getting off CPAP

[jjc155]

Hey guys, so over the last 5 months I have dropped 45 pounds, started working out, running and mountain biking again. I'm in the best shape of the last decade or so for me. The other day I fell asleep with out my CPAP for the first time since I got it about this time last year. I slept for 6 hours and my wife said she did not hear me snore or gasp for air like I used to all the time. I was rested and felt great when I woke up.

How many people have been able to get off of CPAP once they have started and did everything stay good? I have zero problems sleeping with my CPAP so it is not that big of a deal but there are times, like going on vacation or being able to go backpacking again (used to do several weeks each summer backpacking in the Smoky Mountains etc) where it would be nice not to have to pack up a machine.

Just curious.

J-

[Pugsy]

I know of one person who lost lot of weight (over 100 lbs) and had a sleep study to confirm that sleep apnea was no longer present.
She has to of course keep the weight off...and we all know that keeping it off is really hard.

Not many people here hanging around a cpap help forum who aren't using the machine. I know I probably wouldn't be here if for some reason my OSA went away.

If you are entertaining the notion of doing without your machine...get a sleep study to make sure you don't need it still.
The absence of snores doesn't mean a person doesn't have sleep apnea.
Even if it is just a home study.

[Goofproof]

Not near as many that profess to be cured but still have Sleep Apnea, De-Nile is Deep. I'd use my XPAP even if I was cured, I like breathing filtered air, it helps my allergies year around. Jim

The software and my XPAP also can provide the data that proves I'm not trying to die in my sleep many times a night.

[Wulfman...]

Hey guys, so over the last 5 months I have dropped 45 pounds, started working out, running and mountain biking again. I'm in the best shape of the last decade or so for me. The other day I fell asleep with out my CPAP for the first time since I got it about this time last year. I slept for 6 hours and my wife said she did not hear me snore or gasp for air like I used to all the time. I was rested and felt great when I woke up.

How many people have been able to get off of CPAP once they have started and did everything stay good? I have zero problems sleeping with my CPAP so it is not that big of a deal but there are times, like going on vacation or being able to go backpacking again (used to do several weeks each summer backpacking in the Smoky Mountains etc) where it would be nice not to have to pack up a machine.

Just curious.

J-

Some thoughts........
You don't have your equipment or settings in your profile.
Are they capable of collecting full data?
Do/have you monitored your therapy with software?
In many cases, people who have lost weight actually needed MORE pressure from their machines (their AHI got worse).

As mentioned, if you THINK you have lost your Sleep Apnea, have an in-lab sleep study done.

Don't get rid of your equipment.
Many people have gained weight from Sleep Apnea and losing the weight doesn't necessarily get rid of the Sleep Apnea.

And, if you feel better sleeping with CPAP, keep doing so.


Den

.

[jjc155]

Hey guys, so over the last 5 months I have dropped 45 pounds, started working out, running and mountain biking again. I'm in the best shape of the last decade or so for me. The other day I fell asleep with out my CPAP for the first time since I got it about this time last year. I slept for 6 hours and my wife said she did not hear me snore or gasp for air like I used to all the time. I was rested and felt great when I woke up.

How many people have been able to get off of CPAP once they have started and did everything stay good? I have zero problems sleeping with my CPAP so it is not that big of a deal but there are times, like going on vacation or being able to go backpacking again (used to do several weeks each summer backpacking in the Smoky Mountains etc) where it would be nice not to have to pack up a machine.

Just curious.

J-

Some thoughts........
You don't have your equipment or settings in your profile.
Are they capable of collecting full data?
Do/have you monitored your therapy with software?
In many cases, people who have lost weight actually needed MORE pressure from their machines (their AHI got worse).

As mentioned, if you THINK you have lost your Sleep Apnea, have an in-lab sleep study done.

Don't get rid of your equipment.
Many people have gained weight from Sleep Apnea and losing the weight doesn't necessarily get rid of the Sleep Apnea.

And, if you feel better sleeping with CPAP, keep doing so.


Den

.

