Aerophagia, aerophagia ugh

[Sleepster]

From the standpoint of aerophagia, my chin to my chest is a good thing, as it reduces aerophagia down to nothing.

Oh, I see. I had the very same issue. Apparently tucking my chin against my chest closed off my esophagus and prevented air from entering my stomach. But like you say, it's a position that hurts. It was like torture! But I persisted. I never ever slept without the CPAP machine, which is what allowed me to adapt. It took a month or two to gradually overcome the aerophagia, and a few years to gradually overcome the fragmented sleep. But it was worth it for the overwhelming benefits in the quality of my life.

My providers switched me to BiPAP, more properly called bi-level. For example, the machine I have now, the AirCurve 10 is a bi-level machine that also automatically adjusts the pressure (like a APAP).

I understand that you don't like setting EPR above 1. The maximum setting is 3. A bi-level machine will go even higher.

The solution to aerophagia is lower pressure. Set your pressure a bit lower and set EPR to 3. Your AHI may go up, but you will be more comfortable. You have to keep monitoring your data and adjusting the pressure. I know it may feel like you're starved for air, but you aren't. When we're living our lives and are not hooked up to a CPAP machine we have a pressure of zero, and we don't suffocate from a lack of air.

I did this years ago, got it dialed in, and haven't had to change my settings since then. Last night, for example, I had an AHI of 0.8 and got over 9 hours of usage. Most of that time I was asleep. And the aerophagia has been gone for many years now.

[zzzdeprived]

Thanks! Your story seems to be the closest to mine that I have seen so far. Hope I can set up the adjustable pressure Bipap sleep study soon!

[Sleepster]

Thanks! Your story seems to be the closest to mine that I have seen so far. Hope I can set up the adjustable pressure Bipap sleep study soon!

You don't need another sleep study. Just visit your sleep doctor with your aerophagia complaint and ask for a bi-level machine. I would ask for the ResMed AirCurve 10 with a 4G modem.