How to deal with extreme physical pain

Re:How to deal with extreme physical pain by akulbe on Saturday October 31, 2020 @01:21AM (#24949329)

One of the things that was a revelation to me about sleep apnea… it's not CAUSED by your weight. Here, I'd been carrying that around for years, and feeling like a failure.

I brought it up to my sleep doctor. I said I thought I had it because of my weight, he laughed at it. He said, "If you are overweight, that can exacerbate apnea, but IT ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT CAUSE IT. That's absurd."

My sleep doctor is suuuuper fit, and very lean. An avid runner. He said that he has a VERY bad case of sleep apnea. I was floored!

He said you either have it or you don't.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How to deal with extreme physical pain by JauntyHatAngle on Saturday October 31, 2020 @01:50AM (#24949408)

I've heard different from sleep doctors, that is, it can be bad luck from genetics where weight is not the main (or even not at all) a factor, but for others it's largely caused by fat deposits blocking the upper airway, and with weight loss it entirely goes away.

So case by case?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How to deal with extreme physical pain by PaulKeeble on Saturday October 31, 2020 @02:20AM (#24949517)

I had a doctor in the sleep clinic tell me if I lost 10KG my sleep apnea would be cured. I lost 15KG and my prescription went up 5%. When the doctors treating you believe that nonsense and then are surprised it did not work there isn't much hope for the public. This myth actually comes from the doctors.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How to deal with extreme physical pain by DanBC on Saturday October 31, 2020 @05:02AM (#24949977)

Weight loss is not curative, but it is a useful. About 2/3rds to 3/4ths of people with obstructive sleep apnoea are obese.

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/obstructive-sleep-apnoea-synd...

> These recommendations are based on the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guideline Management of obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS) in adults [SIGN, 2003].

> Advice on weight loss and exercise

> Expert opinion in a clinical review article from the British Medical Journal, Obstructive sleep apnoea, concluded that weight reduction programmes are not to be thought of as curative but rather as adjunctive for people with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) [Greenstone and Hack, 2014].

> A meta-analysis of 5 small studies (n = 129) found a reduction in the apnoea/hypopnoea index (AHI) by –6.27 events/hour following supervised exercise training. This demonstrated a reduction in the severity of sleep apnoea (with minimal changes in body weight) with exercise [Iftikhar et al, 2014].

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How to deal with extreme physical pain by treeman79 on Saturday October 31, 2020 @06:10AM (#24950205)

Spouse has a threshold weight. Above she snores like a train. I sleep elsewhere.

Below she’s fine.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How to deal with extreme physical pain by PaulKeeble on Saturday October 31, 2020 @07:36AM (#24950619)

Yes they are, because sleep apnea causes obesity since lack of sleep messes enormously with your hormones. Its not causative its correlated, it is a symptom.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How to deal with extreme physical pain by slothtrop on Saturday October 31, 2020 @09:53AM (#24951492)

I had poor sleep for ages and was never overweight, which is true of most insomniacs I imagine. Sleep apnea may facilitate obesity but it doesn't cause it. It's calories in, calories out.

I think the strong correlation of obesity with sleep apnea however should lend credence to the idea that it at least exacerbates it. But more to the point, there are conditions that are very similar to sleep apnea but are misdiagnosed as such. And these may very well be more related to weight.

[ Parent | on HN ]