Is my Sleep Apnea Gone??!

I had surgery on 11-24-08 and have lost 100lbs since.  The other night I decided to see if my sleep apnea has improved.  I fell asleep without my cpap and asked my wife to watch me once I entered REM sleep.  She stated that I did not snore, never opened my mouth, and she could not detect any apneic episodes.  I have not used my cpap for 1 week now and I sleep well for 7 to 8 hours in any position, with no dry mouth and I have energy during the day.  I do not want to have a sleep study until after I lose my last 80 lbs.  Is it possible that my SA has been cured?

I have an appt to go back and have another sleep study done. They say that after losing 30 lbs you might need to be re-titrated. I imagine that after losing 100 lbs you might not need it or if you do, at a much slower less powerful rate. I know that I was told that if I was not compliant, (using my cpap machine as ordered) I would be responsible for paying the insurance company back for it. The only way I can get away with not using it is when and if the testing shows that I no longer need it. I can't imagine that they could make me pay them the money but I am not going to risk it right now.

First--Congrats on your fabulous weightloss!!!!!!!!! That is awesome!

Now, about rhe cpap--I thought the same thing--that maybe I didn't need it anymore--I had been sick with a terrible sinus infection, so I didn't use mine  for almost 2 weeks. My PCP wanted to check my O2 level, so he  ordered an overnight O2 level test. All they did was come bring me this little device that goes on your finger. I slept with it attached to my finger overnight(without the cpap) (in my own house). They picked it up the next day. They read the levels and found that my levels did drop a bit at night, so I am back on the good ol' cpap!

So, see if they can do this O2 sensor at night--it doesn't replace a sleep study which gives them much more info, but it might be helpful to you and less aggravating than a sleep study! =)

Best of luck,
Heather

I have had a total of 10 sleep studies, yep since 1997 when I was first diagnosed with sleep apnea, a good 8 years before I had gastric bypass surgery and when a sleep study was required to see if one had sleep apnea. I already knew I did. Even with losing 90 pounds with the gastric bypass, my calibration went from a 20, which is high, to a 10. I am now back up to 16.5 since gaining 50 pounds back, but I may put it even higher than that. That is why I am now going to have a revision to a DS to hopefully get rid of the apnea once and for all, and, of course, to get rid of diabetes (another forum).