I got diagnosed with osa 4 years ago at 52 yo, female, 154 lbs. I put off getting a cpap for lots of reasons but when I tried it the first night, I dreamed in colour. I could not recall the last time I remembered dreaming. Inside 4 nights, the permanent jet lag was resolving. My brain fog started lifting. The next battle was carb addiction which was fed by the tiredness. Now 15 pounds lighter, I feel 20 years younger, memory so improved from better sleep. I have 0 to 2 apnea’s per night. But if I forget to cpap, I snore myself awake, so it’s not cured but sleep quality is radically better. Last year I got a tonsil revision. No more putting off health. Help yourself, you are worth it.
Did the tonsil revision help also? Was that a total removal or I suppose just a bit taken off? Im battleing all these items but yes CPAP treatment helps you get rolling. Would be amazing to defeat the issue totally.
@@johnpauledwards6234 , it helped a lot of ways, sometimes I would cough eating because the one tonsil was so large and food would get tangled up. Sounds awful. As for the apnea, I don’t think it made a big difference but I felt an improvement with swallowing that was a huge relief. The ENT used radio waves and shrunk it, kind of burned it to shrivel it. It was sore, but fine with Tylenol. I should have done it years ago but every time I mentioned it to my primary physician, he just said, “you don’t want your tonsils out, they don’t do that anymore.”. Changed doctors and she referred me and he explained new procedure, booked, done, not the most pleasant procedure but not horrible, no regrets. Hope that helps.
Just want to mention also that alcohol, even a glass of wine with dinner, disturbs sleep when you reach an age (50? For me). Also, food sensitivities make snoring worse. If any food gives you a stuffy nose, then research histamine intolerance and eliminate a few things. It really helps with the quality of sleep.
Hi Dr Vik I was watching this video 9 months ago when I was going through my sleep study. My AHI was 95. Since the CPAP machine and 9 months later, I’ve lost 15kg, losing more as days go and feel like I have so much energy. Thank you for this video
Brilliant video I’ve been going to sleep hospitals for my sleep APNEA for the last 2 years & you’ve managed to give me more information than any appointments I’ve had in your 12 min video. This doctor deserves every blessing coming his way.
All of my patients with sleep apnea have various BMIs tells us NOTHING about the relationship between BMI and sleep apnea in the general population. This is only for those that have the problem. For those whose AHI is directly proportional to their BFP (NOT BMI), this tells them to just give it up and try to use a CPAP. In the US almost no one can go to a clinic like yours because our insurance won't pay for it.
Most definitely. Apnea leads to weight gain. When you are exhausted you carb load to get a shot of energy. 69 times/ hour and I was barely functional. Grab some carbs and I could go on for a few more minutes.
Thank you so much, "cruel" is how it felt when an electro-physician virtually shouted at me when I was in E.D. with atrial fibrillation that if I lost weight I'd be cured of sleep apnoa and A/F. I was in bed with one of those silly gowns on, an overweight 70 year old, feeling physically weak, he was a figure of authority in that hospital, wearing a suit, flanked by 3 junior doctors. The truth is my diet was almost certainly healthier than his own.
Thank you, thank you. I started treatment for severe sleep apnea in May. Initially didn't lose any weight, started a new diet a month ago and I am already 19lbs down. It's been so much easier to stick to. I feel so much better already. Really appreciate how kind you are (my ENT doctor was kind, GP not so much).
I just found out today I have it bad. This video is great. I've been working out 4 times a week, watching my diet and I cut alcohol out and still wasn't helping. Confirming that I had sleep anena and watching this video, it make so much sense why I struggled with weight for the last 5 years like I had. Also other things like my anxiety, mental health and just always feeling tired. It all makes so much more sense now. Thank you for this educational video
I've struggled with weight due to sleep apnea and I started ozempic 2 weeks ago. I've lost 3.4kg in that time plus my sleep has already improved, as has stress levels pwr my fitbit. I have been unable to use cpap but I plan to redo my sleep study when i get to 90kg - currently 103kg.
I started to cry watching this video.. I'm living this nightmare and have had these conversations with my health care provider with that same advice..I can't use the c-pap and I've tried all the masks..I just can't get over the feeling of claustrophobia or what water boarding may feel like.. I'm living this vicious cycle along with SLE Lupus and Sjogrens Syndrome
That would suck, my story is I deal with a lot of stress and being overworked At my old workplace working 12hrs a days, 6days a week - minus the travel and meal prep, out in the fields around heavy mobile machinery that created a lot of fine bull dust That would go airborne everywhere, couldn’t help but inhaling it, everyday My throat and nose was always dry and sore. Ginger beer and a dust mask did ease the sinuses, but would never provide a good nights rest. Which obviously lead to weight gain. I now only sleep on my side as laying on my back cuts off my airway and breaks my sleep. Best nights rest, I ever get these days is going out camping around lakes or well greened areas that create crisp dew air in the mornings. And I’m very picky with my blankets an pillow covers. P.S. the other thing that really worked for me was fasting. If our bodies are storing food preparing and expecting a harsh winter or months without food, which each year never come.
@@beastyshout Have you been able to try a dental appliance? I am so sorry you are going through this. Know that it is not your fault that you have apnea.
I’ve had the mandibular advancement device custom fit in the past (I lost it though lol) and it worked great for me. Highly recommend it. I have an overbite & I had trouble with getting good mask seal from CPAP
valid points.... i recently got sleep apnea and my doctor said straight up lose weight... but without changing anything in my life but having a cpap machine i have already lost weight! ???? good to hear your points of view.
I was diagnosed as t2 diabetic in 2016. I tried lowcarbing instead of meds but my appetite was too intense. In 2017 my dr suspected sleep apnea due to other things going on. I had a sleep study and the AHI was 167. After just 1 night on CPAP Iost all desire for processed foods/sugar. The weight came off effortlessly! I dropped from 370 lbs to currently under 200...size 4x to currently Medium.
This is so incredibly helpful. I’m sending your videos to my patients dealing with sleep issues, weight challenges and mental health, which are clearly all connected. More information on how lack of sleep interfaces with bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety would be helpful.
Wow. I’ve never even met my sleep Dr. I was sent home with a machine by a receptionist and didn’t know how to use it for a year. I’ve had multiple sinus infections. Our healthcare here is embarrassing and repulsive. America the great… 😂
I've gone from a BMI of 25 to a BMI of 27/8 since my sleep apnea has developed. I know I would still have sleep apnea if I lost weight, but I also know it would not go away, or even be low enough to not need surgery if I did, i.e. the improvement would be marginal. All the medics I've seen bar Mr Veer have made out that losing weight is a silver bullet, with seemingly no appreciation of how chronic sleep deprivation affects one's ability to eat and drink sensibly, and exercise. How many people out there can really go with zero deep sleep for years and then muster the motivation to stick with an effective diet and exercise regime when they can barely cope with the fragments of a life they currently have? Curing them and letting them recover from the unbelievable stress the condition in its more severe form causes will give them so much motivation that they'll feel they can achieve anything. I certainly find that on the very rare occasions that I have a good night, I'm no longer craving fatty foods and a dark corner to hide in, rather I'm a normal human able to make good, healthy decisions without them feeling like a titanic struggle. Anyway, great rant, please keep spreading the gospel!
Thank you once again for such an informative video. As a middle aged man with a BMI of 30, I was often told to lose weight and things would improve. However, I am sure that I had this condition in my twenties when I was a lot lighter.
Very hard to break down the belief system of some people. If you had OSA as a young thin man, then this is unlikely to be due to being overweight. However losing weight would still help you now.
I've been ill since I was young and first saw a doctor about it when I was 17. In addition to lots of other symptoms, I've had persistent weight gain and complete inability to lose weight for years, with every doctor telling me it was my own fault and that I needed to eat less. I've been dieting and fasting since I was 14, but to no avail. On Thursday I found out that I had severe OSA with an AHI of nearly 50. I'm going to be 40 this year, so I've had 23 years of doctors telling me it was my fault that I wasn't losing weight. It's so refreshing to hear that treatment might help me finally shed my excess weight!
Absolutely! My weight has been climbing, climbing! I snore louder than a bear. Had sleep apnea rate of 58. So if the AHI of 58 is per hour, then nearly every minute, my sleep is being disturbed. That’s how people are tortured. Tomorrow I find out what we’re gonna do
WOW! I wish I had a doctor like you in the US. I've been trying to find a new ENT and I'm not having much luck. I've been fat all my life. Even at 10 years old my parents would say, she'd be such a pretty girl if she'd just lose weight. I've tried everything from hypnosis to surgery and I'm at my heaviest weight ever. I eat considerably less than the people around me but I can't lose weight. I swear I gain weight just by looking at food. Ever since my uterine cancer and my hysterectomy, it's damn near impossible for me to lose weight. I've had doctors tell me the reason I've had so many sinus infections is because I'm too fat. They tell me to lose weight and call them back. I am on oxygen at night (3.5 liters) and that started after my cancer surgery when they noticed my oxygen would drop below 89 when I was sleeping. They tried to set me up with a c-pap but I couldn't get 5 minutes of sleep with one of those things on. I'm nearly 60 now and I've given up at this point, but I wish I would have had someone like you as one of my doctors. Maybe my life would have been much different.
