Hbob4

Well, that sounds good. But then again, the reason I don't exercise more is not because I'm tired, but because I find it highly painful. But still, if there's a chance I would exercise more/lose weight, I'd probably try the CPAP.

They claimed it happened 6 times per hour, approximately. I'm skeptical, since they made a big fuss beforehand about how inaccurate the home sleep study equipment is, and how it's bad that it's self-administered. I didn't even know if I was allowed to sleep in my side or stomach, but I slept in my stomach anyway, cause I can't sleep otherwise. I noticed that the little lights indicating that the machine was not getting good data were on several times throughout the night. I don't know if they got blood oxygen levels.

"Breathing seems sort of important"
You make it sound like you stop breathing, and the only thing that can cause you to breathe again is the CPAP. In actuality, you start again right afterwards, so you still get oxygen. It's not like I wake up out of breath or something. The whole concept sounds a little hand-wavy to me and not very rigerous.

What would you do if you were told you have a problem that is highly inconvenient to deal with, but you see very little current impact on your life, or proof that it will impact your life? I'm skeptical of whether the whole thing is overblown. Sleep apnea seems a little too trendy to me.

Did it help you lose weight? What benefit does using it provide you?

No sleep doctor told me anything. It was just some lab clinician.

I don't have any of those problems, and I'm not convinced that I will suddenly start having them, just because I've now been diagnosed. If I start falling asleep randomly, maybe I'll reconsider, but for now, that's not a good enough reason.

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea after doing a sleep study last night. I went for this sleep study on a whim. I've had a weight problem my whole life, but maybe it's gotten worse lately? Hard to say.

Anyway, they diagnosed me with sleep apnea and start talking about using a CPAP machine, which we all know will involve sleeping with a huge horrible mask on. No one's really given me a good reason why I actually want to do this, though. The clinician was very, well, clinical.

"You have sleep apnea. You should treat it by using a CPAP machine"
Why exactly?
"To treat your sleep apnea"
But why do I want to do that?
"Because we diagnosed you with sleep apnea"

They didn't make much of a value proposition for me. They seemed pretty disconnected.

Using the home sleep study was nightmarish. I hated having to sleep with something on my face, and it made it really difficult to sleep comfortably, turn around, roll over, etc. Not to mention my cats were trying to kill all the wires. If using a CPAP is even fractionally as bad as using the home sleep study machine, I can't imagine that it could possibly make my sleep more restful rather than less.

Furthermore, I don't feel like I'm particularly unrested during the day. It's hard for me to wake up in the morning, but who doesn't have trouble waking up? I yawn a lot, but I never feel hindered at work, and not to mention I'm practically the only software engineer in the world who gets by without drinking coffee. I take long naps on the weekend, but I've always done this ever since I was little. They can tell me I have some disorder, but frankly, I feel normal. I hate to use the S-word, but honestly this whole thing would seem kinda like a scam, if it weren't so well-accepted in the medical community.

I am however, interested in trying "treatment", even a CPAP, if it could make me lose weight, but I'm skeptical. I haven't seen convincing evidence of a causal relationship (as in that sleep apnea causes weight gain, not vice-versa) and I know very well that the science is out on most weight-gain causes. Do I eat more whole grains or less? Skim milk or whole? Everyone gives a different answer, so I'm very very skeptical of anything that is supposed to make me lose weight.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should do?