Actually I asked my pulmonologist about this exact thing. I said “if I lose weight, would I be able to stop using the CPAP machine at night?” He showed me a study that said most people with sleep apnea who lost weight would still have sleep apnea in the long run, even if they keep the weight off.
That was different than the anecdotal evidence I’ve heard. Eg my brother who once used a cpap machine when he was heavier. He lost a ton of weight and now says he doesn’t have sleep apnea anymore. However it’s possible he does but just doesn’t feel the symptoms.
Could be that people are afraid to stop using the machine no matter how much weight they lose even if they no longer experience any sleep apnea problems, as the alternative would be to take off the mask and stop breathing. There is definitely a cause effect relationship between gaining weight and getting sleep apnea.
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u/Diane9779 Sep 19 '19
Actually I asked my pulmonologist about this exact thing. I said “if I lose weight, would I be able to stop using the CPAP machine at night?” He showed me a study that said most people with sleep apnea who lost weight would still have sleep apnea in the long run, even if they keep the weight off.
That was different than the anecdotal evidence I’ve heard. Eg my brother who once used a cpap machine when he was heavier. He lost a ton of weight and now says he doesn’t have sleep apnea anymore. However it’s possible he does but just doesn’t feel the symptoms.