Question:
Anyone off their C-PAP machines post op?

Having apnea and a c-pap, I have gone from a 14 pressure to a 10 pressure. I am 2 and a 1/2 months post op VBG and am down 60 lbs. Has anyone been able to ditch their machine after WLS?    — Brooke B. (posted on March 25, 2003)

March 25, 2003
I had my open RNY last May and I was on a C-PAP machine set on 18 but by Sept. I was off the machine completely. I was also taken off my oxygen at the same time. I've never had a problem since. I hope this helps.
   — kysunshine

March 25, 2003
I was sure I'd be off of mine by now, but no such luck. I had my surgery in May. At that time the setting was 18. In September, the respiratory staff at the step down unit I was in supposedly monitored me all night and called the company who had supplied me with the machine to come and turn the setting down to 9. I had lost about 80 pounds by then. In January, when I was down another 20 pounds, I was sure I'd be able to get off it, so I called my pulmonologist and asked him to schedule another sleep study for me. To my COMPLETE dismay, that study said the machine should be set at 14. I'm now down a total of 120, but don't think my insurance will pay for another sleep study so soon, although I do think I will be able to quit using it one day in the not too distant future.
   — garw

March 25, 2003
Take my advice. A cpap machine is great. It makes you wake up so refreshed and besides it helps your husband or wife get a good night of rest also (stops you from snoring)
   — Gene F.

March 25, 2003
Hi, My machine was set at 14 pre-op ... 2 weeks postop i felt like i was choking on air, so I called my med supply co. He called my pulmonologist. Instead of a sleep study they ordered an inhome test... on a cpap machine that self titrates. It was called an Resmed AutoSet. Perhaps you can call and ask about it. I just finished a 2 week trial on it, and I am now reset on a setting of 9, so only at 6 weeks post op i have dropped 5 settings. Hope this helps.
   — Darla K.

March 25, 2003
Yes.. my sleep apnea is cured. No more machine.
   — mom2jtx3

March 26, 2003
I haven't used mine since the day of surgery
   — Lynda T.

March 27, 2003
I was off my c-pap within a week or two of surgery. I am 3 years post op now & haven't used it once since I quit it. I'm at goal weight & don't even snore now.
   — Kathy W.