Don’t give up make some small consistent changes - I’m 62 years of age have diabetes type 2 and sleep apnea - ive lost 60 pounds the last 12 months by removing processed carbs and sugar - have the occasional treat once a week - I eat within an 8-10 hour period say 12noon to 8 pm - I have 2 meals a day and a small snack - I focus on protein veges salads good fats - drink 3-3 litres of water - walk daily and strength train twice per week - improving my sleep has been the hardest to remedy - good luck !
I had undiagnosed sleep apnea for 20 years. I was even prescribed modafinil for daytime sleepiness but no sleep test. Eventually I had a stroke and sleep test revealed AHI of 116. We have to do better at awareness. Since CPap therapy in June I have lost 50lbs without dieting. Thanks for all your videos
So agree with everything you’ve presented in this vlog. It’s also a great relief to hear so many “myths” finally debunked by a true specialist. Biological individuality continues as thread in these presentations...people accept diagnosis based on generalised conclusions...yet our bodies are complex and so varied physically and mentally... I’ve been told numerous times by GP’s that loss of weight will fix my obstructive sleep apnea (at 67 I’m slightly overweight)...I know in my case it might help to a small degree but believe what I need as well is targeted surgery (Ablation)...I suppose like many subscribers to this vlog, I live in a remote area and getting to ENT specialists or treatments is very difficult...thank you for these invaluable and informative vlogs Dr Veer.
I got sever apnea and they are still talking about weight lossing, but since i train im no fat but i got 31 BMI. I got this since i was like 20 kg lighter but every body keeps telling that when i loose weight it will help me
Great video! It is so hard to find evidence-based information on RUclips about sleep apnea. The data that you presented were very interesting. Do you think there is a connection between exercise and sleep apnea? I wonder if that might be able to explain why some of the people who lost weight and improve their sleep apnea initially later saw their symptoms worsen again. Perhaps they stop exercising after the loss of their weight? I remember reading some research articles about how exercises , especially cardio exercises, led to improvement in patients’ AHI. What are your thoughts on this? Maybe you could do a video on that too.
OSA is either caused by 1. enlargement of the upper airway (excessive fat or muscle in the throat area), 2. poor genetics (being born with large tonsils) or 3. reduced muscle tone of the upper airway and soft palate (often age related). Weight loss can address #1, surgery may address #2, and there are certain vocal exercises to help with #3. I can't see how cardio would help with 2 or 3 but it's possible that, since exercise can increase testosterone, and testosterone can increase muscle tone, exercise may help improve OSA caused by #3. The benefits of cardio helping with 1 should be obvious
There can be more to it than obesity. I'm not really overweight, but have OSA. I think with age the oral pharyngeal muscles can get lax and lose muscle tone. So I'll be working on muscle exercises. Hey, what is the incidence of OSA in professional singers? Hmmm
"people say oh that's because after your tonsils are taken out they don't eat". Are you kidding me!?!? I was maybe 6 years old when I got my tonsils taken out... but pretty sure I was eating a gallon of ice cream a day 🤣
Your video's are professional, enlightening and inspiring to watch. Keep up the great work you do as your information through these videos are a total breath of fresh air! (no pun intended.)
My sleep tech even told me getting thin you'd probably have OSA. He was as thin as a stick and had severe OSA from when he was 19. He had all the hallmark symptoms of OSA at that young age, yet he was skinny. Getting cpap treatment is what made him turn to becoming a certified sleep tech. 😅😅
Is it a good idea to have your tonsils out? Will it help your OSA? Does it restructure your airways? Do you need them for some reason and will you miss them?
I had insomnia in my 20s for years. I always felt better than I did when I slept. At 40 years old I was diagnosed with sleep apnoea. I use CPAP @ 10psi and sleep for 8 hours exactly ever night. I wake up by myself. Prior to CPAP I would sleep in almost every day. Even with 4 or 5 different alarms set. I went through my whole working life getting into trouble for timekeeping. Since my diagnosis it's been miles better.
I was diagnosed with OSA 13 month ago! I changed my lifestyle with exercise and weight loss, 13 kgs down. Well, i got rid of my horrible snoring but my OSA is still severe😩
Thank you for such an amazing series of videos I am still struggling with CPAP to the point where I hate prospect of going to sleep. The issue is nasal congestion which I never experienced before using CPAP Have tried everything including changing masks, adjusting air pressure as well as humidity and Flonase, oral antihistamines, nasal solution Have lost 25lbs with another 15 lbs to go (Your video is clear and keeping my expectations low) Have consulted with my ENT and she recommends RF ablation in the sinuses to alleviate congestion. I am seeking a second opinion. Just want a solution as I am weary and a clinical depression due to sleep deprivation
this is incredibly insightful. true healthcare. your approach can really help many people. in medicine it seems people treat very downstream of the problem. its time to change the thought process and approach
Hello sir.. i m from india. Sir I need ur help. My mother 85yrs, 72kg., recently diagonesed with sleep apnea both obstructive nd central. Sir,Can u share ur mail id?..So I can share her reports to you. We r so confused in buying cpap machine. Pl help sir, if u can. We need ur suggestions. Thank you.
Did and in office procedure "Turbinate reduction" and started sleeping on my side and mouth taping APH went from 33 to 4 no more CPAP thank you Jesus 🙏🏼
I have an AHI around 5 but without the mask I can't sleep properly. I snored long before I became heavier. My self observation found my problem about snoring at night maybe, but I have no idea how to fix it or will it ever can be fixed. My habit to sniff back one's snot (like the soccer players do it during the game) has the same procedure as the way I'm snoring through the nose. Any suggestion for some exercise?
I am 5'9, 65kg, so not overweight at all. I Was diagnosed with mild OSA few years back and was put on CPAP. After using it for 2 yrs I didnt feel any better though AHI while using cpap was under 5. Cortisol, TSH, Mg deficiency tests were done as well. All were normal. Its killing me everday to be so sleepy, low energy. Living in a 3rd world country, cant get any better supported. Not much experienced dr r here on this subject. Wish i could meet Dr Vik Veer.😔
Ask to look at your sleep study and use my (how to read a sleep study) video to read it. make sure you have checked your iron levels as you might have restless legs syndrome etc. Yes you need to find a good sleep centre. I'm sorry it's so hard for you.
I lost 40lbs and my OSA got worse. I had to start wearing a chin strap,taping my mouth shut and raised my pressure from 7 to 10. I respond to CPAP really well but it's a pain in the ass having all this stuff on my head every night.
So glad I found Dr Veer, I been diagnosed with OSA, severe 59 per minute. Tried so hard to lose weight nothing happened.I have been on a call machine for 5 night , I'm so relieved at last I can be treated waiting for a THR. The clinic is going to ring in 6 weeks to see how I'm doing .Fingers crossed I will get there Dr Veer is the only video I will subscribe too, thanks it's a reavalation!
When you do long, extensive studies yourself, you realize that you probably don't know anything, there is always so many variables.. You will practice empathy instead of judgement, especially when it comes to sick people and be very careful with your opinions, like this man. To all those (doctors and regular folk) who are not affraid to have a strong opinion: Know that to people who actually do the work, making snap-judgements is a clear sign that you don't know what you are talking about. Worse.. you are loudly displaying the wrong mental state to gain knowledge and proud of it.. Nothing is ever that easy. Especially in complex systems, like the human body, weather, economics or psychology, we are always talking probability at the most and even when all the "evidence" ever gathererd is clearly pointing in a certain direction, you can turn out to be dead wrong.. I think it was Socrates who said: I am the only one who can say he knows anything, because I know I know nothing. If you think that is just not helpful... well, then you are probably wrong.
Nicely explained doc., thank you very much! Is there any perticular enzyme, harmone or signalling cascade which gets affected by sleep apneoa? Can they be manipulated by diet or micronutient supplements to control vicious weight-apenoa correlations? Best regards.
The thing with the BMI, is that not everybody puts fat on around their neck in the same way. In my family we get a lot of fat around our face and neck. Other people I've observed that are overweight don't get fat faces and necks. I'd say that getting fat is going to make sleep apnea worse for you, particularly if you are prone to fatness around your face and neck.
Thank you for this video. Heavyweight people deal with so many health issues that have a lot of legit causes but just get slapped on diets and exercise regimes that sometimes make things worse or ignore the real cause. I will.never forget being tricked into weight loss drugs that I had horrible reaction to or a friend whose cancer was ignored because no one believed she could be fat unless she was just lazy and undisciplined. We need discussions like this that talk about the intricacies beyond "have you tried not being fat".
This is an old video but it's harrowing thinking about the poor people at the extreme ends of that chart. It's just upsetting to think there are people out there "living" with BMIs of 60.
