My dad has apnea (bad)...my mom was just diagnosed with a mild case. Both are overweight - like I am. (I'm over 50 lbs overweight.) DH says he wonders if I might have it and I've been wondering too. He says I don't really snore, it is more that I breathe really loudly. But, I know that sometimes I do snore. (I'll wake myself up sometimes.) I am tired all the time. I'm dangerously tired some days driving home from work. But, I have 2 young boys (4 yo and 10 months old). The 10 month old just started sleeping through the night (for about 2 weeks now). I do have sinus issues and allergies. So, the exhaustion, snoring could be from other things.
I bet if I lost weight, I'd sleep much better and the apnea would go away, if that is what I have. But its so hard to lose weight when you're so tired. I'm hesitent to go the dr. because I think she may just tell me to lose weight.
Sorry to ramble on...but I'm curious if others have gone to their doctor suspecting apnea and if their doctor made an issue of their weight. If you did a sleep study was it at home or at a medical center/hospital? Did getting the apnea treated help you lose weight?
My sister Amy was dx with sleep apnea, and they told her it was most likely due to weight. Excess weight can also be in the face and neck area, and can put pressure on the soft palate, which reduces your airway and make it harder for you to breathe (particularly when lying down). She was about 150 pounds overweight, but it took her almost to goal before she could discard the machine.
I don't know of any at home tests for sleep apnea. There are sleep centers that you can go to. It looks just like a bedroom, but they hook you up with electrodes and you sleep there and somebody monitors your vitals in another room.
Is losing weight hard when you're tired because of exercise? You can start losing weight without exercise. If you can keep up with a proper diet, that should start things along, and maybe you'll get some relief from a few pounds lost, and feel more like exercising later on.
I would go see your dr. about it, my dad had to do it at a sleep center and he had one of the worst cases on the east coast!
What foods are you eating? If you don't get enough protein in a day your blood sugar can swing up and down wildly causing fatigue. I know bc I have hypoglycemia. Try recording your food intake and moods. Fitday.com will let you do that.
A lot of people lose weight after a sleep apnea diagnosis when they get treatment. You would need your doctor to check you over, and decide if you need testing. I am due for another test soon.
I have sleep apnea, and I'm pretty sure it's related to my weight. My dad has it, too, but he is not overweight so maybe there's some genetic component.
I went to a sleep disorder center. They did not make a big deal about my weight. Of course, they mentioned that it is likely contributing to the apnea. They did a sleep study, which really was not a big deal. I got a cpap and it's helped so much.
One thing the dr did tell me is that if you're sleep deprived, it effects every part of your life, including your ability to lose weight, your memory, your heart. If you're waking yourself up from snoring, that's probably the culprit.
I waited a long time to see someone and I regret waiting. I finally pushed myself to make an appt after I googled it and came across an article about the NFL player who died from untreated sleep apnea.
THe sleep study really was no big deal. They had a tv with cable, and it looked like a hotel room. I went around 9 pm, and they put a bunch of electrodes on me and sent me to bed. They told me to follow my usual pattern in terms of reading in bed, tv watching, etc. Once I fell asleep, they monitored me. Since I had so many episodes in a certain time period, they woke me up to try out a cpap. In the morning, I felt so refreshed for the first time in forever b/c the cpap had helped so much. The dr came and told me that I definitely had it, and hooked me up with a cpap and supplies. I see him every 6 months for adjustments to the machine.
My father was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea a while back and he was given the CPAP machine. He had a very hard time sleeping with the machine on, so he opted for losing weight. 50 pounds lost and now he doesn't have a problem anymore. I was exhibiting signs of having it as well. Feeling extremely tired all day. I actually fell asleep at my desk at work for a good 2 minutes and didn't even realize it till my chin hit my chest when my head lolled forward! Luckily my co-workers at the time were pretty cool people and kinda laughed it off as a busy weekend/late night! I would fall asleep when visiting friends and family, or while reading or watching T.V and friends, family, and my boyfriend would all tell me I would stop breathing for a bit before drawing in a long, large, and Noisy breath! Luckily I wouldn't fall asleep while driving, but I always felt fatigued after driving and almost instantly needed a nap when I would get home.
My dad gave me his machine to try(because I do not have health insurance for myself), but I also had a hard time sleeping with the mask on as well, I ended up even more tired in the morning than when I didn't wear it. However even though I actually have gained weight since I was having those problems, I don't seem to have it anymore, if I ever really had it at all. Best thing to do is just to go do a sleep study and see for sure if you have it, because that machine is a pain to use, and if losing weight can help you avoid that mask and feel rested...its worth it!
To clarify, the mask does take some getting used to. THere ARE different types of masks you can try. I have one that is probably the least invasive feeling. It took about a week to get used to sleep with it and now I cannot sleep without it.
I too have sleep apnea and sleep with a cpap. Home tests are available with some large med insurers using them instead of the traditional sleep center tests.
Weight can be a contributing factor but not the only problem. Genetically smaller airways can be another factor. It can be difficult for sleep deprived people to lose weight.
