Weaning off CPAP

[ready2B 263]

I have lost 75 lbs now and would like to wean off my CPAP. I have used it for over 3 years and my apnea has been well under control. I can view my data on my computer and I have almost no obstructive or hypopnea events anymore (maybe 1 or 2 a night total) and my snoring has completely stopped. I've decreased the pressure from 10 to 8 and still have only 1 or 2 events a night usually just a hypopnea. I understand that I might need another sleep study to be completely released from it but I want to wait until I know for certain that I will be and not have to do another one in another month or two. (I hate sleep studies!) Since I can view my data, is there a recommended way to wean down from a CPAP?

Has anyone else here weaned themselves off or down from their CPAP and if so, how did you do it? Or did your doctor just tell you that you no longer needed it and you just quit it cold turkey one day? Did you have to have a sleep study to confirm and if so, how far out were you from your surgery and how much weight had you lost? I know everyone is different, but just curious.

[joatsaint 2,814]

I weaned myself off my CPAP by taping off the air valve a little each week. I had lost about 130lbs and I was into the 240lb range. My CPAP does not allow me to change the pressure, it's all done with a special device they plug into it. After 8 or 9 months post-op I tried sleeping without the mask a few times, but would wake up, gasping and out of breath.

At 11 months, I started waking up because of all the air being pumped into my stomach. I was literally farting and belching so much that it woke me. So I started taping over the air valve to restrict the amount of air being pumped into the mask. I started out taping it about half closed and over the next few weeks, kept taping over more and more of the opening. I finally got it to the point where it was just about 95% taped over. During this time, I would randomly try sleeping without the mask and by the end of my 11th month post-op, I was completely off the CPAP.

I've tried sleeping with the CPAP since then, and now I can't sleep with it on, just too much air going into my stomach. :-P

Has anyone else here weaned themselves off or down from their CPAP and if so, how did you do it? Or did your doctor just tell you that you no longer needed it and you just quit it cold turkey one day? Did you have to have a sleep study to confirm and if so, how far out were you from your surgery and how much weight had you lost? I know everyone is different, but just curious.

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

anyone weaned off or down from their CPAP

@@ready2B

i started using a CPAP about 5 years ago

2+ years ago i was approaching goal

down 100 lbs

doc wanted another sleep study test

couldn't tell you how it went cuz i was asleep at the time

everything went fine

doc shortly took me off the machine

"cold turkey"

good luck with the sleep study test

hopefully you'll get an A

lost 75 lbs

keep up the good job

kathy

farting and belching

@@joatsaint

awwww man that was you??

thank you for correcting the situation

170 lbs down

show off!

GOAL right around the corner!!

keep up the good job

kathy

congrats

[PuraVida37 715]

I just took myself off the machine after a 90 lb. loss because I kept waking up with the mask on the floor the next morning. It was just too much air pressure. My apnea was barely there (I think they diagnosed me just so I could get the surgery), and I was on the lowest level possible on the machine.

[pink dahlia 2,513]

About 3 months after being banded I forgot to put the cpap mask on one night, and my hubby said I didn't snore at all so I just quit using it cold turkey. I was down about 25 -35 lbs by then. I haven't used the machine since then and still dont have any problems. ! No sleep study needed ! Good luck !

[terrydumont46 1,954]

i too just went off the cpap when the mask kept sliding off during the night. I asked my husband if I was snoring and he said no so I didn't worry about it anymore. sometimes when my allergies are causing grief I look at the cpap machine and want to wear it for the night for better breathing and air intake.

[cornhusker 115]

I wouldn't self diagnose yourself. I had another sleep study done in January. The sleep specialist told me my OSA is gone and to stop using it. Haven't worn it since. Just because you've lost weight doesn't mean you don't have sleep apnea. It's a serious condition and I would never had changed anything without the advice of the guy who actually went to medical school. Good luck.

[Djmohr 6,965]

I have been on the lowest possible setting for 12 months now. On occasion I will fall lasses on the couch or bed for a couple hours and not put it on. My husband tells me (very excitedly I might add) that I no longer snore even without the machine. I was wondering how one simply stops using it, I slept with it religiously since the day I got it. I am tempted to simply stop using it and see what happens. I too hate sleep studies and in fact have never actually slept in one. I simply dose once in a while.

[Bandista 7,466]

I forgot to take my machine with me on a trip so had a forced trial without for four nights. Really want to ditch this thing but not sure if I will still need it even as a thin person. My plan is to lose the next 20-30 and request sleep study at that time. Unfortunately my sleep issues preceded being overweight. Sometimes I attempt a short nap without the machine just as an experiment or retraining. Oh, I tried a jaw strap thing to keep my mouth closed one night and my teeth wouldn't meet the next day. So that's not going to work. Good luck every one with the zzzzsss!

[ready2B 263]

Thanks all!

@@Rocky1 - I think what you recommended is what I will do since I have the ability to monitor my AHI with each adjustment. It has been less than 1 for quite a while, in fact recently it has been as low as .1 so I am sure I can safely reduce the pressure as long as I keep watching the data. Once I get down to 4mm H20 then I will request a sleep study to make it official since that is the lowest pressure used.

[esskay77 785]

I have been putting off another sleep study until I lose some more weight but have been thinking about weaning my self off at some point. To be honest, one of the things I will miss the most and makes the hardest to quit it, is the white noise it creates! It's so soothing. I have napped a bit without the CPAP and it feels weird to not have that noise.

[devillynn 193]

i really want to get rid of my CPAP too! I am going to wait until i hit my goal before i have my sleep study done to see if i am out of the woods tho. I am almost there so i am just trying to be patient....it is really hard - i have fallen asleep without the mask on a few times in the past month or so which for me is really saying something becasue i have always worn my mask since i got my machine - Vader is what i call mine - anyway i really want to get rid of Vader so i am kind of excited but kind of worried that even tho i've lost all this weight it will still be needed. I guess we will see!

[robin125 16]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I stopped using my CPAP five nights ago after my doctor's consent. Since then, I've been getting only about five hours sleep each night. What's odd is I don't feel tired during the day. My doc did a night oximetry and my numbers were great, although I only slept about five hours that night, too. I told him this and he said it might take several nights to get used to not wearing it. He said he'd be more concerned if I were waking up a lot six months out. I usually get seven hours sleep with the CPAP. Has anyone else had this problem? My rny was in March, 2016, and I now weigh 207#, down from 410# when I started the process. I go to the gym every day and eat a vegetarian diet. I'm a 6', 49-year-old male.

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