Weight gain and sleep apnea go hand-in-hand. There are rare cases where "normal" weight people have it, but for the most part, big people get it. It doesn't necessarily mean obese, but it does mean overweight. Reggie White was a world class athlete, but he was big and he died of sleep apnea or complications stemming from it.

Surgery is a last ditch effort. It may or may not be successful and when I'm going into surgery, I'd like the odds to be in my favor of succeeding and not a 50/50 chance of working.

I wear the CPAP mask and it works if you use it. I am more alert. I dream more. I don't need naps in the middle of the afternoon. My blood pressure is down and my weight is dropping. I don't snore and wake up the whole neighborhood and I don't sound like I'm choking myself at night.

Yeah, it's a pain in the butt to wear and there are nights that I don't wear it because I'm sick or severely congested or I'm just lazy. I motivate myself to wear it because I don't want to die and miss out on the rest of my life especially with my 3 young children.

Interesting link between apnea and weight loss. According to the trainer for the CPAP machine, if you don't hit deep REM sleep, a certain hormone is not produced that helps in weight loss. Kind of see the catch-22?

Good luck and despite how much we may hate it, next to the CPAP machine, losing weight is the best way (and only permanent way) to get rid of sleep apnea.