Beginning the process

[TrishaR 3]

Hi everyone. I enjoy reading everyone's posts. I find them helpful and supportive. I am in my 3rd month of PCP visits. I need to do 6 months for insurance. I also now I have to be tested for sleep apnea. There is a month waiting list for sleep study here and I'm getting nervous about it. I am 5'7 and 258 so that puts me right at 40 BMI. my fear is if I even loose 2 lbs I wont qualify. I have been reading about the pre-op liquid diet and wondering how much people are usually loosing? My Dr. says I have to be at 40 BMI even on day of surgery. The thought of having to purposely gain weight to continue to qualify sickens me. Has anyone out there had this issue? they said if I have sleep apnea I can have BMI of 35 but I'm not convinced that I have it. I am also not looking forward to doing sleep study. I have a hard time sleeping as it is let alone in a strange place. My dr. said he can get me some sleeping pills to help. I look forward to reading everyone's posts and I'm grateful to have this community.

Thanks!

Edited May 3, 2017 by TrishaR
im not in Alabama Im in Iowa

[PatientEleventyBillion 851]

Most people that have sleep apnea don't know it because it's generally not that severe. As someone who had 55-60 apneas an hour (5 and under is normal), which is overkill, I can tell you the biggest symptom of this is jolting awake and not knowing why, or having a panic attack like you can't breathe (which is why I was put on an anti-anxiety medication).

I've found one of the best ways to alleviate this is trying to change body position while sleeping, or use elevation. Before my weight gain I used to be a back sleeper. When I started having apneas, I found sleeping on my right side helped significantly, while due to sinus problems sleeping on my left side caused congestion.

The sleep study is rather easy, they should give you a small bag of stuff to put on when you sleep, follow their instructions, and try to sleep as normal as if you don't even have it on. If you're found to have apnea, they may either take a wait-and-see approach, or they may want to do some kind of intervention which might include a CPAP machine.

In either case, if you have OSA, regardless of the insurance situation, you still want this taken care of.

Edited May 3, 2017 by PatientEleventyBillion

[TrishaR 3]

WOW! glad you got tested. I do wake with a jolt several times a night. I wake myself up due to snoring which makes me "on guard" because I don't want to wake my husband who usually gets up at 3 a.m for overtime. I fear snoring and waking him so I am a very light sleeper. I have a headache almost every morning and other signs of sleep apnea, which is why my dr. wants me tested. I'm not convinced I guess because of being a light sleeper. I guess we will see. I hate to say it but Id rather find out it is sleep apnea because it would help my whole BMI issue. AND if a CPAP will help me feel better I'm all in. I wonder if the sleep apnea will go away once the weight loss happens. do you know?

[Newme17 3,444]

As for your insurance requirements with weight, I'd call them and ask if you are to lose some weight, lowering your bmi, (if you don't have a co-morbidity), if it causes the chances of unapproval. Most insurances take the very first weigh in weight. So if you were to lose some weight, it should still be approved. That's how mine is.