Lost 50 lbs and now CPAP killing me

I lost 50lbs down to my goal weight and I noticed I am getting dizzy/lightheaded spells, headaches, loss of balance. I have gone to every doctor there is, cardiologist, ENT, emergency room..etc etc all turned out fine. I stopped using my CPAP and the symptoms have almost disappeared. I did another sleep study and I am awaiting results. Has anybody else had a similar experience? I am hoping my newest study will reveal that my sleep apnea is cured or at least I can get a oral appliance. I have been faithfully using my CPAP machine for about 10 years and it is a pain in the ass. Thanks

mph143 wrote: ↑

Sat May 25, 2019 11:04 am

I lost 50lbs down to my goal weight and I noticed I am getting dizzy/lightheaded spells, headaches, loss of balance. I have gone to every doctor there is, cardiologist, ENT, emergency room..etc etc all turned out fine. I stopped using my CPAP and the symptoms have almost disappeared. I did another sleep study and I am awaiting results. Has anybody else had a similar experience? I am hoping my newest study will reveal that my sleep apnea is cured or at least I can get a oral appliance. I have been faithfully using my CPAP machine for about 10 years and it is a pain in the ass. Thanks

welcome to the zoo! sorry that you've had such a horrible experience. and for ten years!! i get cranky if i'm getting terrible therapy for two nights. can't imagine what you've been through.

i don't think that a new sleep study will show you no longer have sleep apnea. it CAN happen; in fact we had someone come in earlier in the month who DID get off the machine. like you, he had a sleep study which confirmed it. unfortunately that's exceedingly rare.

what i suspect is that you aren't getting optimum therapy. have you been on the same machine for ten years? it may be time to replace it, it may not be giving you the therapy you need.

could you give us some more data? what is your treated ahi? do you remember what your untreated ahi was?

what brand of machine? is it apap or cpap or ??.

that's enough questions for now. but the more you can tell us, the better the advice you get will be.

good luck!

I presume your BP has been checked out? Cpap can lower it and cause similar symptoms to yours, especially if it's alerady low to begin with.

I suppose posting full data from software would be out of the question. The good side that 50 lbs, are no longer killing you. I'd kill for that result myself. Jim

By using my XPAP and software I can get a Sleep Study every night for free, but by being proactive it's not needed.

I’m not sure how to reply on this forum but here it goes...I was on CPAP for 10 years not suffering from these symptoms for 10 years. The symptoms started soon after I lost 50 lbs. My BP has been checked and it is fine. I was not looking for any diagnosis as I have been to every specialist and everything turned out fine. I am waiting for my final results from my sleep study as it is the last thing that could be causing the problems. I stopped using my CPAP and the symptoms have just about disappeared. I was just wondering if anybody had a similar experience with losing a good amount of weight and having to adjust/lower your machine setting because the pressure was screwing up your inner ears, throwing off your balance/ lightheaded etc.Thank you.

Short of liposuction or an amputation, losing 50 pounds isn't a sudden event: "soon after I lost 50 pounds" what happened in that timeframe besides losing weight?

I have Meniere's, which comes in many forms in how it affects people for the small details: it can suddenly make itself very apparent when you're undergoing a bit of stress, including a change of diet or body conditions as one of the things. Many things can trigger symptoms. One of the common ways to treat symptoms includes antihistamines to help clear things out a bit: I also have a lot of allergies besides to deal with, and when everything's clogged, it can affect my inner ear functionality quite a bit, as it is a victim of the environment to a more extreme degree.

Note that what may be perfectly normal for blood work, etc. for most will cause problems: it's pretty typical to be put on a low sodium diet (under 1500 mg as a good start) because salt is one of the triggers, as the endolymph fluid's specific gravity is affected, and this sets off attacks. There are other common triggers (and YMMV) including caffeine, chocolate, nicotine. It's a good thing that the only one I've cared about of the common triggers is chocolate, other than liking salt on things.

If I'm laying on my back, I tend to have the one ear have a popping sound as I breathe in and out while using xPAP, quite often. That makes it challenging to try to sleep on my back, even more than the years of not being accustomed to doing it before xPAP by itself. I'm also annoyingly sensitive to changes of altitude with needing to equalize pressure in my ears, and I can easily drive in neighborhoods nearby to cause that, no need to go into the nearby mountains.

