Dizziness and clogged ears(newb. question)
Hello everyone, I'm from Europe 46 y'rs old male, and my new nightly preoccupation(for about two months) is how can i breathe as close to normal with my rented REMStar 60 auto CPAPMachine(and a Swift FX Nasal Pillow Mask).
In meantime I did all sorts of adjustments and finally, I feel better/optimum(great, not yet) between a 8-13 pressure. My AHI improvement is below 3 from 64 events per hour withwout cpap(severe apnea sleep study showed a year ago). I developed sleep apnoea after a bad episode of hypothyroidism last year.
A little advice would be welcome, everything it's ok except one thing. For a few days I developed an ear problem(I feel my ears clogged and I disoriented/dizzynes when I wake up in the next morning), and that buzzing me all day long. Also my tinnitus has worsened. I believe this is happening because of exhalation-pressure(i use the Afelx-3 but it seems not help) is too high for me. I know the 8-13 is not too high pressure for the most of us but maybe I'm more sensitive.I do not have sinus problems.
I've thought, maybe if I use/switch to an auto-BIPAP, these inconveniences will disappear.?
What do you think.
Thank you.
RE: Dizziness and clogged ears(newb. question)
Hi adin67,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for answers to your questions and best of luck to you with your CPAP therapy.
trish6hundred
RE: Dizziness and clogged ears(newb. question)
Excuse me if I am being dense but I am not familiar with the PR machines. Are you currently using your machine in BiPAP mode, auto CPAP mode, or auto BiPAP mode? I was not quite clear from your post (again it may be my ignorance of PR machines). Is the 8-13 your auto range or is it your setting and pressure support? Another question, do you have allergies?
Hang in there, there will be more people responding that have more knowledge with the PR machines than I do.
Best Regards,
PaytonA
RE: Dizziness and clogged ears(newb. question)
(03-22-2014, 01:43 PM)adin67 Wrote: I do not have sinus problems.
If sinus congestion ruled out, did you suffer from earache before CPAP
Maybe wax build-up or something else, see ENT doctor asap
RE: Dizziness and clogged ears(newb. question)
As zonk said: go see your Ears, Nose, Throat doctor/specialist, asap!
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE.
ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA.
RE: Dizziness and clogged ears(newb. question)
(03-22-2014, 03:16 PM)PaytonA Wrote: Are you currently using your machine in BiPAP mode, auto CPAP mode, or auto BiPAP mode? I was not quite clear from your post (again it may be my ignorance of PR machines). Is the 8-13 your auto range or is it your setting and pressure support? Another question, do you have allergies?
PaytonA
Hi, I use an auto CPAP MAchine in the auto mode, and pressure range btwn 8-13 is my setting with best results.No, i don't think I have any allergies(only to penicillin and derivates) and I do not have headaches before( and i don't have now, just dizzyhead and not all the time).
Today i read an interesting article about barotrauma. Maybe my ears problems is related somehow to the pressure differences between the inside and outside of the eardrum. When I use the cpap, the pressure in the eustachian tube and the middle ear is not the same as the air pressure outside of the body and maybe that caused my inconvenience.
So, I thought(tentative) i use some earplugs when i sleep(to equalize the pressure) maybe help me. Maybe I'm wrong
RE: Dizziness and clogged ears(newb. question)
Is your dizziness a matter of the room spinning or is it more of a balance problem?
I do not think earplugs will help if your eustachian tubes are occluded.
PaytonA
RE: Dizziness and clogged ears(newb. question)
I think it is more a balance problem. My dizzynes i's not as if you get up quickly from a chair/bed(if you have a low blood pressure) and the room is spinning. I feel dizzy when I walk on the street or through the house, etc not when, for example, i'm leaning in bed and watch tv. And that, i feel more on the right side of my body.
I remembered that I was flu a few weeks before happened this everything.
RE: Dizziness and clogged ears(newb. question)
I have a problem with my balance sometimes when I have been sitting in the car for too long. This was the case well before I started CPAP. When I get out of the car, I have to stand still for a while and my hearing kind of fades in and out. After a while everything returns to normal. I have brought it up to the physician that I used to use and he merely said (as you suspect) that my eustachian tubes are partly blocked.(possibly inflammation from allergies). Anyway, I am careful and just put up with it. It also happens sometimes at the end of an airplane flight. Talk to your physician about it just in case it might be something more.
Best Regards,
PaytonA
