My surgeon says no CPAP for six weeks after surgery!

Ok how stressful is this!? I have come to rely on my CPAP after using it every night for over 4 years. I can't even take an hour nap, let alone accidentally fall asleep reading or watching tv without waking up within minutes gasping for air. Now he says no CPAP use after surgery for at least 6 weeks, and after 6 weeks are up many don't need it anymore anyway. He had one case where a WL patient used it and they ended up injesting air, which caused their stomach to burst (he may not have used those exact words) after surgery. Ok scary as heck, but it's also scary for me to think of not getting a good night sleep for over a month. What are your opinions?

Question for you to ask your Doctor. How can I heal after my surgery if I can't get a restful quality sleep without my CPAP?

Definitely! I have an appt with him one on one in a couple of weeks and I will be adding that question to my list. I haven't had a chance to talk just one on one with him yet, so I am hoping I feel better about a lot of things after that appt.

I have been advised by 2 different surgeons that they want you to bring your C-pap to surgery.  I agree that you need to have the Dr. revisit that, could be very serious.  Good Luck.

I know. The weird thing was that at the New Patient Ed day, the video we watched said to bring your CPAP to surgery! I wanted to stand up and say, "BUT...I thought you said no CPAP?!!" Obviously this is my surgeon's own personal choice because of what happened to a patient of his in the past. I was told though, that he HAS allowed limited use to only a HANDFUL of his 1000's of patients. Like 5 or so! I want to be one of them, but then again, it's scary to think about something going wrong. Not to be gross, yuck seriously, LOL but these days I seem to have a lot of extra bloating/gas in the morning and I do wonder if it's because of injesting air from my CPAP!? If I'm one of those who do, then what if I cause damage. I don't know what the heck to do.

I brought mine to surgery (as instructed by the OR) and they didn't use it. I've not had it on for 3 weeks and sleeping fine without CPAP !

I was on my cpap in the hospital and have been on it since. Talk to a sleep doctor, mine was also my pulmonolgist.

Mention to him that sleep deprevation increases insulin resistance, and slows down the healing process even more.

I was told to bring my CPAP to the hospital when I had my surgery. But afterwards I had trouble using  it because I kept getting air in my stomach. I had to stop using mines for several weeks because of the gas pains.  But everyone is different.

M.

I am just as relient on mine. Can't sleep for even a nap without it, and I would ask your doctor to clarify why he doesn't want you to use your CPAP. Mine told me to bring it to the hospital and they wlll put it on me when I get to the recovery room. That is strange sounding that he also says you won't need it after 6 weeks. Everyone is different, and as far as I know, there is no set time to which you can be assured your CPAP is no longer necessary. My surgeon says that he would wait at least 6 months to a year before shelling out for another sleep study since you may still need it. Hope that helps some!