"please keep me updated about oximeters "
Sleep Apnea Forum Bringing Power to the Patient
New? Free Sign Up
Then check our Welcome Center to a Community Caring about Sleep Apnea diagnosis and Sleep Apnea treatment:
CPAP machines, Sleep Apnea surgery and dental appliances.
CPAP Supplies
Latest Activity
When to stop using CPAP
When can I stop using CPAP?
Will I be able to stop CPAP if I lose weight and my health improves?
Has anyone been able to stop using CPAP?
Has anyone had a doctor tell them they didn't need to use CPAP anymore?
Will I be able to stop CPAP if I lose weight and my health improves?
Has anyone been able to stop using CPAP?
Has anyone had a doctor tell them they didn't need to use CPAP anymore?
Views: 20526
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Holly Hein on
-
Holly Hein said:
unless its a weight gain issue and you keep the weight off. But yes always talk to you doctor before discontinuing cpap it can save your life!Is there a reason you would want to stop using cpap? If you stop using the mask sooner or later your problem or problems you had to go cpap in the beginnig will come back.
-
Permalink Reply by Yorkieman on
-
Wow!!! Way to go Sandra!!! keep losing that weight!!! I quit smoking and lost 50 lbs, like you I still have 80 lbs to lose...I've been going to qualityhealth.com for recipes to help with the weight loss...I lost a kidney to cancer on Oct 30th so now I have to take care of my good kidney... Keep up the good work!!
Sandra King said:I had a Sleep Study one year ago and have been on CPAP since Dec. 30, 2008. I have lost 75 pounds since May. About a month ago, I started feeling that my CPAP air pressure was too high. I started burping air and it started hurting my lungs. I had to stop using CPAP and slept sitting up for a couple nights until I could see my sleep doctor again. He could not change the pressure on my machine without having another sleep study done. After the sleep study, he was able to lower the pressure on my machine from a 9 to a 6. The pressure now is so little that I forget it is even on. My sleep doctor said that he was hoping to eliminate my need for CPAP. I have 65 more pounds to go to lose all my excess weight. I am staying on CPAP until my doctor says I no longer need it. He said that my insurance would pay for a new sleep study after losing 20 pounds or more. There are many causes for sleep apnia. Mine appeared after gaining a lot of weight. Never stop CPAP therapy without being retested and given the OK by your sleep doctor.
-
Permalink Reply by Leslie Scott on
-
I was on cpap for 7 years. I lost 60 lbs and was able to get off my cpap. Granted, the year before I finally got off, my apnea index was below 5, but since I was still symptomatic, they left me on. It wasn't untilt he symptoms came back and I actually felt worse when I used my cpap than when I didn't that they decided it was time to get off. I now have to use oxygen when I sleep, and there are times, I think cpap would be easier (definitely quieter). I keep telling my boss that we need to put my before and after pictures in the office to help encourage our over weight patients.
Weightloss can definitely do it. Not 100% of the time, but even a 10% weightloss can help improve OSA. I tell my patients if they start loosing and the symptoms come back or they lose 10-15%, it is time to come back to be checked to see if their settings need adjusted.
Les
-
-
Exactly... I ALWAYS tell my patients... if symptoms return... RETURN TO US, don't just stop!!!
St. Chris said:DO NOT DISCONTINUE MEDICAL TREATMENT WITHOUT CONSULTING YOUR PHYSICIAN.
Kim, Ricky is a "doctor" because he has a PhD in Neuropsychology. (A Google search yielded his LinkedIn profile.) That's not a medical degree, and it's definitely not a specialization in pulmonary medicine.
Ricky, cite your "studies" or else your reference is useless.
Can a few of you MDs please respond?
-
-
2500 for a study... where do you go?? I want to work at that lab. Here they are only $550!!!
Pam Bright said:I cannot afford $2500 for another sleep study just to tell me I do not need my CPAP any more.
-
Permalink Reply by sleepycarol on
-
Wow Leslie where are you at? My sleep studies were in excess of $2500 each (the initial and then the titration study). So that means both together were over $5000.
-
Permalink Reply by dave foster on
-
Jenny, getting off cpap should be low on your priorities list, as the machines will do wonders for your 'sleep health', for lack of a better term. Once your 'sleep deficit' is corrected, a lot of other ailments will start to get straightened out. I have lost 15 lbs since starting treatment, while not changing my diet or excercise regimen - just from the cpap use. i like the fact that i wake up refreshed [not tired like the old days] and not gasping for air, possibly on deaths door. If you are very new to cpap, getting used to the mask and whatnot can be a real pain, but the payoff in the long run will be well worth it. One last thing, if you had trouble sleeping before, wait till your DREAMING comes back; it can be quite amazing ! good luck.
-
Permalink Reply by Margo Lozoya on
-
That is a great comparison!
-
Permalink Reply by Jenny Foerst on
-
Yes, it is low on my priorities list because I am dreaming and getting Stage 3 sleep, BUT it is always in the back of my mind that I'm putting the steps in place that will eventually free me from being a hosehead. The stupid mask still leaks if I move around, and the noise or whatever still wakes me up 1 to 4 times per night.
