I know everyone's experience is different, but I am pretty convinced that obesity is a symptom of OSA and not the cause. That is certainly true in my case. For years I was very physically fit and also suffered from fatigue. In college people used to think I was stoned all the time. In my early 30's I packed on quite a few pounds, mainly due to antidepressants and lack of motivation and energy. I had a sleep study done a few years back which revealed I had moderate OSA. I was fitted with a CPAP machine and tried, tried, and tried some more to get used to it to no avail. Changing masks didn't help either.

Fast forward to the present. I have lost about 50 pounds, and not to brag, but I am pretty ripped. I run 4 to 5 miles 3 or so days a week, lift weights, use the elliptical machine, treadmill, etc etc. Unfortunately, it hasn't done squat for my sleep apnea. I still feel like complete !@#! and am always exhausted. Last night I kept waking myself up and each time I would look at the clock.......4:15AM, 4:25AM, 4:32AM, etc. I wake up feeling totally unrefreshed and if possible would stay in bed all day. I feel like such !@#! and think about suicide everyday. OSA, along with major depression, the latter which happens to run in my family, has affected every part of my life. I am going to give CPAP another try with another mask. The CPAP place is supposed to call me back today or tomorrow to set up an appointment for mask fitting.

Anyways, my point is that doctors love to tell people to lose weight and tell you how that will solve all of your problems. Well, I have lost the weight, yet still am suffering.

P.S., Exercising takes pretty much every ounce of will power and energy I can muster.

Have you had another sleep study done since losing the 50 lbs.?  BTW, congrats on having such a great loss!  Fifty pounds is a lot of weight to lose, my guess is that you need a pressure change to help get you feeling better.


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OSA Sleep Test 8/29/07, AHI 64/Sat. 74%
Titrated 10/1/07 and 9/30/08
BiPAP Auto M Series w/Humidifier 15/10cm
OptiLife Mask; Ruby chinstrap


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Congrats on the weight loss!  Yes, you will most likely need a pressure change due to the weight loss and the years of untreated SA since the study.  SA usually starts before the weight gain...it worsens with weight gain.  A Board Certified Sleep Dr will most likely not tell you that weight loss will cure it.  You will also find that depression subsides over time in using the xPAP.  Many are mis diagnosed as depressed...even though you say it runs in the family...could be undiagnosed sleep disorders or sleep disordered breathing is what really runs in the family.

As you try the xPAP again know that what ever problems you may have with it can be over come...they are only situations and all have solutions.  Also know that it is not all about the fatigue..that is a symptom..it is your heart, stroke, diabetes, blood pressure, braind cell damage that is what using the XPAP wil help prevent.

Keep us posted!


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BiPAP Auto M 13/8 Mirage Nasal Swift. 20 years+ undx'd. RLS/PLMD, Hypersomnia & more.

Hi Menso!

My case was quite similar to yours.

I was also in pretty decent phys shape, or so I thought.

I also had concentration and alertness "issues" that I attributed to mid-50 age and vague chronic sinus congestion.

Then, after coming down with some sort of virus, I felt just horrible (looking back, it was depression).  The doc was at a loss, as my bloods were okay, except that my RBCs were oddly way high.  I remember having a difficult time because I was feeling quite "blue".  No life-ending thoughts,  however.

Fortunately, I discovered with some online searching that high RBCs is an indicator of sleep apnea.  Then, looking at the usual collection of symptoms, I had several.  The doc went specialist referral and the pulmonologist okayed the sleep study, even though I'm not obese.  (This is an issue for some docs, though.)

Getting used to the mask et al took desire and perseverance, but looking at the yucko symptoms of OSA as well as the hideous potential outcomes of untreated OSA took away any option of non-compliance.

Once I got used to the apparatus, I began to actually like it.  Now, I genuinely look forward to the contraption.  

There are always issues.  For me, getting the right pressure took some pursuing.  Eventually, I switched to a machine with data reporting capability, and I choose to optimize my therapeutic range (note: I don't recommend this, and it's not approved by the mods hereabouts).  I still know that I'll have a few visits from Mr Itchynose each night.  I can deal.

Some things I noticed with therapy, some right away, some after months to years.  My bp dropped, my social skills improved, my general health improved (fewer colds and infections) and my mood, which I didn't know was bad, improved to the point that I've never been so satisfied with life.  Who knew this could come from a goofy little machine that felt like I was hooked up to an tire inflation station when I first tried it?

Oh, major depression has happened to some members of my family as well.  Looking  back, I'm pretty sure that they were undiagnosed apneics.  Also, for me, there is no amount of weight that I could lose that will cure my OSA, although I do need a little less pressure at my leaner weights.  

Good luck with all this.  Once you get used to the machine, you won't want to be without it.

Regards all - - Woof

That's so interesting!

I have been using CPAP therapy for 82 days and feel really good!  I felt great right away, even the morning after my sleep clinic night.  I'm less moody and combative, clearly better at thinking, no drowsing off, better people skills.

It's not all a piece of cake, I'm having my ups and downs.  Have lost 30 LBs and counting, another 55 to go, so I feel terrific about that. I've had pretty bad depression for many years, and treat that with meds, which work pretty well. I never connected depression issues with the sleep apnea, though it may have had something to do with it.

Have had and am still having some full face mask issues, still searching for the "right" one. I want to try the Oracle, a mouth mask used with a nose clip, since I barely breathe through my nose anyhow.

If I wake in the night and don't concentrate on exhaling forcefully I start swallowing air (or maybe I wake because I'm swallowing air) - my pressure is at 13. I have EPR on my machine but don't use it... maybe I should if it would help with the air swallowing...


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We can't change the wind, but we can adjust the sails!

I say arrange for another sleep study. I have lost 100+ lbs...started at a pressure of 15;now am at 9


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EVERY SILVER LINING HAS A TOUCH OF GREY
-Grateful Dead


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menso35 wrote:

I feel like such !@#! and think about suicide everyday.

IMHO, this needs some professional attention ASAP, if you really mean it.


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RemStar Pro M-Series with C-Flex jamming 10 cm H20 down my piehole And finally getting a good night's sleep...every night!!!! I'm a 45 year old FMAWG...and proud of it.

Same here. After years of not being treated and a C-section that took me 6 month to heal from the SA just got the best of my body and the weight came on and not matter what I do I go 10 pounds up and down. With treatment I am feeling my old self coming back. But I still am waiting for that energy level to go up to get back to my pre prego weight. But I was told even with loosing my weight I will still be on the xpap.


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Severe Central & Obstructive Sleep disordered breathing
AHI:116.4
Lowest Sat 85% High96.1%
Total Central,Obst,& mixed 190/hr
Out of that total 66 were Hypopneas
IpapMin7 max16 Epap6
Bipap Auto SV
Resmed Mirage Swift II

I've worked my a** off to lose 54 lbs thus far and while the apnea I have has improved overall, I *still* wake up choking, gasping and coughing.  When I was at my heaviest it felt like I was going to die waking up from the apneic episodes. I tell myself that maybe it will get better with more weight loss, and I'm killing myself exercising to burn off the food I eat each day to insure that I drop more weight.  There are days it feels like my legs are going to fall off I exercise so much.  Went the cpap route in the past to no avail.  There were obvious comfort issues (it's hard to fall asleep feeling like you have a lunchbox on your face) and it induced central apneas. So the cpap is now a spider hotel in the closet.  This rotten disease is insidious.  Just when you think you are feeling better, found something that helps, and have gone forward a step, it comes back to drag you back 10 steps.  I just wish I could go on with my life and put this unforgiving disease behind me.  I'm getting tired of being afraid to sleep.