British Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Association

Thanks everyone :) but it's all down to my cpap giving me that extra energy every morning and making me feel alive again!

[quote="Headthrob"]Update:

I've lost 31lbs in 3 months. [/quote]

Wow that is fantastic, I wish you well for your October appointment.

31lbs WOW!!!

WELL DONE THAT MAN!!! CONGRATULATIONS!! RESPECT!

Update:

I have now reached the point where I am now in 'normal' BMI range (a couple of days early than predicted above!). I've lost 31lbs in 3 months. My next scheduled appointment at the hospital is October the 4th so I will see if there are any changes in the results, i'm not expecting any though!

I wrote a blog on weight issues a while back http://www.sleepapnoeablog.com/obesity-weight-problems/ and it seems that on a few rare occasions, and this is only when weight alone is the reason for sleep apnoea, people can be cured. (Read the comments on the blog where the lady confirmed she'd had another sleep study to prove she didn't have OSA anymore). I also know of another lady who lost 10 stone and was cured. Surprisingly, Respironics told me that they are now seeing more people nowadays getting cured after weight loss.

Unfortunately, for most of us though it's other reasons why we have sleep apnoea - I lost 2.5 stones after going on CPAP but a further sleep study showed my AHI was still at 30. I never thought for a minute I'd be cured though as I also have a large tongue base, large soft palate and receding jaw, but I did think my AHI might have improved :( A lot of people start out as slim snorers, and the undiagnosed sleep apnoea causes the weight gain.

Like Alsacienne says, most of us just have to have xPAP as our much loved friend - and life saver :)

I do wish I wasn't going to cast a dampener on us all!!

OK so if you have plenty of fat around your neck when you relax it will 'flop' and constrict your windpipe, thus giving you more likelihood of apnoeas due to a blocked trachea.

Whatever the pressure of fat on your wind pipe your xPAP machine's pressured air keeps the airway open. The amount of pressure keeping your windpipe CLOSED from your fat, will mean you [b][i][u]MAY[/u][/b][/i] need a higher level of pressure than someone with less encumbrance. Muscle tone and trachea length may also affect this so there is no obvious equation between the amount of neck fat and pressure required to keep the airway open.

But when you lose weight - and let's hope that also means losing fat! - it's not always from the area where you would wish to lose it from the most !!

I would hope that we can all persevere in that never-ending Herculean labour of trying to lose weight because it can only be beneficial for lots of 'bits' of us!!

HOWEVER .... voice of doom .... OSA CANNOT be cured, only managed successfully for life. Your xPAP is a much-needed (and for most of us well-loved friend and sleeping partner) for the foreseeable future ... and beyond!

GOOD LUCK to all you 'losers' and may you soon see the rewards in your shapes, well-being, and increased energy levels! :D

My hubby has lost a couple of stone since starting on his cpap journey, I feel that it's not having to work so hard as it was before and his average ahi is coming down slowly

As I understand things OSA can be caused by numerous physical issues, some can be improved by weightloss, some not. So, I suppose it would depend where & why your airways are getting blocked during sleep.

That said, weight-loss will probably improve things in many cases. Then again, my OSA colleague is as thin as a rake! So, the issue is more complex than simply being overweight.

Good luck anyway :D I've lost about 3/4 of a stone myself too but it's harder work the older you get LOL!

Re. BMI. I always have a problem with this.
Again it's over simplistic. All of the England rugby team are 'technically' obese.

I have a body fat monitor myself. Until I lost some of my mobility I was pretty fit. Regular training in Martial arts for 40 years, and I could happily hit & throw people around for the duration of a 6 hour seminar. My body fat was always in the healthy range, but my BMI was 30-32 i.e. obese. This was due to high muscle mass rather than fat. My dad & my son are the same- some things are just genetic!

I’ve been looking into whether weight loss can help ‘[i]cure[/i]’ or at least minimise the occurrence of apnoea. The articles out there seem to be undecided and nothing is certain. Since I started my CPAP, I have regained all my previous energy and when I came back from my holiday, I was determined to start eating healthier and to start doing daily exercise again.

I started doing this on 14/06/12 and weighed exactly 90kg (14.17 stone), I weighed myself at the weekend and I am now down to 87.8kg (13.83 stone). That’s about 5lbs in about 4 weeks and I projected this loss to predict when I would get into my ideal BMI range, that date would be 17/09/12.

I was wondering if I get into that ‘[i]ideal[/i]’ BMI range would my apnoea stop?

Has anyone else looked into this at all?