Meniere's is a diagnosis by exclusion type of thing, and everything else can be perfectly normal looking, but you're still affected. I'm not at all trying to tell you that this is what you're dealing with, but this is my reality and what I've had to deal with.

mph143 wrote: ↑

Sat May 25, 2019 8:43 pm

I’m not sure how to reply on this forum but here it goes...

as you read this, see the quotation marks in the upper right hand? click that and what i'm typing here will appear in a new text box. then you type your answer below that.

good luck!

your BP may be fine but what is your PULSE Rate?? Low Pulse rate can exhibit the symptoms that you have described & can be caused by sleep apnea

For some people, bradycardia is only present during sleep apnea episodes. In fact, apnea is the most common cause of bradycardia. A study at the Herakloin University hospital in Greece found that 50 percent of patients with moderate or severe sleep apnea also had episodes of bradycardia.

Untreated sleep apnea can cause Bradycardia, which is a very low pulse rate. Normal = 60... Bradycardia is anything under 50... There are people who exercise a lot who show lower pulses rates, but nothing too extreme

I never had any of the symptoms until I lost 70 lbs..

Have your GP run an EKG and check your Pulse rate AND check to see if your sleep apnea has resulted in any heart damage

zonker wrote: ↑

Sat May 25, 2019 10:54 pm

mph143 wrote: ↑

Sat May 25, 2019 8:43 pm

I’m not sure how to reply on this forum but here it goes...

as you read this, see the quotation marks in the upper right hand? click that and what i'm typing here will appear in a new text box. then you type your answer below that.

good luck!

Thanks

Denial Dave wrote: ↑

Sun May 26, 2019 6:53 am

your BP may be fine but what is your PULSE Rate?? Low Pulse rate can exhibit the symptoms that you have described & can be caused by sleep apnea

For some people, bradycardia is only present during sleep apnea episodes. In fact, apnea is the most common cause of bradycardia. A study at the Herakloin University hospital in Greece found that 50 percent of patients with moderate or severe sleep apnea also had episodes of bradycardia.


Untreated sleep apnea can cause Bradycardia, which is a very low pulse rate. Normal = 60... Bradycardia is anything under 50... There are people who exercise a lot who show lower pulses rates, but nothing too extreme

I never had any of the symptoms until I lost 70 lbs..

Have your GP run an EKG and check your Pulse rate AND check to see if your sleep apnea has resulted in any heart damage

Again, I am not looking for any diagnosis, I have already gone through every test, including a cardiac stress test, echocardiogram, everything is fine. I stopped using my CPAP for about a week and my symptoms almost fully disappeared and they get less and less the more I sleep without it. Anyway, thanks.

While you were losing weight, did you see any changes in your CPAP data?

Less events?
Less pressure being used?

May I ask what was your starting weight, and how long did it take you to lose the 50 lbs?

dogsarelife wrote: ↑

Mon May 27, 2019 11:34 am

May I ask what was your starting weight, and how long did it take you to lose the 50 lbs?

I was 280 now I’m 225-230. Took me just over 6 months. I am at a good weight for my height and body type.

mph143 wrote: ↑

Sun May 26, 2019 7:15 am

Again, I am not looking for any diagnosis, I have already gone through every test, including a cardiac stress test, echocardiogram, everything is fine. I stopped using my CPAP for about a week and my symptoms almost fully disappeared and they get less and less the more I sleep without it. Anyway, thanks.

Not sure what you are hoping for. You mention problems - getting dizzy/lightheaded spells, headaches, loss of balance. Kind of hard to solve the problems if you don't know the cause of the problem. CPAP is not the cause. At least not directly.

So, we can help you troubleshoot the problem. But without knowing WHY this is happening, we can't help you stop it.

zoocrewphoto wrote: ↑

Tue May 28, 2019 2:18 am

mph143 wrote: ↑

Sun May 26, 2019 7:15 am

Again, I am not looking for any diagnosis, I have already gone through every test, including a cardiac stress test, echocardiogram, everything is fine. I stopped using my CPAP for about a week and my symptoms almost fully disappeared and they get less and less the more I sleep without it. Anyway, thanks.

Not sure what you are hoping for. You mention problems - getting dizzy/lightheaded spells, headaches, loss of balance. Kind of hard to solve the problems if you don't know the cause of the problem. CPAP is not the cause. At least not directly.

So, we can help you troubleshoot the problem. But without knowing WHY this is happening, we can't help you stop it.

from my point of view, the original poster is looking to see if anyone has had a similar situation to theirs. s/he's emphatically said s/he's not looking for a diagnosis.

so unless someone comes in here with the exact same problem, s/he's not going to get much.

besides, they are waiting on a sleep study.

<shrug>