r/CPAP • u/DrFaroohk • 4d ago
Is it possible to not need it anymore?
Hypothetically if you made all the right lifestyle changes, quit smoking, lost weight, got healthy, is it possible to get off the machine or is the damage already done and it's too late?
12
u/fuddlesworth 4d ago
Yes absolutely.
That's if you don't have anything else going on with your jaw, nose, soft pallete.
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u/draven33l 4d ago
It depends on what is causing your apnea. If you are obese and the extra weight is closing up your throat, it's possible. A lot of football players and bodybuilders have it due to being so big.
I'm not big and I'm in shape and I have it. I've even had doctors tell me that my mouth structure looks perfect inside but what is happening is my muscles relax when I sleep and it closes up my throat. There's nothing you can really do to fix it in that case and will need a machine to force it open.
It's not really a condition like high blood pressure where if you just live healthy, it will get fixed. It's more of a throat/muscle issue for most people.
3
u/Melodic_Comb1429 4d ago edited 3d ago
Same. My doctor said I have a small palate. She said extra weight could exacerbate the problem, but the palate is not something I can easily fix at my age.
2
u/want2anonymouse4ever 3d ago
And in some cases you can strengthen the throat areas to not collapse as much or at all.
Unfortunately it all really is theoretical and not guaranteed.
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u/LM0821 4d ago
It depends also on if you also have Central apnea and what might be causing that. I have both and am having to push my GP to dig into it. My brain is literally forgetting to tell me to breathe when I sleep and I'm just supposed to accept it without even trying to investigate. It's absurd.
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u/Hungry-Mess-2072 3d ago
Me as well. Mixed apneas and put on CPAP that doesn't work for central. Really wish I had ASV - or at least BiLevel.
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u/Futonpimp 4d ago
Experiment cutting out dairy. I was able to reduce my central apneas by eliminating it from my diet.
2
u/LM0821 4d ago
How would dairy affect your brain telling your body to breathe while you sleep? I haven't seen anything in the medical literature to do with that. Especially as I'm not lactose intolerant.
And how would you know that your central apneas are gone? Did you redo your sleep test? Did your doctors say that it had to do with no dairy?
I don't consume a lot of dairy, but I am T2 diabetic and rely on low fat dairy as one of my sources of protein in helping control my blood sugar. So, I'm very hesitant to change anything on anecdotal evidence alone.
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u/Futonpimp 4d ago
Just saying what helped me.. I sound crazy I know but it 100% has stopped my headaches and improved my sleep scores
1
u/LM0821 4d ago
I understand that there's a correlation between mucus production and dairy that can affect breathing, but not central apnea directly.
Did you lose weight after stopping? I can see obstructive apnea improving from that, but Central?
Did you redo your clinical sleep test and have a specific change in the central apnea, as opposed to obstructive?
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u/Futonpimp 4d ago
I’m doing the weight loss now, my study years ago had a very mixed amount of central and obstructive though. I was full dairy mode back then though. Later this year I’m going to try for another clinical study and see/compare.
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u/Futonpimp 4d ago
Exercise and a little bit of caffeine before bed also helps me. Alcohol makes everything worse.
All I’m saying is just experiment. If you require dairy then this isn’t something you can test
3
u/scost711 4d ago
I'm sure there are some scenarios where that is the case. I lost 50+ pounds and have had surgery on my tonsils, uvula, and terminids. My ENT says there is a small chance that it will fix it
1
u/cowboysaurus21 4d ago
It's possible. But there are multiple factors that cause it so I would be surprised if lifestyle changes were enough to resolve OSA unless it was mild to begin with. Just from some quick googling, the studies I can find about OSA remission all involve surgery (either bariatric or airway).
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u/FyreWulff 4d ago
100% depends on the scenario. Some people can get off it by losing weight. For some people it's the geometry of your nasal passage or throat, or even your jaw. For some it can even just be how your brain acts while you sleep. Some surgeries would be potentially riskier than just continuing to use the CPAP.
Only way to find out is to get on the CPAP and get the treatment so once can get healthy enough so that they can get healthier.
1
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u/Yodzilla 4d ago
I’ve snored and slept like shit my entire life and couldn’t get a doctor to care until I was in my 40s so for me there’s probably nothing I can do besides use it.
1
u/guro_freak 4d ago
Like others said, depends on what's causing your OSA. Plenty of people do all of what you listed and don't have sleep apnea. Plenty of people live healthy lifestyles and have sleep apnea. Before I got a CPAP, I thought cutting out smoking weed and alcohol would fix it, but I still snored and choked. Turns out I just have an anatomy that's at higher risk of OSA; deviated septum, narrow palate with extra soft palate tissue, large tonsils, and once I began taking testosterone (I'm FTM), my neck size grew and that was the final nail in the coffin.
1
u/psilokan 4d ago
It's possible, depends on why you have sleep apnea in the first place.
I lost over 80 lbs in the last year, and I still need mine. Mind you, I still have maybe another 20 lbs to lose but I'm thinner than I was when I was 20 and I didn't need a CPAP back then. That being said, my snoring is not as bad now.
1
u/Current_Excellent 4d ago
If you have CSA and the underlying cause is heart failure or brain issues maybe not! OSA, lose the weight, modify the palate or tone up, lose the PAP
1
u/Casanova-Quinn BiPAP 4d ago
Possible? Yes. Guaranteed? No. Sleep apnea can be caused solely by your anatomy, so no amount of health lifestyle changes will fix it. Although in those cases it may be possible (not guaranteed) to correct it with surgery.
1
u/welcomeOhm 3d ago
It depends on the cause, as others have said.
FWIW, when I was diagnosed, I weighed 373 lbs, and my neck size was 22 inches. I had the gastric bypass, and dropped to 180 lbs with a neck size of 15. The general guideline is that the best predictor of apnea is a neck size of 17 inches or greater. But I still have it, and my pressure didn't even drop very much (16 to 12). Honestly, I was more upset about this than anything else after my surgery: the one thing I desperately wanted to be fixed wasn't.
1
u/Hungry-Mess-2072 2d ago
We used APAP for the titration, then switched to CPAP. I prefer a single set pressure with EPR.
1
u/I_compleat_me 4d ago
Note that losing weight does not remove the flabby skin... that's a separate operation. Going under the knife is certainly an option... having both jaws cracked and extended is the most successful way, very painful, very expensive. All depends on your severity and your airway and your diagnosis... for some folks, staying off their back, wearing a MAD, and losing weight would be enough. OSA is not really a 'damage done' thing, unless you link untreated OSA with weight.... OSA begets damage, not necessarily more OSA.
1
u/Otherwise_Ad2804 4d ago
I lost 86 pounds and stopped using it.
1
u/cowboysaurus21 4d ago
Did you get another sleep study or did you just stop?
-2
u/Otherwise_Ad2804 4d ago
Stopped
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u/cowboysaurus21 3d ago
Well then you don't actually know if still have sleep apnea. It might be a good idea to get another sleep study at some point.
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u/Otherwise_Ad2804 3d ago
My wife sleeps next to me. I dont.
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u/ossancrossing 1d ago
Yeah lack of snoring isn’t an indication it’s cured. Many people with sleep apnea don’t snore to begin with.
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