows the facility and has testimonies. It doesn't show one CPAP machine. Wonder why? According to my life insurance agent, sleep clinics diagnose everybody with apnea. It's how they their DME departments make the real profits for the clinics.

well I suppose you could ask the needy person their height and weight and BMI if you are so convinced that CPAP is adding to weight problems...

Proactive wrote:I did my research. I also saw studies that CPAP compliance rates are low. Why would something so wonderful need support teams to encourage a person to use one. My local sleep clinic has a TV commercial. Shows the facility and has testimonies. It doesn't show one CPAP machine. Wonder why? According to my life insurance agent, sleep clinics diagnose everybody with apnea. It's how they their DME departments make the real profits for the clinics.

So... I need to ask .. why do you have a cpap machine???? Your mind is made up... and so is your insurance agent (who knows nothing about sleep apnea), so just "fade" away and allow us to read your obituary in the newspapers. We KNOW we have sleep apnea because we monitor our own therapy and can actually see on the reports how many times we stop breathing every night... we can also ACTUALLY see by the reports how we can reduce those awakenings to ZERO or close to it by changing our therapy and pressures accordingly. Bye now........

Proactive wrote:I did my research. I also saw studies that CPAP compliance rates are low. Why would something so wonderful need support teams to encourage a person to use one. My local sleep clinic has a TV commercial. Shows the facility and has testimonies. It doesn't show one CPAP machine. Wonder why? According to my life insurance agent, sleep clinics diagnose everybody with apnea. It's how they their DME departments make the real profits for the clinics.

Could it be that someone doesn't get referred to a sleep study unless there is some degree of certainty by the doctor of the positive diagnosis, along with some suspicion by the patient since they likely will choose not to go through the test if they didn't believe there to be a problem? Based on that, I wouldn't be surprised if most who are prescribed and attend a sleep study aren't diagnosed with some sleep disorder.

Proactive wrote:I did my research. I also saw studies that CPAP compliance rates are low. Why would something so wonderful need support teams to encourage a person to use one. My local sleep clinic has a TV commercial. Shows the facility and has testimonies. It doesn't show one CPAP machine. Wonder why? According to my life insurance agent, sleep clinics diagnose everybody with apnea. It's how they their DME departments make the real profits for the clinics.

You have swallowed the propaganda .

And you enjoy blaming the victim.

Yes make sure that people who really need it don't get help. Probably over 50% of obese people NEED a cpap machine in order to lose weight. Don't allow this to happen, somebody might think you are a nice person.

One common effect of untreated OSA: stroke.
You might let your family know what kind of adult diapers you want them to use on you afterward.
Or put on your big boy panties and face the facts.

The only reason why I use a CPAP is because my wife claims I snore and sometimes gasp. I have no recollection of ever gasping in the middle of the night. Before CPAP I slept through the night with energy all day. Since CPAP I haven't had a good night's sleep. I get groggy easily and have nodded of while driving. This has been a problem AFTER using CPAP, not before. The mask either pinches or the headgear hurts the back of my head. I have tried six different masks of all types and they're all awful. A DME person told me all masks are uncomfortable. The trick is finding one that is least uncomfortable. I toss and turn all night now. Never happened before CPAP. The hose is a pain even when it is behind my head. If it wasn't for taking naps every day(without a CPAP) I would have dropped dead from exhaustion by now. Before CPAP I woke up with energy. Now I wake up tired, depressed, resentful at my wife and with chapped nostrils(even with a built in humidifier). At least twice a week with a headache too. I had a sleep study at a sleep clinic. They claimed I had OSA. They showed me computer printouts. They could have made that stuff up for all I know. At that point they had my wife afraid that I would die I'm my sleep. I didn't die before CPAP and I haven't died, had a stroke, heart attack etc, during a nap. My blood pressure is the same before CPAP. It is normal. This is why I am hostile to using this thing and I am looking at every alternative to it. If weight loss does not work then it is dental devices or surgery.

Why did you bother posting?

Just to address some things mentioned on this thread:

My first overnight sleep study determined I did not have OSA.

My second study, years later and an added 20 lbs. +/- later did determine I have OSA. Not to mention the observable signs by my husband and myself.

My doctor mentioned to me that 20 lbs. ago, I did not have OSA.

However, I also know that I am older now and things are sagging on the outside and I'm fairly certain some inside things have lost their elasticity and recoil.

I would be hopeful that weight loss would take away my OSA, but I wouldn't bank on it until it happened.

Good luck to you in you endeavor. I'm sure none of us would have OSA or wear PAP equipment if we didn't have to.

Proactive, first: Don't make the mistake of assuming that we all "love" our cpap machines or that we all believe cpap therapy is "wonderful." Some people here do, but more of us just know that we need to use the machine in order to keep breathing at night. That's it. If there was a proven better alternative this forum would be a ghost town.

Another mistake you may be making is to assume that a dental device or surgery would (1) be easier to deal with and (2) be successful. May or may not be the case for any individual. And as others have said, losing ten more pounds may or may not make a difference.

Consider sharing your sleep study report here and letting us see if we can help you make your cpap therapy a little more tolerable.

Finally, if you don't trust your sleep study report, you could get a recording pulse oximeter and wear it overnight without your cpap. That might give you a better idea about whether your sleep study results are valid. Episodes of O2 desaturations greater than 4% are generally considered significant.

We really aren't here to mock newbies, maybe you could let us help you?

Proactive wrote:Perhaps. But if it goes to a severely overweight person the the cycle still continues. You CPAP lovers need to understand that this only a band aid not a cure.

And obesity can be treated but not cured. People with a tendency to gain weight can't eradicate that tendency, only treat it with proper diet and exercise. Just like people with sleep apnea who can only treat their apnea, not cure it.

I'll take the treatment to live a happier and better quality life.

ChicagoGranny wrote:

Proactive wrote:Just dropped 10 lbs. With another 10 lbs no more OSA and no more CPAP monstrosity. I will sleep like a free man again. No more being chained to an uncomfortable mask (there is no such thing as a comfortable mask). No more having to lug the ball and chain around in airports.

Bait

ChicagoGranny wrote:

ChicagoGranny wrote:

Proactive wrote:Just dropped 10 lbs. With another 10 lbs no more OSA and no more CPAP monstrosity. I will sleep like a free man again. No more being chained to an uncomfortable mask (there is no such thing as a comfortable mask). No more having to lug the ball and chain around in airports.

Bait

I know I am going to sound like a big time waffler which actually I do plead guilty to on this thread. Initially, I agreed with you but after reading Proactive's post about his frustration with pap therapy and struggling with various masks, I think it is more a case of someone being very frustrated with the way things are going and perhaps not expressing it the best way.

49er