A lot of the problem with sleeping problem is a breathing problem due to the base of the tongue blocking the airway causing nose breathing to be impossible and mouth breathing to be limited. Old fashioned orthodontics that includes 4 premolars and 4 3rd molars to be removed has left thousands of patients to not have enough room for their tongue. This leads to the tongue falling back at rest and blocking the airway and/or the tip of the tongue pressing against the back of the back of the lower anterior teeth often creating scalloped indentations or imprints of the teeth anatomy by morning. By relaxing the lower jaw and protruding the tongue forward and outward past the teeth even slightly, the airway is opened enough to allow nose breathing. Their is an airway device that simply encases and holds the tongue forward, allowing the patient to breath more comfortably and restfully. I am in California so I don't know about the availability in the UK. Orthodontic and sleep appliance labs provide them after an evaluation by a sleep specialist or orthodontist. Now, contemporary orthodontists expand the maxilla and mandible using appliances.😷😜💤
Thanks Doc, I am having the same issue. I have badly swollen tonsils and I know it is causing my sleep apnoea. But I was advised by the doctors in Munich, go lose your weight and it will be cured. I insisted getting my atrophied tonsils removed. But they gave me CPAP. This is helpful, but very inconvenient. I will lose some 10 kg and visit the ENT specialist who was advising me my deviated septum operated. Yes, TURBINOPLASTY/CONCHOTOMY did help me but it also causing bleeding that is causing stuffed nose. The doctors here are clueless!
my doctor did an test which involved a watch to track my oxygen level over night to which he said my sleep apnea had gone away and my oxygen level seem normal, but how come I still don’t feel good when I wake up without cpap? If my doctor says my results are good?
I decided to undergo sleep test 3 weeks ago because my GP suggested it because of my complains about sleeping; I experienced Dizziness as I woke up and so tired like I climbed a hill, always had nightmares, woke up gasping, i snore a lot, even my husband and children was scared because they saw me like not breathing, I am forgetful these days, less energy during work, sleepy, i tried dieting but still gaining weight, I am afraid with myself not waking up in the morning. I had my result the other day. It is severe OSA. There are a lot of recommendations listed in my result. one is to lose weight and as I understand with the video it will take a long time for me to lose weight . Now, I am looking at 2 option. Which is better CPAP or surgery?
Oh my gosh. THANK YOU!!!! An informative video presented with kindness. I am 6 months on CPAP therapy using an APAP machine. I have said the same things about why it is I could not lose weight. I have been actively looking for years for the things that might contribute -how my metabolism worked, sensitivity to sugar, etc. It has been a slow increase of weight throughout my life even though I exercised three times a week and various other physical activity. I watched what I ate because throughout my life my blood sugar has always been on the high side. I have alway been somewhat careful so that it didn't turn into diabetes but was always on the cusp. This has been for 40 years. And I am certain had I not watched I would for sure have become a diabetic. I think one of the final greatest discoveries was that I found out I had severe sleep apnea - over 60 episodes a night. I was always waking up to go to the washroom. It got worse and worse and I was desperate to get a full nights sleep so I could feel rested and after trying so many things I finally got a sleep test. I had been offered this before and am pondering why and what is the stigma to this condition that people don't want to get checked out for it. Perhaps it is because we feel somehow it is our fault and that there are things we could do and it would go away? Not wanting to wear the mask at night for various reason? The cost associated with it here in Canada and elsewhere is also a contributing factor I am sure and yet the condition can contribute to other health conditions that the health care system could eventually see. It seems these things are really an important thing to address. I lost 20 pounds in the first 4 months which included some minimal changes to my diet but not that much really. I was surprised at how easy it was. And I had tried diet changes before. And like the fellow below I am sure I have had sleep apnea for many, many years. It is so nice to feel rested and all the associated benefits I am seeing with that. My mother, who would have been 94, I am sure had it and always was embarrassed about her weight and how she could not lose it. I used to say she needed to get more exercise and so I did that in my life. I believe sleep apnea runs in my family and have just had another family member much younger who was diagnosed. People like you who do these videos are invaluable and precious for those of us searching. Thank you for the data and meta- analysis and commentary. I have also looked at the 5 exercises for sleep apnea video for the things I can do to also help. Thank you so much again. So glad I found you. One of the good positive things on the internet.
It's the cpap machine that's the problem. It is HORRIBLE. Come up with something better and I'll do it. I saw a pulmunologist and he didn't offer anything besides cpap. I think I'm going to try an ENT doctor.
I’m 220 5’5”. I don’t want surgery. I’ve done drastic weight loss water fasting before and went down to 175. If I lose weight back to 175 will my apnea dissapear? It just showed up where I can’t breath .
Thank you for your video. I have been trying to lose weight for a long time now and have struggled. I better get my sleep apena under control and maybe my weight will take care of itself.
Dr. Please answer me. I am reading all of these studies that say that people gain weight after using Cpap and mostly it’s women. Can you please comment??? I am afraid if usinf CPAP and gaining even more weight. I know you say you see weight loss, but do you see it in women as much as men when they use CPAP?
BMI isn't a great method for determining body composition... Muscle mass can easily throw off these values, I had a 6 pack and was still in the overweight category close to obese according to BMI. I can only imagine there are people all over the scale who appear healthy on a BMI but are skinny fat...so unfortunately I don't like the BMI to judge these results by, body fat is a much more reliable data set to use, although this can be harder to obtain.
Heh, on the subject of being told to “go away and lose weight or I won’t operate on you” that’s exactly what the neurosurgeon said to me after telling me I needed a spinal fusion. Time for a 2nd opinion, methinks.
I was the fittest of my life and definitely not overweight when diagnosed with sleep apnea. Wish it was as easy as lowering weight to stop using cpap which I hate. I have put weight on not off in The years I have been using cpap. No tonsils either. Removed as a child. It is so incredibly disheartening. And it is even more disheartening to hear the weight might just drop off on cpap.
@Vir Veer - ENT Surgeon: I took an intro to polysomnography class a few years ago over here in the US and I remember them teaching that most cases of obstructive sleep apnoea were not responsive to surgical intervention. I guess this must mean identifying patients that would benefit is the difficult part? One more thing, could you put the DOI number in the description for those of us that might want to take a look. Thanks love your videos cheerio.
theres a huge difference between solid theory and just blatant speculation, the Idea that we're "cavemen" is a rather idealized view of evolution as though everything involved in the process of evolution was self aware, you say things like "this is why the body holds onto fat" but thats a presumption rooted in your views about survival and not data. obviously its true that theres a correlation between stress and holding fat but perhaps its best to leave speculative "whys" out of an explainion of a process that happens irregaurdless of what we perceive as "reason" or "purpose" the fact is your body would gladly adapt negatively just aswell as positively so we shouldnt attempt to characterize traits as parts of strategys that are merely emergent and not premeditated, which im not even saying that that they are nessicerily emergent im just saying, no one has any ACTUAL idea WHY the body stores fat we only know HOW it stores fat.
I have sleep apnea. I had my tonsillitis removed when I was a child. Do they grow back or how many tonsillitis do we have. I would love to get a good night's sleep. My Dr recommended a cpap and I really feel uncomfortable using it. Got a gum sheild from the dentist and doesn't fit and always comes out.
Hi vik ì àm a slim 60 year old 160 lbs tried everthing nothing works my heart feels stresed every morning have cpap etc . I am really worried what i can do
Is it hard to get a diagnosis of UARS? I had a WatchPat with RDI of 8 and AHI of 0.1 but I feel completely unfuctional, testosterone is compromised as well. My test came back inconclusive for sleep apnea but I did tell my GP to make a referral to you Vik, I think for a sleep study. Could you also do like a DISE on me as well if need be? I feel I need either a BiPap or cpap to get functional before I wait for Palatal expansion and double jaw surgery! Absolutely spot on about weight. I developed sleep disordered breathing around the age of 12-14 and blew up with weight of nowhere, its hard for me to put on muscle or lose weight. I'm stuck in limbo land regards to my body and it kills my confidence.
So long as you meet the criteria for treatment on the NHS, I would be delighted to help you with a DISE, CPAP etc. We would need to do a NoxT3 sleep study to diagnose UARS, or perhaps a proper overnight PSG in the hospital.
Is there a correlation between people who are overweight and people who are less likely to tackle their health problems? Conversely, is there a correlation between thin/lighter people and people who are more likely to 'look after themselves' in the sense that they would actively tackle their health problems? Also the probability that someone of a lower body mass is more likely to have more sleeping partners in their lifetime who will alert this person to their sleep apnea versus someone who is overweight who does not have as many sleeping partners due to conventional attraction standards in society? I feel I could be wrong but surely these factors influence the data in a significant way that would indicate that excess weight does not necassarily contribute to sleep apnea.
Even before watching this: I'm an oldster... my dad had bad sleep apnea (before we knew about it or CPAP was invented) and wasn't even remotely fat. I'm fat now, but always had it. Lucky to afford a CPAP now which is a wonderous joy. Here is my edit after watching the vid: Video affirms my anecdotal experience.
