Inner Ear Pain

[Jeremy H]

I've woken up at times with a pain in my inner ear, either ear. Also been experiencing daytime dizziness. I've been reading  about  the connection between cpap therapy potentially causing vertigo or dizziness. Any info about this?

[Jeremy H]

"Despite being the most effective way to treat sleep apnea, CPAP therapy can occasionally be the cause of chronic inner ear pain or discomfort. If your CPAP pressure is not high enough, your airway may not be opening like it should, meaning your treatment for sleep apnea isn’t completely effective and that your Eustachian tubes are still blocked".

 What???? I thought cpap therapy was for the 'airway' to be open, now Eustachian tubes?

[Canuck 2]

Vertigo can happen from a # of personal mishaps in life, like falling off a bicycle and landing on your head, age , car accidents.........
I know some who have experienced Vertigo also and it can be resolved by simple maneuvers. This maneuver on You tube works and is fast to resolve the issue. There are no medicines for Vertigo I'm aware of and are not needed if the maneuvers work.
I had some Vertigo years ago and I'm aware of it, Your inner ear is the problem. Make sure your air  tubes feeding your machine are clean to eliminate infection and use distilled water in your Cpap machine.
Carol Foster, MD Vertigo Treatment Oct 11 -type this in on Youtube and this maneuver works for most  folks, There are other maneuvers but this one works the best and takes 20-30 seconds before going to sleep. Carol Foster is like a Saint to lots of sufferers with Vertigo IMO.

[happydreams]

Eustachian tubes go between the middle ear and the upper pharynx (also known as the Nasopharynx).  They are normal closed but can open to equalize pressure.  This happens when one changes in altitude, or perhaps while using CPAP.  A CPAP will (slightly) increase the pressure in the nasopharynx, potentially creating a pressure imbalance.

Since I am not a doctor, all I can suggest is you try swallowing to clear/open the tubes to equalize pressure.  Hope this helps.  I would think doing it once in the beginning of the night (while under pressure) would be sufficient.  This assumes that you are otherwise healthy.  It is also possible you have an infection, so I suggest you contact your medical provider for advice.

[OpalRose]

Jeremy,
There are several articles that connect Cpap therapy and inner ear problems.  Google Dr. Steven Park for a good explanation.
I would post a link, but there are too many sales pitches on his site.  It's easy enough to find.

There is no surprise that there is a connection as everything is so closely related: ears, nose, mouth, etc.,
although some folk seem to be affected more than others.

It has also been suggested that too high of a pressure could be an issue.  

If the pain persists, a good ENT may be able to help.

[Jeremy H]

Thanks for that. The first time I had it was over 15 years ago, I didn't know what it was. I had been drinking so I thought it was to much beer. It lasted for a few days and over a week, slowly went off.  It was really scary.

Since my long lived cpap machine stopped working, I knew I was in trouble. My backup cpap stopped working as well!
Ever since then I've been struggling with my new dream station to get it 'right'. I've been pretty much jet lagged since, not to many good nights sleep. Now a slight to moderate dizziness and a few episodes of vertigo. I avoid sleeping on my right side since it causes that.

[Hydrangea]

Just wanted to throw a possible factor in to the thread of ideas.

I experience ear pain & problems when I use Flex (or exhale support). So I have that turned off. This makes sense to me since (in my non-sleeping life) I'm extremely sensitive to pressure changes.

[hegel]

The vestibular system, located in the middle ear, controls balance. when I see my ENT and he or she uses suction to clean my ears, I end up with the entire room spinning wildly. This is due to pressure differentials affecting the vestibular system.

cpap does introduce pressure into the middle ear: witness your eustachian tubes popping when the pressure begins. (at least mind do.)

I agree that seeing an ENT is a good idea. It may be something else entirely causing your vertigo. But why not check this out? You may have a middle ear infection, for example.