Sleep Apnea and the Torture of the CPAP
Have you ever worn a CPAP mask?
You might have been waking up so many times a night, you’re exhausted. Your spouse and children voice their complaints about your snoring. Your Dr. diagnoses sleep apnea. Your new mask makes you feel like you’re suffocating. Adjusting to sleeping with the mask, with the constant noise of the machine, creates new stress. Your sex life becomes non-existent because the noise of the machine has now forced your spouse into another room.
Sleep apnea affects more than 12 million Americans. It is as common as type II diabetes. High risk groups for sleep apnea include: males, over-weight people, and people over the age of 40. Untreated sleep apnea has been linked with high blood pressure and other heart related diseases, weight gain, memory problems, headaches, impotency, depression, and even death.
The most important way to get off the CPAP is weight loss. Weight loss will not only improve your overall health but will take the pressure off of your throat, lungs, and diaphragm. We have been able to get 70% of our sleep apnea patients off of their CPAPs just by helping them lose weight! The weight loss not only got them off the mask, but also helped reduce the amount of medications they have to take daily by improving their overall health.
One example of how weight loss helps is our patient: Karen T. Karen had been on a CPAP for nine years. She weighed 260 pounds and was on seven medications for numerous illnesses. It took six month for Karen to lose 80 pounds. She is off of her CPAP and all but one of her medicines. She feels like she has her life back. She has more energy and stamina now than when she was overweight and 20 years younger.
Don’t live in misery another day with your CPAP. Start today making the changes so you can finally say “GOOD-BYE” to your mask!