Has anyone been able to give up their CPAP after surgery?

[AlbanyDan 32]

I have used CPAP since 2002. I now weigh about 50 less than 2002. Down 100 since 2011 surgery. So I wonder if it's just a security blanket that I don't need but not ready to give up. Basically at this point I am scared to sleep without it.

[Losin4good 691]

I've had mine since 2005.

I have lost 130 pounds since surgery 7 months ago.

My doctor has ordered my pressure changed after they put my machine in test mode for 2 weeks to see where it should be. Because about 2 months after surgery i was gulping air.

They dont want to do a full sleep study until i am done losing weight.

I have fallen asleep a few times without it and i feel like i am dragging all day so i assume i am not completely done with it yet. But my pressure is much less!

[PdxMan 4,292]

I've had mine since 2001. I can sleep without it and not snore, but I find that I do sleep better with it, so I have opted to keep using it. I have set the pressure way down (3). I don't think I require it, but the bottom line is I do sleep better. Is it because I'm just used to it? Perhaps if I tried going longer than a week without, I would adapt, but it is not a big deal for me to use it.

[BigDaddyJoe 246]

Dan, I just had surgery 12 days ago, and am also hoping to get off the CPAP machine. I'll be watching this thread to see if anyone responds. I definitely would not just go stop using it without having another sleep study to make sure it would be safe. Talk to your doctor.

[gmanbat 5,889]

I have given mine up for about a year. I don't have the insurance or bucks to get a sleep study but I believe I am through with it. I am doing well with my exercise program and I am stronger than I have been for a long time. I do take an afternoon nap but I am 64, we do that.

[fonally 108]

I've had a CPAP for years and after I lost thirty pounds after the surgery the air was blowing my mouth open.It was set on 12. The air was going in my airway and making me burp over and over again! My Dr said turn it down to 10 which worked ( by the way on the Internet it tells you how to turn it down) for awhile but at 60 lb loss it was also too much air so I turned it down to 8 and like the other person I don't snore now but I sleep better with it. My Dr too won't allow me another sleep study until I have lost all my weight.

[notmeanymore 629]

I have given mine up for about a year. I don't have the insurance or bucks to get a sleep study but I believe I am through with it. I am doing well with my exercise program and I am stronger than I have been for a long time. I do take an afternoon nap but I am 64, we do that.

Im 3 months out and had fallen asleep without my mask a few times (I was never a diligent cpap user as bad as it is, I hated it). Anyway, my husband will purposely stay in the bedroom and listen to me sleep. In the past he would tell me 'put your mask on, you arent breathing good' and he would tell me that I snored SO LOUD. But now 3 months out and 56 pounds lighter, I no longer stop breathing and I dont even snore any more. I have not gone for the actual sleep study but like gmanbat, I believe Im through with it. I sleep great, Im not tired during the day, I dont have headaches when I wake up, my throat doesnt hurt from snoring and no more thrush.

[AlbanyDan 32]

Dan' date=' I just had surgery 12 days ago, and am also hoping to get off the CPAP machine. I'll be watching this thread to see if anyone responds. I definitely would not just go stop using it without having another sleep study to make sure it would be safe. Talk to your doctor.[/quote']

I don't snore without my CPAP. I am one of those that stops breathing without. So I would wake up choking and with headaches and drowsiness from the low oxygen level. Blood pressure was once /100. My setting is 7. Doctor says as long as I sleep through the night will ni change anything. After awhile longer I may do a home test PRE-CPAP I was stopping breathing about every 20 minutes. I would wake up choking or sitting on edge of bed feet on floor not knowing how I got there.

[RAAinNH 113]

Next fall I'm due for a new CPap. I'm looking into getting an automatic pressure adjusting CPap....

[AlbanyDan 32]

Next fall I'm due for a new CPap. I'm looking into getting an automatic pressure adjusting CPap....