I am so thankful for your evidence-based explanations in resolving sleep apnea and the clear, concise ways in which you articulate them for the layperson! Your videos have made great sense to me and are enabling me to find non-invasive solutions to my breathing problems. I am changing the way I breathe, using the "Sleep for Snorers" Cds and exercises, using a mandibular device and the Mute nasal dilators you recommended and seeing improvements that I hope to maintain. I live in America and am not part of NHS, but am tremendously blessed by your outreach. I hope you know/can feel how much you are appreciated and how grateful people are for your help and advice.
its only the effect of a diet on a gut. well i very skinny now due to diet. because i wanted to work on mu gut bacteria ... and tried vagus nerv stimulation .which intensly brought back intense sleepapnea. its a trap at the end. maybe a right gut bacterie/metabolism fixes sleep apnea . but now i cant loose weight anymore.iam trapped. building up hut bacteria is very tricky though
This made me cry. I has sleep apnea as a child. Had surgery to remove my tonsils & adenoids. I've been overweight most of my life. I've lost & gain repeatedly and now I'm dealing with problems sleeping. I don't know when I'll be able to have my sleep study, but my constant fear is that, I won't get treated just told to loose weight, like it's a light switch. I just want to sleep 😔
14 years of CPAP and, on the whole, my weight has only increased. Now I’m wondering if my CPAP has ever been effective. Sure, I don’t experience micro-sleeps anywhere near as often the during the day, but I still feel tired from time to time. Mind you, my untreated AHI was 62.5. I knew I had severe sleep apnea but I had no idea over only 30 was considered severe.
Really useful information. Yesterday I had the results of my sleep study. AHI of 38. I’ve eradicated everything from my life that could result in the fatigue I’ve been experiencing but coincidentally yesterday was one of the worst days I’ve had for daytime fatigue. So I’m at the end of my tether and so optimistic there could be a light at the end of the tunnel. I just have to wait to get my cpap machine, 12 weeks. Ugh. I just want to fix this. It’s been going on for years and I had no idea it was apnea. Anyway, thanks for this video, it’s really useful in helping me understand apnea further (I’m a fit healthy person but my weight gain, 20lb or so, has really confounded me…I do omad most of the time so it didn’t make sense although I was sneaking in uncharacteristic carb binges…I feel like a puzzle has been solved).
Hi Vik, I have never had an issue with severe snoring and have yo-yo’d between 100-125kg all of my adult life (nearly 40 now), that was until I contracted Covid. It may be coincidental and have no relation but my wife commented that I have always snored but there is a clear difference starting immediately after catching it, also in the same way my snoring has worsened exponentially, my wife who has never snored at all now snores, again this started at the exactly the same time as we both contracted covid, I think this should be investigated further as I truly believe this to be a result of covid, also could it even be in relation to the nose swab?
My husband is the same since having covid,snores constantly every night and he now suffers with high blood pressure which he didn't have till catching covid .
My AHI is 60. I visited an ENT to see if I could have surgery to remove tonsils and uvula but he said because my AHI was so high he would not operate because my AHI could go up while I'm healing and that's too dangerous.
Hi Vik, I lost 52 kg last year and was finally able to sleep without my CPAP for the first time in 20 years. (137kg down to 87kg). Weight loss made a huge difference for me. I got a new CPAP machine about three years ago when I was obese and still use it as a psychological aid and probably will continue to do so until it fails but I have slept for several nights without it with no snoring issues. Dr David Unwin has a great talk on RUclips that shows the benefits of a low carb diet on weight loss. In it he shows the scan of a fat person's tongue (which is larger and fatter and blocks the airway) contrasted to the scan of someone with lean body mass. The fat in the back of the tongue shows up really well and demonstrates how weight loss can get rid of the problem fat tongue and hence, sleep apnoea.
@@gallo4796 Oftentimes once someone has overcome the initial discomfort with CPAP, they may develop a strong positive association between the therapy and having a restful, good night's sleep. It would make sense that, even though he may no longer need his CPAP, it may still provide him with that comforting feeling. Those who can't tolerate CPAP are actually in the minority and many people even learn to love using the machine. Also, care to expand on your "cancer" concern?
@@candacecurtis5739 I think it goes Way beyond a few people. I know several people in my own family who lost weight and had their CPAP resolve completely
I was diagnosed with severe OSA 6 years ago with an AHI of 64. I weighed 210 lbs at time of diagnosis and lost 45 lbs over the first 4 years. Didn’t do much besides cut out alcohol and red meat. I had been a 2 beer a day drinker and loved my steak. Went to the Dr. with my concerns of loosing weight and he didn’t have a clue why. He said I wasn’t eating enough. Now my OSA has morphed into UARS symptoms. New sleep study required but I do have narrow nasal passages and partially collapsed nasal valves which I feel is at least one of the main problems. I was CPAP compliant the first 4 years then started to have trouble with the mask like it had too much pressure. I would awake every hour to hour/half like clockwork and have to pee. I can’t tell you how many Drs I’ve seen for OSA and related problems. And many so called Sleep Drs do not know the basics it seems. I can’t tell you how many times I was told to just continue with your CPAP after years of not sleeping right. The more I listen to informative presentations like this one, and gain more knowledge about OSA and UARS, the more I feel that my Dr’s have been negligent. In fact I had to request that an ENT physically examine my airway and identify obstructions as no one had ever taken a look in 6 years. In my case, I think the weight loss helped, as I don’t get winded while doing sports like I used to. But I am struggling against these collapsed nostrils, and if I hold them open with my fingers, I can breathe much better, so I am addressing this with the ENT Dr next week. Thank you Dr. Veer….your videos are literally saving my life bringing awareness to the details of OSA.
Thank you for sharing and saying such nice things. why not look at the video on nasal dilators before you see that ENT guy - might help your case? ruclips.net/video/tPz7jxlkb0I/видео.html
I think i start ranting every time on video, this time I thought I would leave it in - just to see the reaction. The microCPAP rant was like 6 minutes long....
Thanks Dr, I’m overweight but no obese but my Sleep Consultant has said I’ve had OSA to some degree all my life before treatment I was hitting 100 AHI now 2 AHI with treatment. I’m trying to reach a normal BMI but I’ve been told this will still not relieve my OSA.
It will certainly help, and it might cure, but often getting to 100 AHI is caused by multiple issues. work on all of them at the same time and i think you'll see swift results.
Thanks for the reply, I am lucky enough to be able to access private advice from an ENT surgeon on my anatomy. It looks like I have a receding jaw which isn’t helping, but I am focusing on losing weight and other things.
I got diagnosed with osa 4 years ago at 52 yo, female, 154 lbs. I put off getting a cpap for lots of reasons but when I tried it the first night, I dreamed in colour. I could not recall the last time I remembered dreaming. Inside 4 nights, the permanent jet lag was resolving. My brain fog started lifting. The next battle was carb addiction which was fed by the tiredness. Now 15 pounds lighter, I feel 20 years younger, memory so improved from better sleep. I have 0 to 2 apnea’s per night. But if I forget to cpap, I snore myself awake, so it’s not cured but sleep quality is radically better. Last year I got a tonsil revision. No more putting off health. Help yourself, you are worth it.
Excellent comment
Did the tonsil revision help also? Was that a total removal or I suppose just a bit taken off? Im battleing all these items but yes CPAP treatment helps you get rolling. Would be amazing to defeat the issue totally.
@@johnpauledwards6234 , it helped a lot of ways, sometimes I would cough eating because the one tonsil was so large and food would get tangled up. Sounds awful. As for the apnea, I don’t think it made a big difference but I felt an improvement with swallowing that was a huge relief. The ENT used radio waves and shrunk it, kind of burned it to shrivel it. It was sore, but fine with Tylenol. I should have done it years ago but every time I mentioned it to my primary physician, he just said, “you don’t want your tonsils out, they don’t do that anymore.”. Changed doctors and she referred me and he explained new procedure, booked, done, not the most pleasant procedure but not horrible, no regrets. Hope that helps.
Just want to mention also that alcohol, even a glass of wine with dinner, disturbs sleep when you reach an age (50? For me). Also, food sensitivities make snoring worse. If any food gives you a stuffy nose, then research histamine intolerance and eliminate a few things. It really helps with the quality of sleep.
Wow, congratulations. What was your AHI number upon diagnosis? I'm assuming it was very high.
Hi Dr Vik
I was watching this video 9 months ago when I was going through my sleep study.
My AHI was 95.
Since the CPAP machine and 9 months later, I’ve lost 15kg, losing more as days go and feel like I have so much energy.
Thank you for this video
Great
Brilliant video I’ve been going to sleep hospitals for my sleep APNEA for the last 2 years & you’ve managed to give me more information than any appointments I’ve had in your 12 min video. This doctor deserves every blessing coming his way.
Same.
I was scrolling down to post "Brilliant video" as my comment and literally your comment was the top comment.
