You're very welcome! Let me know how your CPAP study goes!

Wow, that's scary! Fortunately CPAP is usually incredibly effective at treating OSA as long as you wear it every night. For most people, it completely eliminates apnea and keeps oxygen sats where they need to be (the mid-high 90s for most people).

My husband and I both wear CPAP, and he just had an EGD yesterday. They just wanted him to bring his CPAP with him in case he was still drowsy after the procedure. I'm sure it will be especially important for you with how severe your apnea is. They'll ask you to bring your CPAP in for your surgery, too. I don't know if insurance companies have a set amount of time they require you to use CPAP before surgery (it might vary by company), but they will definitely want to make sure it's well-treated beforehand. It will be very important to use it consistently after surgery too, especially when you're on heavy-duty painkillers. A lot of people are able to get off CPAP after they lose a really significant amount of weight, but that's not a guarantee -- lots of skinny people have sleep apnea too. Another test a few years down the line is the only way to tell. Even if your OSA doesn't resolve, your settings are likely to change. When I was 60 lbs heavier, I stopped breathing 21 times an hour. I had another test recently that showed me stopping only 7.3 times an hour -- under 5 is considered normal, so I'm still wearing my CPAP, but the pressure is a lot lower than it used to be (I use an auto-adjusting machine).

Good luck! My husband and I are both in the camp of "I didn't realize how bad I felt until I learned how much better CPAP could make me feel." It's certainly a lifesaver, and better sleep = more energy, which helps with weight loss too. I'm sure you'll do great, and congratulations on being well on your way to a healthier you!  

When I was still in the hospital after my surgery my CPAP machine alone could not keep my blood oxygen level up in the 90% + range.  They upped the oxygen being pumped in through a nifty little add on to my tube.  By the morning I had ditched the CPAP machine and was just using the oxygen tube with the attachment that goes under the nose.  That worked really well.  

About a year or two before the surgery I woke up to a bloated stomach, once, so the pressure was turned down.  It was never an issue again.

If you aren't waking up bloated from air swallowing now, it's unlikely you will after surgery either. But if you are, talk to the doc who ordered your CPAP about seeing if the pressure can be decreased (or the max pressure if you're on an autoset machine). There might be a lower pressure that can still fairly adequately control your apnea without risking bloating and putting pressure on a fresh staple line. It is definitely essential to use your CPAP after surgery though -- you will be on sedating painkillers, which limit your body's ability to wake up and take "recovery breaths" when you stop breathing at night, meaning your oxygen levels can go lower before you wake up to start breathing again if you're not using your CPAP to keep your airway open. Good luck with your surgery! Depending on how severe your OSA is, there's a good chance you might eventually not need your CPAP anymore after significant weight loss.

I am having the sleeve on April 1, I went to the appointment with the pulmonologist yesterday and I asked him if I was supposed to keep using the CPAP for my sleep apnea after surgery and he said yesss. But im concerned because im reading some posts of people who had surgery recently and they wrote that the gas is killing them. I will insist and ask my surgeun about it though.