Yea but just with Resmed My Air. Averaging less than 3 events per hour for the last several months and less that 6ish over the course of the last year. My sleep study last year put me at 59/hour if i recall correctly. My sleep and AHI has def gotten better since I started losing weight but caulk a lot of it up to just being in much better overall health in general.

J-

[palerider]

Yea but just with Resmed My Air. Averaging less than 3 events per hour for the last several months and less that 6ish over the course of the last year.

For comparison sake, my AHI is typically under 0.5, with the machine, of course... and yet, I know I still have very bad sleep apnea.

I don't even call 3 per hour 'good'. if mine is much over 1.5, I can feel it the next day.

[zoocrewphoto]

Yea but just with Resmed My Air. Averaging less than 3 events per hour for the last several months and less that 6ish over the course of the last year. My sleep study last year put me at 59/hour if i recall correctly. My sleep and AHI has def gotten better since I started losing weight but caulk a lot of it up to just being in much better overall health in general.

J-

You do know that the events listed with Myair (Or any software, or on the machine) are the results of a TREATED night. You will never know how many events were prevented. Without cpap, I have 79+ events per hour. With cpap, I usually have 0.5 to 1.5 events per hour. That doesn't mean that I no longer have severe sleep apnea. It just means that my machine is working very well.

[Julie]

And consider that the lost weight was quite possibly gained orig. as a result of apnea, not the other way around.

[ChicagoGranny]

Yea but just with Resmed My Air. Averaging less than 3 events per hour for the last several months and less that 6ish over the course of the last year.

What pressure settings are you using?

Turn your pressure down to straight CPAP 4.0 cm. Check your AHI with MyAir or your machine display sleep report for a few days. If you have a very low AHI, it is a good indication. But, it is not proof you don't need CPAP. At 4.0 cm, you are still getting some treatment.

You really need to fill out your equipment profile - https://www.cpaptalk.com/ucp.php?i=prof ... pment_info

Failure to understand what equipment and machine settings you are using can result in getting very bad advice.

[jjc155]

And consider that the lost weight was quite possibly gained orig. as a result of apnea, not the other way around.

Possibly some even though in hindsight I have had apnea for prob close to 15 years and was stubborn. Most of my weight gain came from in activity and depression/stress eating when I was diagnoses with RA. They kicked my ass physically and mentally for about 5 years before I got my head and body right.

J-

[kaiasgram]

J - Some docs including mine have advised their patients to sleep several nights without the CPAP before having a sleep study. It's a highly debatable recommendation and many here vehemently disagree with the recommendation. It's based on the idea that there's some 'holdover' benefit with CPAP such that a person can go a couple of nights without CPAP and still be ok. So if you're doing another diagnostic sleep study you'd want to be out of that holdover benefit zone so you can see where the person is really at with their sleep apnea. The reason I bring this up is not to start a debate about that recommendation, it's just to say that *if* there's validity to the 'lingering benefit' argument, then if you've only slept one night without your CPAP you might just be in that temporary 'holdover benefit' zone.

I didn't get the sleep study so I never tested the doc's recommendation. I can say that when the power went out in my hotel a few years ago I felt pretty ok after a night without CPAP, but I wouldn't have wanted a second night without it!

[jjc155]

J - Some docs including mine have advised their patients to sleep several nights without the CPAP before having a sleep study. It's a highly debatable recommendation and many here vehemently disagree with the recommendation. It's based on the idea that there's some 'holdover' benefit with CPAP such that a person can go a couple of nights without CPAP and still be ok. So if you're doing another diagnostic sleep study you'd want to be out of that holdover benefit zone so you can see where the person is really at with their sleep apnea. The reason I bring this up is not to start a debate about that recommendation, it's just to say that *if* there's validity to the 'lingering benefit' argument, then if you've only slept one night without your CPAP you might just be in that temporary 'holdover benefit' zone.

I didn't get the sleep study so I never tested the doc's recommendation. I can say that when the power went out in my hotel a few years ago I felt pretty ok after a night without CPAP, but I wouldn't have wanted a second night without it!

makes sense.

Thanks
J-