There is a connection between hypothyroidism and apnea that everyone ought to take seriously enough to pursue deep thyroid testing. Because of my apnea dx, my low thyroid complaints were finally taken seriously enough to get deep testing done for thyroid problems, and lo and behold: I have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's disease) and adrenal fatigue from living for so many years with lack of thyroid hormone. The thyroid replacement and adrenal support (hydrocortisone) are actually helping my sleep and energy levels (and esp. calm mental focus) even more than the CPAP machine did! My doctor says that when my body adjusts to the thyroid supplementation completely (which can take up to 9 months), he believes my apnea will go away--not because of weight loss, but because thyroiditis directly causes swelling of tissues in the airway. I would urge anyone with apnea to entreat his or her doctor for a full workup--not just TSH, but Free T3, Free T4, both kinds of thyroid antibodies, cortisol levels, and aldosterone levels. I was diagnosed on the basis of low cortisol, high thyroid antibodies, and high aldosterone. Everything else was well in the "normal" range, which is why I was dismissed for more than a decade. Most doctors will look at normal TSH and T3 and T4 and not dig deeper. I've been ill with numerous maladies and overweight for 13 years directly because of this neglect of autoimmune thyroid disease, even though I'm on the assertive end of the patient spectrum. Don't let it happen to you!
dave foster said:Jenny, getting off cpap should be low on your priorities list, as the machines will do wonders for your 'sleep health', for lack of a better term. Once your 'sleep deficit' is corrected, a lot of other ailments will start to get straightened out. I have lost 15 lbs since starting treatment, while not changing my diet or excercise regimen - just from the cpap use. i like the fact that i wake up refreshed [not tired like the old days] and not gasping for air, possibly on deaths door. If you are very new to cpap, getting used to the mask and whatnot can be a real pain, but the payoff in the long run will be well worth it. One last thing, if you had trouble sleeping before, wait till your DREAMING comes back; it can be quite amazing ! good luck.
-
-
Jenny - wow, i didnt see that coming! guess thats why im not a doctor. i think i will seek thyroid testing, my oldest daughter has thyroid issues, so maybe i do too. My wifes neice has Hashimotos, was misdiagnosed for YEARS. Neither of them have osa, they are both skinny as rails; but as you know, there are other health issues w that. Good luck, let us know how the treatment works for you. maybe you will get outa hotel cpap, er... California.
-
Permalink Reply by Kim A. on
-
I just stopped using my CPAP this week. I used it literally EVERY night for 6 years, even traveling around the world. I am the CPAP poster child, even though I am 45. I think it is a lifesaver. Two nights ago I made the jump to a Herbst oral appliance and despite some vivid dreams, which I hope are temporary, it seems to work very well. I had lost about 30 pounds in the past year and practice neck posture exercises daily, which I am sure helped. Still, my main obstructive issued have to do with incorrect teenage orthodontia (pre-molars removed causing a narrow palate) causing my huge tongue to be too far back in my crowded throat. My oral appliance, on its initial setting, seems to correct that easily. CPAP just might be, but is maybe NOT necessarily a life-long sleep aid if you work hard at keeping excess fat off and maintain overall good health. Everyone is different.
Why would one want to get so down on something that clearly improves quality of life anyway? Even if it is a "life sentence"...why not choose to frame it as a "life saver" and a gift instead? Perspective can change everything. I always felt grateful for my CPAP, scuba hose, nose redness, traveling burden and all. Try to focus on the positive benefits of a drug-free sleep aid.
Is a CPAP sexy? No. Is it fun or convenient? No. Will you live longer and feel better....yes! No-brainer in terms of pros and cons.
My pulmonologist and I agree...you will just instinctively KNOW when you may not need the CPAP anymore. It will start to feel "too much" and your brain will start sending you messages asking if there is a less cumbersome way to manage to apnea. Hope that helps......Life Coach Kim
-
-
Nonetheless, the CPAP device seems like a very crude way to solve what ought to be more simply and permanently solved. I would have even the most horrendously painful surgery in a heartbeat if it had a reasonable chance of getting me off the mask. No doubt about it. I know 2 people at work who had OSA severely. Both went to this doctor at Duke who does the same (multiple) surgeries at one time on all who come to him for apnea. Both these people were "cured" by the surgeries, and even though they said it was insanely painful and took a month to recover that they would do it a second time if they had to--to be free of the apnea AND the CPAP.
Kim A. said:I just stopped using my CPAP this week. I used it literally EVERY night for 6 years, even traveling around the world. I am the CPAP poster child, even though I am 45. I think it is a lifesaver. Two nights ago I made the jump to a Herbst oral appliance and despite some vivid dreams, which I hope are temporary, it seems to work very well. I had lost about 30 pounds in the past year and practice neck posture exercises daily, which I am sure helped. Still, my main obstructive issued have to do with incorrect teenage orthodontia (pre-molars removed causing a narrow palate) causing my huge tongue to be too far back in my crowded throat. My oral appliance, on its initial setting, seems to correct that easily. CPAP just might be, but is maybe NOT necessarily a life-long sleep aid if you work hard at keeping excess fat off and maintain overall good health. Everyone is different.
Why would one want to get so down on something that clearly improves quality of life anyway? Even if it is a "life sentence"...why not choose to frame it as a "life saver" and a gift instead? Perspective can change everything. I always felt grateful for my CPAP, scuba hose, nose redness, traveling burden and all. Try to focus on the positive benefits of a drug-free sleep aid.
Is a CPAP sexy? No. Is it fun or convenient? No. Will you live longer and feel better....yes! No-brainer in terms of pros and cons.
My pulmonologist and I agree...you will just instinctively KNOW when you may not need the CPAP anymore. It will start to feel "too much" and your brain will start sending you messages asking if there is a less cumbersome way to manage to apnea. Hope that helps......Life Coach Kim
© 2025 Created by The SleepGuide Crew.
Powered by