All of my patients with sleep apnea have various BMIs tells us NOTHING about the relationship between BMI and sleep apnea in the general population. This is only for those that have the problem. For those whose AHI is directly proportional to their BFP (NOT BMI), this tells them to just give it up and try to use a CPAP. In the US almost no one can go to a clinic like yours because our insurance won't pay for it.
agree
Yes
Either way, exercise and healthy food choices are good things.
Do you think the lack of curvature in the neck will cause sleep apnea?
I have carried a lot of shame from believing my Sleep Apnea is all my fault for being overweight.
Why shame? No reason.
Same! This video has been so helpful. 😭
Most definitely. Apnea leads to weight gain. When you are exhausted you carb load to get a shot of energy. 69 times/ hour and I was barely functional. Grab some carbs and I could go on for a few more minutes.
Thank you so much, "cruel" is how it felt when an electro-physician virtually shouted at me when I was in E.D. with atrial fibrillation that if I lost weight I'd be cured of sleep apnoa and A/F. I was in bed with one of those silly gowns on, an overweight 70 year old, feeling physically weak, he was a figure of authority in that hospital, wearing a suit, flanked by 3 junior doctors. The truth is my diet was almost certainly healthier than his own.
Thank you, thank you. I started treatment for severe sleep apnea in May. Initially didn't lose any weight, started a new diet a month ago and I am already 19lbs down. It's been so much easier to stick to. I feel so much better already. Really appreciate how kind you are (my ENT doctor was kind, GP not so much).
I just found out today I have it bad. This video is great. I've been working out 4 times a week, watching my diet and I cut alcohol out and still wasn't helping. Confirming that I had sleep anena and watching this video, it make so much sense why I struggled with weight for the last 5 years like I had. Also other things like my anxiety, mental health and just always feeling tired. It all makes so much more sense now. Thank you for this educational video
I've struggled with weight due to sleep apnea and I started ozempic 2 weeks ago. I've lost 3.4kg in that time plus my sleep has already improved, as has stress levels pwr my fitbit. I have been unable to use cpap but I plan to redo my sleep study when i get to 90kg - currently 103kg.
Are you on a cpap machine?
I started to cry watching this video.. I'm living this nightmare and have had these conversations with my health care provider with that same advice..I can't use the c-pap and I've tried all the masks..I just can't get over the feeling of claustrophobia or what water boarding may feel like.. I'm living this vicious cycle along with SLE Lupus and Sjogrens Syndrome
I'm in a similar situation where I can't use a C-PAP machine. I will try to lose some weight and hope for the best.
It's literally a waking nightmare 🙂
That would suck, my story is I deal with a lot of stress and being overworked At my old workplace working 12hrs a days, 6days a week - minus the travel and meal prep, out in the fields around heavy mobile machinery that created a lot of fine bull dust That would go airborne everywhere, couldn’t help but inhaling it, everyday My throat and nose was always dry and sore. Ginger beer and a dust mask did ease the sinuses, but would never provide a good nights rest. Which obviously lead to weight gain. I now only sleep on my side as laying on my back cuts off my airway and breaks my sleep.
Best nights rest, I ever get these days is going out camping around lakes or well greened areas that create crisp dew air in the mornings. And I’m very picky with my blankets an pillow covers.
P.S. the other thing that really worked for me was fasting. If our bodies are storing food preparing and expecting a harsh winter or months without food, which each year never come.
@@beastyshout Have you been able to try a dental appliance? I am so sorry you are going through this. Know that it is not your fault that you have apnea.
I’ve had the mandibular advancement device custom fit in the past (I lost it though lol) and it worked great for me. Highly recommend it. I have an overbite & I had trouble with getting good mask seal from CPAP
valid points.... i recently got sleep apnea and my doctor said straight up lose weight... but without changing anything in my life but having a cpap machine i have already lost weight! ???? good to hear your points of view.
I was diagnosed as t2 diabetic in 2016. I tried lowcarbing instead of meds but my appetite was too intense. In 2017 my dr suspected sleep apnea due to other things going on. I had a sleep study and the AHI was 167. After just 1 night on CPAP Iost all desire for processed foods/sugar. The weight came off effortlessly! I dropped from 370 lbs to currently under 200...size 4x to currently Medium.
That’s amazing
Since cpap. I find sugary foods repulsive! When I wasn’t getting any sleep I craved sugary food!
This is so incredibly helpful. I’m sending your videos to my patients dealing with sleep issues, weight challenges and mental health, which are clearly all connected. More information on how lack of sleep interfaces with bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety would be helpful.
Wow. I’ve never even met my sleep Dr. I was sent home with a machine by a receptionist and didn’t know how to use it for a year. I’ve had multiple sinus infections. Our healthcare here is embarrassing and repulsive.
America the great… 😂
I've gone from a BMI of 25 to a BMI of 27/8 since my sleep apnea has developed. I know I would still have sleep apnea if I lost weight, but I also know it would not go away, or even be low enough to not need surgery if I did, i.e. the improvement would be marginal. All the medics I've seen bar Mr Veer have made out that losing weight is a silver bullet, with seemingly no appreciation of how chronic sleep deprivation affects one's ability to eat and drink sensibly, and exercise. How many people out there can really go with zero deep sleep for years and then muster the motivation to stick with an effective diet and exercise regime when they can barely cope with the fragments of a life they currently have? Curing them and letting them recover from the unbelievable stress the condition in its more severe form causes will give them so much motivation that they'll feel they can achieve anything. I certainly find that on the very rare occasions that I have a good night, I'm no longer craving fatty foods and a dark corner to hide in, rather I'm a normal human able to make good, healthy decisions without them feeling like a titanic struggle.
Anyway, great rant, please keep spreading the gospel!
So glad my ranting didn't annoy people, I do love my job! Sorry that you've struggled so much.
@@VikVeerENTSurgeon Thank you for ranting on our behalf! And on searching for and presenting data to back it up.
Thank you once again for such an informative video. As a middle aged man with a BMI of 30, I was often told to lose weight and things would improve. However, I am sure that I had this condition in my twenties when I was a lot lighter.
Very hard to break down the belief system of some people. If you had OSA as a young thin man, then this is unlikely to be due to being overweight. However losing weight would still help you now.
Weightloss helped a bit to improve my quality of sleep, but it didn't change the fact the inevitable diagnosis to remain sleep apnea.
I've been ill since I was young and first saw a doctor about it when I was 17. In addition to lots of other symptoms, I've had persistent weight gain and complete inability to lose weight for years, with every doctor telling me it was my own fault and that I needed to eat less. I've been dieting and fasting since I was 14, but to no avail. On Thursday I found out that I had severe OSA with an AHI of nearly 50. I'm going to be 40 this year, so I've had 23 years of doctors telling me it was my fault that I wasn't losing weight. It's so refreshing to hear that treatment might help me finally shed my excess weight!
But the resarch shows the strong relations with sleep apnea and Body fat percentage. Maybe if you see with body fat percentage, it will be more clear.
Absolutely! My weight has been climbing, climbing! I snore louder than a bear. Had sleep apnea rate of 58. So if the AHI of 58 is per hour, then nearly every minute, my sleep is being disturbed. That’s how people are tortured. Tomorrow I find out what we’re gonna do
Were you able to find any solution, would be helpful
Hey there how fid it turn out? Any improvement?
But there are people who claim that after losing weight, their sleep apnea was cured. How do you explain that?
the answer for that is in the video. I talk through the study results.
I've been skinny all my life and I have snored all my life..what's wrong with ME?? AND I'm a woman!
Same…
Thank you so much for this clarification. You cannot imagine what this has done for me. I finally feel hopeful again.
You got this!
WOW! I wish I had a doctor like you in the US. I've been trying to find a new ENT and I'm not having much luck.
I've been fat all my life. Even at 10 years old my parents would say, she'd be such a pretty girl if she'd just lose weight.
I've tried everything from hypnosis to surgery and I'm at my heaviest weight ever. I eat considerably less than the people around me but I can't lose weight. I swear I gain weight just by looking at food. Ever since my uterine cancer and my hysterectomy, it's damn near impossible for me to lose weight.
I've had doctors tell me the reason I've had so many sinus infections is because I'm too fat. They tell me to lose weight and call them back.
I am on oxygen at night (3.5 liters) and that started after my cancer surgery when they noticed my oxygen would drop below 89 when I was sleeping. They tried to set me up with a c-pap but I couldn't get 5 minutes of sleep with one of those things on.
I'm nearly 60 now and I've given up at this point, but I wish I would have had someone like you as one of my doctors. Maybe my life would have been much different.
Don’t give up make some small consistent changes - I’m 62 years of age have diabetes type 2 and sleep apnea - ive lost 60 pounds the last 12 months by removing processed carbs and sugar - have the occasional treat once a week - I eat within an 8-10 hour period say 12noon to 8 pm - I have 2 meals a day and a small snack - I focus on protein veges salads good fats - drink 3-3 litres of water - walk daily and strength train twice per week - improving my sleep has been the hardest to remedy - good luck !