Does that mean changes the setting while in use. BTW my setting is 14 not 7. Now my readings indicate a 'leakage' . They don't know if it's because the weight means the pressure needs to be lowered or I have started breathing through my mouth during the night. I hope it doesn't mean another overnight sleep study

[AlbanyDan 32]

I have given mine up for about a year. I don't have the insurance or bucks to get a sleep study but I believe I am through with it. I am doing well with my exercise program and I am stronger than I have been for a long time. I do take an afternoon nap but I am 64' date=' we do that. [/quote']

I think you want to have your oxygen level monitored. Low oxygen may cause the daytime drowsiness. In my case it's not obstructed apnea it's what I feel is bad wiring. I stop breathing. In response your body spikes your blood pressure like trying to jump start you and say 'wake up and breath dummy'. You don't get ill from the apnea but the low oxygen level and the nightly spiking of your blood pressure puts a strain on your heart. That's why untreated apnea can result in heart attacks.

[AlbanyDan 32]

Dan' date=' I just had surgery 12 days ago, and am also hoping to get off the CPAP machine. I'll be watching this thread to see if anyone responds. I definitely would not just go stop using it without having another sleep study to make sure it would be safe. Talk to your doctor.[/quote']I agree. I remember too well the days of fighting sleep all day and waking up through the night. I used to think it was stress related. Even tried the Ginkgo Biloba everybody was taking for alertness.. then you even think that maybe its some kind of dementia. All that just to find out that it was just the affect of long term sleep deprevation.

[SMO 193]

I went on the machine in 2009. I was in bad shape. I had not really slept for months. I slept sitting up in the bath tub. And of course, I also fell asleep during the day anywhere I sat still for a few minutes. I had headaches every day. I snored loud enough to wake the dead. My poor husband did not sleep either. I went for a sleep study and the doctor told me that I stopped breathing every 15 seconds. My machine saved my sanity, if not my life. 8 days after surgery, my machine started waking me up. It was blowing air with so much force, my throat was dry. I was not breathing through my mouth. I reset the machine several nights in a row with the same result. I finally had my husband watch me sleep without it. I did not jerk myself awake and did not wake up to headaches. No problems with fatigue or any other symptoms. So I am off the machine for about 5 weeks now.

[AlbanyDan 32]

I went on the machine in 2009. I was in bad shape. I had not really slept for months. I slept sitting up in the bath tub. And of course' date=' I also fell asleep during the day anywhere I sat still for a few minutes. I had headaches every day. I snored loud enough to wake the dead. My poor husband did not sleep either. I went for a sleep study and the doctor told me that I stopped breathing every 15 seconds. My machine saved my sanity, if not my life. 8 days after surgery, my machine started waking me up. It was blowing air with so much force, my throat was dry. I was not breathing through my mouth. I reset the machine several nights in a row with the same result. I finally had my husband watch me sleep without it. I did not jerk myself awake and did not wake up to headaches. No problems with fatigue or any other symptoms. So I am off the machine for about 5 weeks now.[/quote']

Congratulations but I would still have your doctor involved rather than just quiting the CPAP cold Turkey on your on. I understand that obstructive sleep Apnea is different than what I have, but be safe. In my case it was the leg kicking, and sitting up that kept my disturbing my wife's sleep. I would find myself sitting on the edge of the bed feet on the floor every 45 minutes. When I did the sleep study they said I stopped breathing every 20 minutes. I was 412 when I got the Cpap in 2002 just before knee replacement surgery. I was 460 by 2009. Done to 360 so only 50 down since the 2002 sleep study. I hope I am to get off the machine but an added benefit has been lowering blood pressure without

medication. I was on Norvasc and was able to stop and still see BP reduction since I started the CPAP.

[AlbanyDan 32]

I agree. I remember too well the days of fighting sleep all day and waking up through the night. I used to think it was stress related. Even tried the Ginkgo Biloba everybody was taking for alertness.. then you even think that maybe its some kind of dementia. All that just to find out that it was just the affect of long term sleep deprevation.

Are you able to get off the CPAP yet?