Having surgery Oct 15 - sleep apnea questions

Hi all.

I have had sleep apnea for a LONG time.  Been on bipap for about 8 years.  I still have trouble with getting air in my stomach during the night though and waking up in pain until I can burp it out.

I'm not sure what is going to happen after surgery!  I am having the RnY, so will have a very small pouch for a stomach.  Do I just keep using the bipap machine as usual?  Is the air pressure going to damage or undo the staples or anything?

I didn't think to ask the surgeon about this, but will be calling tomorrow to see what they say, but wanted to hear from someone who has been there.

My pressures are pretty high.  I can't think of what the lower one is, but the higher one is 19.

Even when I DO use my machine I'm still a zombie during the day.  My sleep doctor has me taking Nuvigil.  It helps a little bit, but I'm still really tired all the time.  I'm hoping maybe losing weight will help with that a bit too.

Any advice?

Did u losing weight help your sleep apnea

 

I don't know, I have not seen my sleep doctor since before surgery.  I have an appointment with her in a few weeks.  I know I'm fighting the bipap machine a lot lately though.  Seems to be too much pressure or something.  I've lost 90 pounds since I saw her last, so I'm hoping that we can at least turn down the pressure!

So we are in a similar boat - I'm on a BiPAP and my high level is at 20.  I've never had any problems with swallowing air I THINK. 

My surgeon actually insists on my bringing the machine to the hospital and they'll put me on it right away.  I figure this is good... because if there are any problems they'll know?  One thought I had is that if it IS a problem the easy solution would be to switch to a mask that's just on your nose, but after 4 years of the exact same mask I would not welcome the change.  I'm super used to it now!

I'd like to hear what your surgeon says when you ask, so please post an update here. :)