[CPAP] Aerophagia

[pushpalatha]

Hi,
This is my first post in this forum. I am so much worried about the Aerophagia problem on using my CPAP. Just to give a brief about the product I'm using, I use a RESMED AUTOSET S9 CPAP (without humidifier). It's been 2 years I am into this CPAP treatment, but now, I feel like things have taken its toll. My chest part and the area around my left hand (near the arm pit region) pains a lottttt.. Can't bear it. In addition to this, I also have a bloated tummy every time I use my CPAP. Can anyone help me to find an alternative to reduce the aerophagia effect ? Also, I am unsure about the pressure readings given in my report. For ex., A couple of days back , I used Rescan to check my report for the month and the pressure level (95th percentile) gives me 13.1 and the median pressure is around 9.5. Now what is the pressure setting that I should set on my machine? Currently I have set my machine to a pressure setting of 13.6 . Is it good enough or is that I have set my pressure above the 95th percentile pressure that's causing me Aerophagia ?? Thanks to everyone in advance.

[Katchaya]

I don't know the answer to your question sadly because I just joined this forum for the very same reason. I had an RNY gastric bypass on Dec 8, and have lost 40lbs. I am waking myself up at night because I am passing VOLUMINOUS amounts of gas. Its ridiculous.
My respiratory nurse practioner won't change my pressures unless I have another sleep study and I'm not eligible for one through my insurance at the moment.
So I decided I would change the pressures myself. This forum is a lifesaver.
I am also using a Resmed S9 w/humidifier set as a bi-pap. My pressures were 23/18. After following the instructions I dialed it back to 20/18 this morning. We'll have to see how I feel tomorrow morning. I'll let you know.
I have been using a bi-pap since 2009. I love my machine. Until this event my sleep has been wonderful.

[PaulaO2]

Two possible solutions:

Raise the head of your bed. Put something under the feet of your headboard, something under the mattress, or something under your pillows. This helps gravity to keep the air from going down there.

Lowering the pressure for a while and slowing re-increasing it as your body acclimatizes to the intrusion of the air. The decrease does not need to be much, especially if you have been using it for a while. Probably only 1 or 2cm.

Push, since you have an Autoset, put it into auto mode, raise the head of your bed, and see if that helps.

Katchaya, you've done the lowering. Try the raising of the head of the bed.

There are other things to do. These are just the first two most basic starts. Others have tongue tricks and the like. I'm not that good at it. LOL

[retired_guy]

Your 95% at 13.1 says that 95% of the time you were at or BELOW that point. That coincides with your median of 9.5.

So the pressure setting isn't the problem.

Aerophagia is more about swallowing air regardless of what pressure you're on. The trick to avoid swallowing air is to make sure you are breathing through your nose, not your mouth. For me, that was easier accomplished with a pillows mask than my full face mask. It took a chinstrap with either one for me to keep my mouth shut however.

So try a chinstrap over your full face mask. Gently applied so that it "encourages" your jaw to stay forward which helps allow your tongue to block the airway.

[archangle]

There's a link to a youtube video in my signature line that helps some people with aerophagia.

[Sleeprider]

Hi,
This is my first post in this forum. I am so much worried about the Aerophagia problem on using my CPAP. Just to give a brief about the product I'm using, I use a RESMED AUTOSET S9 CPAP (without humidifier). It's been 2 years I am into this CPAP treatment, but now, I feel like things have taken its toll. My chest part and the area around my left hand (near the arm pit region) pains a lottttt.. Can't bear it. In addition to this, I also have a bloated tummy every time I use my CPAP. Can anyone help me to find an alternative to reduce the aerophagia effect ? Also, I am unsure about the pressure readings given in my report. For ex., A couple of days back , I used Rescan to check my report for the month and the pressure level (95th percentile) gives me 13.1 and the median pressure is around 9.5. Now what is the pressure setting that I should set on my machine? Currently I have set my machine to a pressure setting of 13.6 . Is it good enough or is that I have set my pressure above the 95th percentile pressure that's causing me Aerophagia ?? Thanks to everyone in advance.

It appears you set your minimum APAP pressure above your 95th percentile pressure. There is no information in our post concerning AHI or effectiveness of the therapy, or why you increased your pressure.

What were your pressure settings before you changed them?
Why did you change them?
Did it have the outcome you expected, or did it cause problems like the aerophagia?

Higher pressures can force air past the upper or lower esophageal sphincter and inflate the stomach. Not a good thing. You have an auto CPAP that should allow you to lower pressure, and allow the machine to increase pressure as needed to keep you out of AHI. Your machine also has EPR (exhale pressure relief), which will lower pressure up to 3 cm on the exhale cycle. Are you using it?

More information would help here as it looks like you may have created your own problem. I would recommend reducing your minimum CPAP pressure to its former level and using EPR for comfort. You should leave the maximum APAP pressure at about 14 which appears to be the limit of your pressure tolerance and maximum pressure under APAP anyway.

[trish6hundred]

Hi pushpalatha,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Much success to you as you fine tune and continue your CPAP therapy.

[trish6hundred]

I don't know the answer to your question sadly because I just joined this forum for the very same reason. I had an RNY gastric bypass on Dec 8, and have lost 40lbs. I am waking myself up at night because I am passing VOLUMINOUS amounts of gas. Its ridiculous.
My respiratory nurse practioner won't change my pressures unless I have another sleep study and I'm not eligible for one through my insurance at the moment.
So I decided I would change the pressures myself. This forum is a lifesaver.
I am also using a Resmed S9 w/humidifier set as a bi-pap. My pressures were 23/18. After following the instructions I dialed it back to 20/18 this morning. We'll have to see how I feel tomorrow morning. I'll let you know.
I have been using a bi-pap since 2009. I love my machine. Until this event my sleep has been wonderful.

Hi Katchaya,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
CONGRATULATIONS! on your weight loss.
Much success to you as you continue your CPAP therapy.

[pushpalatha]

Thanks a ton for those wonderful suggestions guys. Just been a day I had raised my head level in my bed and reduced my pressure to 11.5 as one of you had asked to try reducing the pressure for a couple of days. And I did lower the pressure setting by looking at my report earlier. It had some outcomes as I expected. And I didn't have any abnormal readings of AHI value. But I still have some chest pain due to aerophagia. So I am expecting a positive results after some days.

Also I have set my EPR VALUE TO 3.
I will post my updates after a couple of days from now to report if the problem still presists.
I have another small query now. I had told that I have changed my pressure setting to 11.5 from 13.5. Now that today morning I checked my daily stats in the device. Surprisingly my AHI values are just 0.5 and the 95th percentile pressure in the report is just 11.4. So is it advisable to carry on with the same pressure reading? Or should I change it back to 13.5 again?

Happy to be a part of this forum guys. Just feeling wonderful to take tips and share thoughts here. Thanks a ton everyone again.

[3porpoise]

Hi,
Have you tried sleeping on your side only? It usually helps to reduce the number of apneas ,thereby reducing the higher pressures. ... therefore less aerophagia...
Hope this helps.
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