A comfortable mask which fits YOUR facial structure and sleeping style is key to successful therapy. Using someone elses equipment which has not been adjusted for YOUR required pressure can create other serious problems. Google "apneasupport" for a good forum on the subject.
I have sleep apnea and have been tested both in hospital and in a takehome test. I have a cpap but it's not all that helpful for me. Everyone's different. Best thing is to lose the weight.
Thanks, ladies! It helps to hear your experiences. I'm still reluctant to go to the dr. But my health is getting worse. My OBGYN says my blood pressure is borderline high and its always been very low even in pregnancy. I've got 3 months to try to get it down a little with exercise and diet. So, hopefully I'll see some improvement in my fatigue with some weight loss.
My dad has struggled with his cpap machine for years. I think he's had several adjustments/masks. Finally, they switched him to a different type of machine ("bi cpap"??) and likes it much, much better. My mom adjusted to her machine right away.
well i had a different experience. i have mild sleep apnea- and because i am overweight i was told by the sleep clinic doctor to lose 30 lbs first & if it doesn't go away then he'll consider treatment for me.
i have insurance and it still wound up costing me about $250 to be told what a mirror could have told me for free- i'm fat!
i wound up going thru my dentist and getting a weird little mouth piece called the Aveo TSD - you stick your tongue into it and it holds it out, so you keep breathing. looks like a pacifier- it's ridiculous.
but i wake up feeling much better & i stopped falling asleep at my desk at work. guess it's better then nothing.
I was diagnosed with sleep apnea at my highest weight. There was no doubt that it was caused by my weight, but my doctor did not suggest that I lose weight before they'd treat it, in fact he stressed it was important to get treatment right away, that I couldn't afford to "wait" while I tried to lose weight. If I had had only mild apnea, I'm sure they would have suggested the weight loss alone, but I was having 90 episodes of apnea per hour. Not only my breathing was affected, so was my sleep cycle (if you get a sleep study, make sure it's one that includes an EEG so you know whether your sleep quality is being affected along with quality). For example I was virtually never getting to deep stage sleep. Animals deprived of that stage of sleep die of immune disfunction (infection or autoimmune disease). It was probably was no coincidence that I'd also been diagnosed with autoimmune disease.
It's difficult to diagnose mild from severe sleep apnea without a sleep study. You obviously can't know, because you're asleep. Someone watching you sleep may have some idea, but really the sleep study is the best diagnostic tool.
Severe sleep apnea can have very severe consequences, such as heart damage, and while losing weight can be a cure, it's unlikely that you can lose all of the weight you need to (to cure the apnea) quickly enough to "outrun" the organ damage and other health consequences.
My husband has apnea and refused to get the sleep study or the cpap, he says "I just need to lose weight, so why bother with the cpap." It irritiates me to no end, because the cpap helped me lose weight, and I suspect it will help him too. Instead, he's losing weight, but it could take him a year or more before he loses enough weight to resolve the apnea. During that all that time, the apnea will be damaging his body, but what can I do, the fool won't listen to me.
The sleep study is the best thing you can do for yourself. I wouldn't be on this current weight loss path without it. I had given up dieting, swearing I would never go on another (because I always only ended up fatter), but in the six to eight months of being on the cpap, I lost 20 lbs without trying at all (I didn't own a scale, I just found out at a doctor's appointment).
I've never accidentally lost weight in my life, so it inspired me to start trying (I wasn't very successful for a long time, but that's not really the point). When I had lost 35 lbs, I was able to get off the cpap, because my apnea had disappeared (which also can only be determined from a sleep study).
I may not have lost the 35 lbs necessary to resolve the apnea, if I hadn't had the sleep study or the cpap. Some doctors are reluctant to prescribe a cpap, because it's expensive and many patients refuse to use it, because it's difficult and annoying to get used to. For mild apnea, it's probably more trouble than it's worth, but you won't know whether you have mild or severe apnea without the sleep study.
I have sleep apnea, diagnosed after two sleep studies. Honestly I don't even use my CPAP. My mask kept making my nose break out into an infected wound.
Its weird, but when I started asking my dieties to allow me to sleep throughout the night (because before I would stop breathing and gasp for air big time) I started sleeping and breathing the whole night.
My dentist wasnt able to adjust to his cpap either, and built himself an appliance as described above. His sleep study with it was improved but not as much as with a cpap, but if you can't adjust, and don't use it, having gather dust is not going to help you. Sometimes people need more than one study for some reason. I had a friend come to the cottage to stay, I was sure she had it, but she had a sleep study just a couple of weeks before that was ok. I called the lab back where she had the study, cause i was really concerned for her. The gave me a number to call during the night (when the techs were working) and they listened over the phone! agreed with me and she had another study done and they gave her a cpap in the night, great improvement. She lost 15 pounds (accidentally like Kaplods) and her fibromyalgia improved quite dramatically for a while. Unlike Kaplods, she didn't build on that, and regained the weight and is still in the same boat.
Anyone ever see a dr. about sleep apnea?
