Does anyone have the problem of "grazing" during the day to force oneself to stay awake?  Also, after being on the CPAP a while, is it easier to lose weight?  I have had a large gain over 2 years (since I really started having symptoms but was only just diagnosed), after maintaining healthy weight for 10 years.  My eating did not change when the weight started coming back so it made me think something else was the culprit.  Anybody dealing or dealt with this?

Thank you in advance.  I've only been on this forum for 2 days and already it has helped so much.

hi allmy... I've been here a bit over a month and it IS great!

Absolutely, I did (and still do some) eat to stay awake.  I just never put 2 and 2 together until I saw it mentioned here.  My worst times are after lunch at work (say from 2 - 4) and after dinner, say from 7 until whenever I would drag my sorry butt to bed.  

I can't believe I didn't make the connection before, because it was a real light bulb moment.  But, I HAVE noticed since being on CPAP about 6 weeks that my after-dinner snacking has lessened.  It's not gone, it's still an in grained behavior... but I do notice now when I'm full, and notice that I'm eating just out of habit.  So I quit eating.  And then go to bed when I am ready, not when the M & M's run out.    

Same thing with work, although I will have to retrain myself when the stupid bowl of Halloween candy is gone!  (insert mumble about thin people at work).

I have found that if I make myself drink a big glass of water when I start thinking about eating, it helps.  In more ways than one.


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My understanding is, it's a vicious cycle (or circle?).  Sleep apnea can cause weight gain, and weight gain can worsen sleep apnea.  Isn't life grand.  Supposedly, xPAP therapy can and does help with weight loss.  But I've been a hosehead since Aug 3, and so far, I haven't lost any weight.  I need to lose about 2 pounds to be my ideal weight.  Then again, I need to stop being a liar, too.  

Here's a losing weight conundrum ~

I've recently been diagnosed as being diabetic. First thing you are told is lose weight and start eating properly.. many times a day and really watch (ditch) the carbs.

Ok. I'm willing to do that.

For other health reasons during this time, I stopped smoking.

2 months later, I'm 25 pounds heavier !

WT He_l     With the daily calorie reduction per the hospital dietician, I should have lost a good bit, not gained.

Oh... then I find out that some people GAIN weight on insulin... Ta da... this would be me  

Oh.. you stopped smoking?... there's 10 pounds for ya. You're not using up the calories to smoke any more blah blah blah...

metabolisim is changing due to all the healthy things you are now doing... blah blah blah.

Oh... pulminairy Dr. and Cardiologist said ooops... you have COPD...no exercising AT ALL until we do all the heart studies ( I have 1 more to go.. mid Nov I think)

Then I discover I sleep apnea... ah ha !   answer to some of the weight issues !    

Soooo... here's the deal.  Eat 6 times a day but fewer calories to maintain glucose levels and lose weight, but take insulin to maintain glucose levels and gain weight   No smoking and no exercise but you may sleep with and wrestle with a hose, but dear, you really should take some weight off.  


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I've lost about 30 pounds this year, The cpap has really helped with that.  I was just thinking to myself that I don't snack like I used to . I don't have the carb cravings that I used to. Of course, my apnea hasnt gotten any better, probably worse. I went to talk to my counselor this afternoon, and he was trying to give me the line that if I lost all of the weight I needed to lose I could lose the cpap also. I spend a third of my visits educating the guy.  I've been seeing him for 9 years, complaining about excessive daytime sleepiness, ungodly loud snoring, and all that good stuff, and he never suggested I get another sleep study done.  I like the guy, but he's really ignorant on this sleep apnea stuff. I really think he has it himself, and is in denial. He always looks like he could use a good long nap . I chewed him out about 6 months ago, and he appologized , but its going to take a few more visits to get into his thick skull that apnea isn't just going to go  away if everybody gets skinny.  I intend to keep losing , I'll just have to get a smaller mask when I do.  Virginia

I've never considered the idea of eating to stay awake until just this minute!  I'll be damned.  I could stand to lose about 50 lbs.  Maybe it will get a little easier with CPAP.  Couldn't get any harder.

Man!  This apnea thing has caused so many people a HOST of problems.  What a nightmare!  And as bad as it is for me, it doesn't hold a candle to Virginia & Pujommies!  AND, unfortunately the nightmare seems to not always end with the administration of the CPAP.

I've had quite a few struggles due to sleep apnea, but I consider myself blessed that it is finally under control, and every problem I have encountered is pretty much fixable.  I do have epilepsy and bi-polar, but meds keep that under contol , at least now that I am using the cpap.  But I don't have high blood pressure, I don't have diabetes,  I've never had a stroke or a heart attack.  Sleep apnea isn't really curable, but it can and should be controlled.  I took a long time to get treated because no one told me the consequences of sleep apnea, I thought it was just a daytime sleepiness and snoring thing,  and I lived with that for a good while because I blamed the sleepiness on the meds I was taking for the mental health issues, which were aggravated by the sleep apnea, and the meds I took for that caused me to gain weight, which aggravated the sleep apnea, which made it hard to control the mental health issues, a circle that went on and on.  I talk about this to all of my doctors now, and everyone I know has gotten an earfull too. I'm seeing my sleep doctor  next week, and he's going to hear about the lack of followup from the partner in his office that put me in this situation in the first place.  I'm also thinking of writing to my Insurance plan and the clinic I go to and explain to them how much money they would have saved if they would have done the right thing in the first place.  Stuff happens to everyone, its the people who can't learn from life who are doomed to suffer through it.  Virginia