I had undiagnosed sleep apnea for 20 years. I was even prescribed modafinil for daytime sleepiness but no sleep test. Eventually I had a stroke and sleep test revealed AHI of 116. We have to do better at awareness. Since CPap therapy in June I have lost 50lbs without dieting. Thanks for all your videos
So agree with everything you’ve presented in this vlog. It’s also a great relief to hear so many “myths” finally debunked by a true specialist.
Biological individuality continues as thread in these presentations...people accept diagnosis based on generalised conclusions...yet our bodies are complex and so varied physically and mentally...
I’ve been told numerous times by GP’s that loss of weight will fix my obstructive sleep apnea (at 67 I’m slightly overweight)...I know in my case it might help to a small degree but believe what I need as well is targeted surgery (Ablation)...I suppose like many subscribers to this vlog, I live in a remote area and getting to ENT specialists or treatments is very difficult...thank you for these invaluable and informative vlogs Dr Veer.
You are most welcome - and I hope you get your solution soon.
I got sever apnea and they are still talking about weight lossing, but since i train im no fat but i got 31 BMI. I got this since i was like 20 kg lighter but every body keeps telling that when i loose weight it will help me
I apologise on behalf of the sleep doctor community. sorry.
Great video! It is so hard to find evidence-based information on RUclips about sleep apnea. The data that you presented were very interesting. Do you think there is a connection between exercise and sleep apnea? I wonder if that might be able to explain why some of the people who lost weight and improve their sleep apnea initially later saw their symptoms worsen again. Perhaps they stop exercising after the loss of their weight? I remember reading some research articles about how exercises , especially cardio exercises, led to improvement in patients’ AHI. What are your thoughts on this? Maybe you could do a video on that too.
OSA is either caused by
1. enlargement of the upper airway (excessive fat or muscle in the throat area),
2. poor genetics (being born with large tonsils) or
3. reduced muscle tone of the upper airway and soft palate (often age related).
Weight loss can address #1, surgery may address #2, and there are certain vocal exercises to help with #3. I can't see how cardio would help with 2 or 3 but it's possible that, since exercise can increase testosterone, and testosterone can increase muscle tone, exercise may help improve OSA caused by #3. The benefits of cardio helping with 1 should be obvious
I lost 90 pounds in 2017 and went from severe apnea to mild apena
There can be more to it than obesity. I'm not really overweight, but have OSA. I think with age the oral pharyngeal muscles can get lax and lose muscle tone. So I'll be working on muscle exercises. Hey, what is the incidence of OSA in professional singers? Hmmm
"people say oh that's because after your tonsils are taken out they don't eat".
Are you kidding me!?!? I was maybe 6 years old when I got my tonsils taken out... but pretty sure I was eating a gallon of ice cream a day 🤣
Your video's are professional, enlightening and inspiring to watch.
Keep up the great work you do as your information through these videos are a total breath of fresh air! (no pun intended.)
My sleep tech even told me getting thin you'd probably have OSA. He was as thin as a stick and had severe OSA from when he was 19. He had all the hallmark symptoms of OSA at that young age, yet he was skinny. Getting cpap treatment is what made him turn to becoming a certified sleep tech. 😅😅
They lie to get paid.. he has central sleep apnea.. if before you got fat you sleep good it’s mostly weight related
Is it a good idea to have your tonsils out? Will it help your OSA? Does it restructure your airways? Do you need them for some reason and will you miss them?
I'm doing a video on this and an ebook
I felt better in the morning if i never slept at all
Rather than the effects from sleeping 4+hrs a nite with apnea
I had insomnia in my 20s for years. I always felt better than I did when I slept. At 40 years old I was diagnosed with sleep apnoea. I use CPAP @ 10psi and sleep for 8 hours exactly ever night. I wake up by myself. Prior to CPAP I would sleep in almost every day. Even with 4 or 5 different alarms set. I went through my whole working life getting into trouble for timekeeping. Since my diagnosis it's been miles better.
@@seanmaguire380 I have a very similar background buddy!
No one understands or empathised!
I was diagnosed with OSA 13 month ago! I changed my lifestyle with exercise and weight loss, 13 kgs down. Well, i got rid of my horrible snoring but my OSA is still severe😩
I have OSA but I also have nasal issues which make it almost impossible for me to use Cpap.
I have a video about helping people to use CPAP
Thank you for such an amazing series of videos
I am still struggling with CPAP to the point where I hate prospect of going to
sleep.
The issue is nasal congestion which I never experienced before using CPAP
Have tried everything including changing masks, adjusting air pressure as well as humidity and Flonase, oral antihistamines, nasal solution
Have lost 25lbs with another 15 lbs to go
(Your video is clear and keeping my expectations low)
Have consulted with my ENT and she recommends RF ablation in the sinuses to alleviate congestion. I am seeking a second opinion.
Just want a solution as I am weary and a clinical depression due to sleep deprivation
this is incredibly insightful. true healthcare. your approach can really help many people. in medicine it seems people treat very downstream of the problem. its time to change the thought process and approach
Hello sir.. i m from india. Sir I need ur help. My mother 85yrs, 72kg., recently diagonesed with sleep apnea both obstructive nd central. Sir,Can u share ur mail id?..So I can share her reports to you. We r so confused in buying cpap machine. Pl help sir, if u can. We need ur suggestions. Thank you.
Did and in office procedure "Turbinate reduction" and started sleeping on my side and mouth taping APH went from 33 to 4 no more CPAP thank you Jesus 🙏🏼
I have an AHI around 5 but without the mask I can't sleep properly. I snored long before I became heavier. My self observation found my problem about snoring at night maybe, but I have no idea how to fix it or will it ever can be fixed. My habit to sniff back one's snot (like the soccer players do it during the game) has the same procedure as the way I'm snoring through the nose. Any suggestion for some exercise?
I am 5'9, 65kg, so not overweight at all. I Was diagnosed with mild OSA few years back and was put on CPAP. After using it for 2 yrs I didnt feel any better though AHI while using cpap was under 5. Cortisol, TSH, Mg deficiency tests were done as well. All were normal. Its killing me everday to be so sleepy, low energy. Living in a 3rd world country, cant get any better supported. Not much experienced dr r here on this subject. Wish i could meet Dr Vik Veer.😔
Ask to look at your sleep study and use my (how to read a sleep study) video to read it. make sure you have checked your iron levels as you might have restless legs syndrome etc. Yes you need to find a good sleep centre. I'm sorry it's so hard for you.
@@VikVeerENTSurgeon Thanks Dr. I will do as you suggested.
I lost 40lbs and my OSA got worse. I had to start wearing a chin strap,taping my mouth shut and raised my pressure from 7 to 10. I respond to CPAP really well but it's a pain in the ass having all this stuff on my head every night.
So glad I found Dr Veer, I been diagnosed with OSA, severe 59 per minute. Tried so hard to lose weight nothing happened.I have been on a call machine for 5 night , I'm so relieved at last I can be treated waiting for a THR. The clinic is going to ring in 6 weeks to see how I'm doing .Fingers crossed I will get there Dr Veer is the only video I will subscribe too, thanks it's a reavalation!
When you do long, extensive studies yourself, you realize that you probably don't know anything, there is always so many variables..
You will practice empathy instead of judgement, especially when it comes to sick people and be very careful with your opinions, like this man.
To all those (doctors and regular folk) who are not affraid to have a strong opinion:
Know that to people who actually do the work, making snap-judgements is a clear sign that you don't know what you are talking about. Worse.. you are loudly displaying the wrong mental state to gain knowledge and proud of it.. Nothing is ever that easy. Especially in complex systems, like the human body, weather, economics or psychology, we are always talking probability at the most and even when all the "evidence" ever gathererd is clearly pointing in a certain direction, you can turn out to be dead wrong..
I think it was Socrates who said: I am the only one who can say he knows anything, because I know I know nothing. If you think that is just not helpful... well, then you are probably wrong.
Nicely explained doc., thank you very much! Is there any perticular enzyme, harmone or signalling cascade which gets affected by sleep apneoa? Can they be manipulated by diet or micronutient supplements to control vicious weight-apenoa correlations?
Best regards.
I don't know enough about this, I'll do some reading and see if there is any evidence for this. Thank you.
The thing with the BMI, is that not everybody puts fat on around their neck in the same way. In my family we get a lot of fat around our face and neck. Other people I've observed that are overweight don't get fat faces and necks. I'd say that getting fat is going to make sleep apnea worse for you, particularly if you are prone to fatness around your face and neck.
Thank you for this video. Heavyweight people deal with so many health issues that have a lot of legit causes but just get slapped on diets and exercise regimes that sometimes make things worse or ignore the real cause. I will.never forget being tricked into weight loss drugs that I had horrible reaction to or a friend whose cancer was ignored because no one believed she could be fat unless she was just lazy and undisciplined. We need discussions like this that talk about the intricacies beyond "have you tried not being fat".
This is an old video but it's harrowing thinking about the poor people at the extreme ends of that chart. It's just upsetting to think there are people out there "living" with BMIs of 60.
