ObesityHelp

Most sleep apnea is caused by obesity but not all. Mine was diagnosed about 2 years before I decided to have surgery. I had life threatening sleep apnea that required me to get a pacemaker. I carried so much of my weight in my neck. Once I started losing weight my c-pap had to be constantly adjusted because it was blowing too hard until I just didn't need it anymore. Took about 80 pounds before I was able to get rid of it. Had the pacemaker removed about 2 years later.

Your pulmonologist might be able to tell you if your sleep apnea will go away (mine was sure my sleep apnea was completely weight related, and it was).

Good luck.

Alldredget, come on over to the new website - lots more DS information and support there, as almost all the vets have moved forward.

But while I'm here, I'll just tell you that my brother was on CPAP at a setting of 15 (severe!) before his DS. I didn't think he'd get all the way off CPAP, given that his was so severe, and it took awhile, but he no longer needs it. And even while he was still improving and his settings were being gradually lowered, he commented that the lower pressures made sleeping more comfortable. So don't give up hope.

Larra

Alldredget,

I'm not a Doctor, nor do I pretend to have a technical vocabulary but this is how it was explained to me by my very educated (Stanford) Sleep Study Doc. (lol) There are 2 types of occurences. One is Obstructive, where the physical shutting off of the airway happens and One is "Central" or originating from the brain. This is how some people who don't seem overweight have episodes. Simply put, weight isn't the only reason people have Sleep Apnea. 

I think your Sleep Study Technician (who can read your report) should be able to tell you if yours is truly only obstructive or if it's got some Central Apneas thrown in. My uneducated guess would be that you COULD have both since it's in your family history. But then that's just my opinion.

Again, this is a VERY simplistic view. I'm hoping for resolution of my OSA also.
Best of luck,
S~

Hey there

Just thought I'd chime in too. My doctor explained that I have a very good chance of getting off of my cpap when I lose weight. He explained to me that the reason he beleived this is first of all women stand a much higher chance of no longer needing their cpap than men do because of the way they tend to carry their weight and women are usually smaller than men.

He said the other factor has to do with how your air ways are shaped and the size of your tongue. If your air ways are very small (and your tongue is large in proportion) it's likely that your apnea is weight related. If your airways are larger (like men tend to be) odds are lower that it's related to weight. Instead it's much more likely that your apnea is caused by other reasons.

This is just what was shared with me, so not sure if this helps or not. But would perhaps support why your other male family members need their cpaps even though they don't have as much of an issue with weight.

Hopefully you'll be one of the lucky ones!

B~

I lost  all my weight 226lbs and my cpap pressure increased....go figure.

I have had my cpap for about 6 years now and just last spring my sleep study showed I needed to raise the setting from 12 to 15. Now, 2 mos out from DS I'm down 50 pounds and already at 40-45 I was waking up with my mouth and throat totally dry and have huge scabs in my nose. I called the pulmonologist and they said this was definately the issue. I am now already down to 10 and at this pace, I hope to be off my machine in another 3mos or so.