Anyone who qualifies for the TDC is at risk for sleep apnea. I'm sure some of us (like me) are being treated for it. My concern is for those here who need treatment but are not getting it.

The symptoms of sleep apnea (snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness, frequent urination at night or bedwetting, waking up gasping for air, elevating resting heart rate) are more than just annoying. Longstanding untreated sleep apnea can lead to irreversible heart failure. It's also very difficult to lose weight while suffering from sleep apnea due to irritibility, utter fatigue, and increased stress hormones (which decrease metabolism and cause carb cravings).

The treatment is easy and safe. Basically, you learn to sleep with a soft mask over your nose which supplies gentle pressure to your airway to keep it open while you sleep. Once you realize how good it feels to sleep well at night, the mask becomes your friend.

Hopefully, as I come closer to my goal, my sleep apnea will be cured. Since the process can take a long time, I'm glad I finally decided to get treatment to help me in the meantime.

HTH!

I hope so too but, just wanted to add that it may not. I've lost almost 140# already and had a follow up sleep study a few months ago, thinking my situation might have improved. Well, they had to INCREASE the air pressure AND add oxygen and switch me from a cpap to a bipap machine. So, I actually need MORE help now than when I was first diagnosed.

Sometimes SA is helped by weight loss, sometimes not. I think my mask is with me for life.

I was medically diagnosed with sleep apnea early last year (though as a mere male I do not go to the doctor til things are REALLY bad)...by May of 2003 I was relegated to sleeping sitting up on the couch so I could get any sleep at all. (Me and the mask were not friends!)
Anyway...I can't recall when it happened..but very early on in my new way of eating, I found I had no problems breathing at night. It gets better every day. I no longer have any symptoms at all.
NOW...I DO NOT propose that what happened for me could ever work for anyone BUT me. Your mileage may vary.
But I no longer have any problem with sleep apnea. My snoring has also diminished to a dull roar. (wink)

Have you had a follow up sleep study to CONFIRM that you no longer have sleep apnea? Lack of noticeable symptoms doesn't necessarily mean you are 'cured'. Your oxygen level could still be dropping during your sleep cycles. So, if you haven't had a follow up study, I would definitely recommend it. This is definitely one area where you don't want to diagnose yourself.

I'm just concerned, not trying to nag.

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea ten years ago before I lost anything infact I started gaining after I got my Cpap so personaly I don't know if it affected my weight gain. But since I have the machine I do sleep better my memory is better . I still am stressed alot but then in this day and age who isn't? But the information though it may well help some who have not yet discovered the wonders of the sleep mask.

I, too, have been diagnosed (officially) recently with severe sleep apnea. I've known it for about 10 years, but was not tested until this last month. I could not use the mask, but they have an alternate, which is just like the oxygen nose piece with a plastic tube that is used in hospitals when they need to give you oxygen, with the exception that this tubing is a bit larger so you can get enough air through it. I cannot sleep on my back, so I sleep on one side and then the other, turning all night. This system works best for me, and I don't get tangled up in it. I agree that it's not something to take lightly. It can be a very dangerous situation as to heart failure, etc. Mostly you cannot tell the severity unless you have the test, since the most severe part of the problem comes into play when you are asleep. Since I have just recently started using mine (and also have found that I need to have it slightly recalibrated -- too much air!), so I don't how much it is going to benefit me yet. I'm glad to have it, and am told I will probably will have to use it until I don't need this ole body any longer. If it helps me, it's well worth that -- and I will have a better chance of living longer, with a better quality life.

Nope. But I can tell you that I no longer wake in the night from lack of breath. My wife of 32 years does not have the same "instant" sleep mode which I possess so sometimes lays awake for an hour. I no longer do any of the things which I did prior to losing this weight.

Now...WILL I go back to the doctors when I have no symptoms and no need for medication? Not in this life time.

For medical reasons I DO HAVE to go about every 4 months...I have a complete physical annually but at the 6 month mark they check the oil and kick the tires. Doc says don't worry about it. I can breathe easily all night and NEVER had a relapse...not one single night.

I am fine enough and getting finer every day on this way of life.

I would love to be checked for it... but I feel like if I stay on ym back now I sleep really well... I used ot have to sleep sitting up just to breathe.

Hey MisterE, I'm with you. I gave up my mask about a month ago and I keep asking my wife if she notices anything while I'm sleeping as she too stays up later than me (she stays up reading). Well, she no longer hears me stop breathing like I used to, and I no longer feel unusally tired like I used to during the day. I figure that the fatty tissue that was blocking stuff up has now shrunk enough that I no longer have the problem (or at least not much of a problem).

I used my machine for about two years and didn't mind it too much, but I'm glad to be done with it and not have to carry it around with me when I travel anymore.