A lot of the problem with sleeping problem is a breathing problem due to the base of the tongue blocking the airway causing nose breathing to be impossible and mouth breathing to be limited. Old fashioned orthodontics that includes 4 premolars and 4 3rd molars to be removed has left thousands of patients to not have enough room for their tongue. This leads to the tongue falling back at rest and blocking the airway and/or the tip of the tongue pressing against the back of the back of the lower anterior teeth often creating scalloped indentations or imprints of the teeth anatomy by morning. By relaxing the lower jaw and protruding the tongue forward and outward past the teeth even slightly, the airway is opened enough to allow nose breathing. Their is an airway device that simply encases and holds the tongue forward, allowing the patient to breath more comfortably and restfully. I am in California so I don't know about the availability in the UK. Orthodontic and sleep appliance labs provide them after an evaluation by a sleep specialist or orthodontist. Now, contemporary orthodontists expand the maxilla and mandible using appliances.😷😜💤
Thanks Doc, I am having the same issue. I have badly swollen tonsils and I know it is causing my sleep apnoea. But I was advised by the doctors in Munich, go lose your weight and it will be cured. I insisted getting my atrophied tonsils removed. But they gave me CPAP.
This is helpful, but very inconvenient. I will lose some 10 kg and visit the ENT specialist who was advising me my deviated septum operated. Yes, TURBINOPLASTY/CONCHOTOMY did help me but it also causing bleeding that is causing stuffed nose.
The doctors here are clueless!
my doctor did an test which involved a watch to track my oxygen level over night to which he said my sleep apnea had gone away and my oxygen level seem normal, but how come I still don’t feel good when I wake up without cpap? If my doctor says my results are good?
Watchpat tests aren't great for somethings. have a look at my - how to read your own sleep study - video
My avg blood sugar went down by 15 points 7 days after starting CPAP, with no other changes to diet.
This single singlehandedly gave me hope that my life will improve
Ahahhahaha that was epic conclusion....SUBSCRIBE?!?!?
I decided to undergo sleep test 3 weeks ago because my GP suggested it because of my complains about sleeping; I experienced Dizziness as I woke up and so tired like I climbed a hill, always had nightmares, woke up gasping, i snore a lot, even my husband and children was scared because they saw me like not breathing, I am forgetful these days, less energy during work, sleepy, i tried dieting but still gaining weight, I am afraid with myself not waking up in the morning.
I had my result the other day. It is severe OSA. There are a lot of recommendations listed in my result. one is to lose weight and as I understand with the video it will take a long time for me to lose weight . Now, I am looking at 2 option. Which is better CPAP or surgery?
this was great thanks
Oh my gosh. THANK YOU!!!! An informative video presented with kindness. I am 6 months on CPAP therapy using an APAP machine. I have said the same things about why it is I could not lose weight. I have been actively looking for years for the things that might contribute -how my metabolism worked, sensitivity to sugar, etc. It has been a slow increase of weight throughout my life even though I exercised three times a week and various other physical activity. I watched what I ate because throughout my life my blood sugar has always been on the high side. I have alway been somewhat careful so that it didn't turn into diabetes but was always on the cusp. This has been for 40 years. And I am certain had I not watched I would for sure have become a diabetic. I think one of the final greatest discoveries was that I found out I had severe sleep apnea - over 60 episodes a night. I was always waking up to go to the washroom. It got worse and worse and I was desperate to get a full nights sleep so I could feel rested and after trying so many things I finally got a sleep test. I had been offered this before and am pondering why and what is the stigma to this condition that people don't want to get checked out for it. Perhaps it is because we feel somehow it is our fault and that there are things we could do and it would go away? Not wanting to wear the mask at night for various reason? The cost associated with it here in Canada and elsewhere is also a contributing factor I am sure and yet the condition can contribute to other health conditions that the health care system could eventually see. It seems these things are really an important thing to address. I lost 20 pounds in the first 4 months which included some minimal changes to my diet but not that much really. I was surprised at how easy it was. And I had tried diet changes before. And like the fellow below I am sure I have had sleep apnea for many, many years. It is so nice to feel rested and all the associated benefits I am seeing with that. My mother, who would have been 94, I am sure had it and always was embarrassed about her weight and how she could not lose it. I used to say she needed to get more exercise and so I did that in my life. I believe sleep apnea runs in my family and have just had another family member much younger who was diagnosed. People like you who do these videos are invaluable and precious for those of us searching. Thank you for the data and meta- analysis and commentary. I have also looked at the 5 exercises for sleep apnea video for the things I can do to also help. Thank you so much again. So glad I found you. One of the good positive things on the internet.
What about using laser surgery to shrink your tonsils? Does that help?
It's the cpap machine that's the problem. It is HORRIBLE. Come up with something better and I'll do it. I saw a pulmunologist and he didn't offer anything besides cpap. I think I'm going to try an ENT doctor.
I’m 220 5’5”. I don’t want surgery. I’ve done drastic weight loss water fasting before and went down to 175. If I lose weight back to 175 will my apnea dissapear? It just showed up where I can’t breath .
Thank you for your video. I have been trying to lose weight for a long time now and have struggled. I better get my sleep apena under control and maybe my weight will take care of itself.
Isn't BMI a poor indicator for nearly everything? 😄
Dr. Please answer me. I am reading all of these studies that say that people gain weight after using Cpap and mostly it’s women. Can you please comment??? I am afraid if usinf CPAP and gaining even more weight. I know you say you see weight loss, but do you see it in women as much as men when they use CPAP?
BMI isn't a great method for determining body composition... Muscle mass can easily throw off these values, I had a 6 pack and was still in the overweight category close to obese according to BMI. I can only imagine there are people all over the scale who appear healthy on a BMI but are skinny fat...so unfortunately I don't like the BMI to judge these results by, body fat is a much more reliable data set to use, although this can be harder to obtain.
Heh, on the subject of being told to “go away and lose weight or I won’t operate on you” that’s exactly what the neurosurgeon said to me after telling me I needed a spinal fusion. Time for a 2nd opinion, methinks.
I was the fittest of my life and definitely not overweight when diagnosed with sleep apnea. Wish it was as easy as lowering weight to stop using cpap which I hate. I have put weight on not off in The years I have been using cpap. No tonsils either. Removed as a child. It is so incredibly disheartening. And it is even more disheartening to hear the weight might just drop off on cpap.
Thank you for clearing some confusion regarding OAS.
Glad it was helpful!
@Vir Veer - ENT Surgeon: I took an intro to polysomnography class a few years ago over here in the US and I remember them teaching that most cases of obstructive sleep apnoea were not responsive to surgical intervention. I guess this must mean identifying patients that would benefit is the difficult part? One more thing, could you put the DOI number in the description for those of us that might want to take a look. Thanks love your videos cheerio.
theres a huge difference between solid theory and just blatant speculation, the Idea that we're "cavemen"
is a rather idealized view of evolution as though everything involved in the process of evolution was self aware, you say things like "this is why the body holds onto fat"
but thats a presumption rooted in your views about survival and not data. obviously its true that theres a correlation between stress and holding fat but perhaps its best to leave speculative "whys" out of an explainion of a process that happens irregaurdless of what we perceive as "reason" or "purpose"
the fact is your body would gladly adapt negatively just aswell as positively so we shouldnt attempt to characterize traits as parts of strategys that are merely emergent and not premeditated,
which im not even saying that that they are nessicerily emergent im just saying, no one has any ACTUAL idea WHY the body stores fat we only know HOW it stores fat.
I have sleep apnea. I had my tonsillitis removed when I was a child. Do they grow back or how many tonsillitis do we have. I would love to get a good night's sleep. My Dr recommended a cpap and I really feel uncomfortable using it. Got a gum sheild from the dentist and doesn't fit and always comes out.
Hi vik ì àm a slim 60 year old 160 lbs tried everthing nothing works my heart feels stresed every morning have cpap etc . I am really worried what i can do
Is it hard to get a diagnosis of UARS? I had a WatchPat with RDI of 8 and AHI of 0.1 but I feel completely unfuctional, testosterone is compromised as well. My test came back inconclusive for sleep apnea but I did tell my GP to make a referral to you Vik, I think for a sleep study. Could you also do like a DISE on me as well if need be?
I feel I need either a BiPap or cpap to get functional before I wait for Palatal expansion and double jaw surgery!
Absolutely spot on about weight. I developed sleep disordered breathing around the age of 12-14 and blew up with weight of nowhere, its hard for me to put on muscle or lose weight. I'm stuck in limbo land regards to my body and it kills my confidence.
So long as you meet the criteria for treatment on the NHS, I would be delighted to help you with a DISE, CPAP etc. We would need to do a NoxT3 sleep study to diagnose UARS, or perhaps a proper overnight PSG in the hospital.
