Is my Sleep Apnea gone??

Posted by gansettgirl @gansettgirl, Nov 20, 2023

I have been on CPAP for mild sleep apnea for about 7 years. In the last 2 years, I have been following Weight Watchers and I have managed to lose 55 pounds to date. I have met my goal and my weight is now in a healthy range.
I received a new ResMed machine in August and I am finally able to see my scores again. My old machine did not display results due to the upgrade to all machines for 5G which resulted in no data displayed.
I see a significant change in my numbers and I am seeing 0 events about 40% of the time and the remainder are either .1 or .2 events per hour. I never saw 0 events before so I am wondering if my sleep apnea has improved due to the weight loss and I am interested in your opinions. Thank you

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John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Nov 20, 2023

Welcome @gansettgirl, Congratulations on losing all of that weight. I'm sure it plays a part in improving your CPAP AHI numbers. Here's some information on the topic:
--- 0572 Weight reduction and the impact on apnea-hypopnea index: a meta-analysis: https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/46/Supplement_1/A251/7182261

That is really good to have your AHI lower than 1. I struggle to keep mine under my target of 4 for my obstructive sleep apnea. I'm guessing that the answer to your discussion question of is your sleep apnea gone is not really but it is under control with the CPAP usage. It would be a really good question to ask your sleep medicine care team or doctor.

What AHI target number did your doctor give you when you first were diagnosed for mild sleep apnea?

gansettgirl | @gansettgirl | Nov 20, 2023

In reply to @johnbishop "Welcome @gansettgirl, Congratulations on losing all of that weight. I'm sure it plays a part in..." + (show)

Thanks for the article. I did read it.
My goal way back when was to reduce episodes to below 5. I will be seeing my doc in several weeks and asking for a repeat sleep study

arthur57 | @arthur57 | Nov 21, 2023

In reply to @johnbishop "Welcome @gansettgirl, Congratulations on losing all of that weight. I'm sure it plays a part in..." + (show)

I agree with John completely, definitely check with appropriate provider but I suspect that weight loss has resulted in less restrictive air flow which results in your apnea. But a sleep study would prove whether you need the cpap or not at this point, probably the only way to confirm.