Is there a correlation between people who are overweight and people who are less likely to tackle their health problems? Conversely, is there a correlation between thin/lighter people and people who are more likely to 'look after themselves' in the sense that they would actively tackle their health problems? Also the probability that someone of a lower body mass is more likely to have more sleeping partners in their lifetime who will alert this person to their sleep apnea versus someone who is overweight who does not have as many sleeping partners due to conventional attraction standards in society? I feel I could be wrong but surely these factors influence the data in a significant way that would indicate that excess weight does not necassarily contribute to sleep apnea.
Even before watching this: I'm an oldster... my dad had bad sleep apnea (before we knew about it or CPAP was invented) and wasn't even remotely fat. I'm fat now, but always had it. Lucky to afford a CPAP now which is a wonderous joy. Here is my edit after watching the vid: Video affirms my anecdotal experience.
My API was 71.7 events per hour. I cant tolerate The CPAC. Shall I ask for surgery?
I am so thankful for your evidence-based explanations in resolving sleep apnea and the clear, concise ways in which you articulate them for the layperson! Your videos have made great sense to me and are enabling me to find non-invasive solutions to my breathing problems. I am changing the way I breathe, using the "Sleep for Snorers" Cds and exercises, using a mandibular device and the Mute nasal dilators you recommended and seeing improvements that I hope to maintain. I live in America and am not part of NHS, but am tremendously blessed by your outreach. I hope you know/can feel how much you are appreciated and how grateful people are for your help and advice.
its only the effect of a diet on a gut. well i very skinny now due to diet. because i wanted to work on mu gut bacteria ... and tried vagus nerv stimulation .which intensly brought back intense sleepapnea. its a trap at the end. maybe a right gut bacterie/metabolism fixes sleep apnea . but now i cant loose weight anymore.iam trapped. building up hut bacteria is very tricky though
This made me cry. I has sleep apnea as a child. Had surgery to remove my tonsils & adenoids. I've been overweight most of my life. I've lost & gain repeatedly and now I'm dealing with problems sleeping. I don't know when I'll be able to have my sleep study, but my constant fear is that, I won't get treated just told to loose weight, like it's a light switch. I just want to sleep 😔
Get a customized mouth guard. It’s the best for sleep apnea. Ask for at the sleep clinic say you want a mouthguard instead of the machine.
Any update
14 years of CPAP and, on the whole, my weight has only increased. Now I’m wondering if my CPAP has ever been effective. Sure, I don’t experience micro-sleeps anywhere near as often the during the day, but I still feel tired from time to time. Mind you, my untreated AHI was 62.5. I knew I had severe sleep apnea but I had no idea over only 30 was considered severe.
You need to use CPAP well for 7.5 hours a night to start reducing your weight
Iv lost weight and my SA is still a problem. I have a tongue that is too big for my mouth and I am thinking that is the root of the problem
I have bad OSA and I'm very much normal BMI. I guess I am an outlier. I think it's just a structural genetic mistake in my nose / throat
Really useful information. Yesterday I had the results of my sleep study. AHI of 38. I’ve eradicated everything from my life that could result in the fatigue I’ve been experiencing but coincidentally yesterday was one of the worst days I’ve had for daytime fatigue. So I’m at the end of my tether and so optimistic there could be a light at the end of the tunnel. I just have to wait to get my cpap machine, 12 weeks. Ugh. I just want to fix this. It’s been going on for years and I had no idea it was apnea. Anyway, thanks for this video, it’s really useful in helping me understand apnea further (I’m a fit healthy person but my weight gain, 20lb or so, has really confounded me…I do omad most of the time so it didn’t make sense although I was sneaking in uncharacteristic carb binges…I feel like a puzzle has been solved).
Thanks for this video. I really needed this information.
Hi Vik, I have never had an issue with severe snoring and have yo-yo’d between 100-125kg all of my adult life (nearly 40 now), that was until I contracted Covid. It may be coincidental and have no relation but my wife commented that I have always snored but there is a clear difference starting immediately after catching it, also in the same way my snoring has worsened exponentially, my wife who has never snored at all now snores, again this started at the exactly the same time as we both contracted covid, I think this should be investigated further as I truly believe this to be a result of covid, also could it even be in relation to the nose swab?
My husband is the same since having covid,snores constantly every night and he now suffers with high blood pressure which he didn't have till catching covid .
So if obstructive sleep apnea causes weight gain, how can you be a normal weight and have sleep apnea 🤔🤔
I felt bad seen this video I have also been suffering from sleep apnea for so long till today 😓
My study resulted in 78 TPH,why is this problem so prevalent?
Does it contribute to type 2 diabetes.. ??
Yes definitely! Good question!
Nope I'm 5'5" and 116 lbs and sadly have OSA and central sleep apnea 😔
My AHI is 60. I visited an ENT to see if I could have surgery to remove tonsils and uvula but he said because my AHI was so high he would not operate because my AHI could go up while I'm healing and that's too dangerous.
come and see me free on the NHS, I'll do it for you.
Hi Vik, I lost 52 kg last year and was finally able to sleep without my
CPAP for the first time in 20 years. (137kg down to 87kg). Weight loss
made a huge difference for me. I got a new CPAP machine about three
years ago when I was obese and still use it as a psychological aid and
probably will continue to do so until it fails but I have slept for
several nights without it with no snoring issues. Dr David Unwin has a
great talk on RUclips that shows the benefits of a low carb diet on
weight loss. In it he shows the scan of a fat person's tongue (which is
larger and fatter and blocks the airway) contrasted to the scan of
someone with lean body mass. The fat in the back of the tongue shows up
really well and demonstrates how weight loss can get rid of the problem
fat tongue and hence, sleep apnoea.
Why sleep with cpap if you really cured it with weight loss it causes cancer ? Or even after weight loss you still suffer
As he stated, in a few people as in your case, it can help. However, it’s much more complex than that for the vast majority of people.
@@gallo4796 Oftentimes once someone has overcome the initial discomfort with CPAP, they may develop a strong positive association between the therapy and having a restful, good night's sleep. It would make sense that, even though he may no longer need his CPAP, it may still provide him with that comforting feeling.
Those who can't tolerate CPAP are actually in the minority and many people even learn to love using the machine.
Also, care to expand on your "cancer" concern?
@@candacecurtis5739 I think it goes Way beyond a few people. I know several people in my own family who lost weight and had their CPAP resolve completely
@@americarocks1776 Fr so once they lost a good weight the got cured of sleep apnea?
I was diagnosed with severe OSA 6 years ago with an AHI of 64. I weighed 210 lbs at time of diagnosis and lost 45 lbs over the first 4 years. Didn’t do much besides cut out alcohol and red meat. I had been a 2 beer a day drinker and loved my steak. Went to the Dr. with my concerns of loosing weight and he didn’t have a clue why. He said I wasn’t eating enough. Now my OSA has morphed into UARS symptoms. New sleep study required but I do have narrow nasal passages and partially collapsed nasal valves which I feel is at least one of the main problems. I was CPAP compliant the first 4 years then started to have trouble with the mask like it had too much pressure. I would awake every hour to hour/half like clockwork and have to pee. I can’t tell you how many Drs I’ve seen for OSA and related problems. And many so called Sleep Drs do not know the basics it seems. I can’t tell you how many times I was told to just continue with your CPAP after years of not sleeping right. The more I listen to informative presentations like this one, and gain more knowledge about OSA and UARS, the more I feel that my Dr’s have been negligent. In fact I had to request that an ENT physically examine my airway and identify obstructions as no one had ever taken a look in 6 years. In my case, I think the weight loss helped, as I don’t get winded while doing sports like I used to. But I am struggling against these collapsed nostrils, and if I hold them open with my fingers, I can breathe much better, so I am addressing this with the ENT Dr next week. Thank you Dr. Veer….your videos are literally saving my life bringing awareness to the details of OSA.
Thank you for sharing and saying such nice things. why not look at the video on nasal dilators before you see that ENT guy - might help your case? ruclips.net/video/tPz7jxlkb0I/видео.html
@@VikVeerENTSurgeon thank you. I just learned what nasal dialators are today, and ordered a set. I agree, this may help!
Just finished my video and see you covered my earlier point. I jumped the gun, sorry!
Everyone on the carnivore diet reports huge weight loss and that snoring stops as does sleep apnea.
Sugar & grains to blame?
Rant was awesome! 🤣 (and true!)
I think i start ranting every time on video, this time I thought I would leave it in - just to see the reaction. The microCPAP rant was like 6 minutes long....
@@VikVeerENTSurgeon You too can earn money on YT from ranting!👍
Thanks Dr, I’m overweight but no obese but my Sleep Consultant has said I’ve had OSA to some degree all my life before treatment I was hitting 100 AHI now 2 AHI with treatment. I’m trying to reach a normal BMI but I’ve been told this will still not relieve my OSA.
It will certainly help, and it might cure, but often getting to 100 AHI is caused by multiple issues. work on all of them at the same time and i think you'll see swift results.
Thanks for the reply, I am lucky enough to be able to access private advice from an ENT surgeon on my anatomy. It looks like I have a receding jaw which isn’t helping, but I am focusing on losing weight and other things.