New User - Swallowing air (Aerophagia)
I'm brand new to this. I used the cpap machine last night for the first time. I woke several times and had to rip the mask off my face so I could burp up the air. My stomach felt very swollen. I do not have a history of reflux. My first experience of stomach problems was after a course of antibiotics for a uti about 6 wks ago, at the same time I had severe neck problems with the muscles going into spasm in one side causing involuntary gagging in the morning when I got up. This caused air in my stomach but I had resolved this through neck stretches and being careful what I ate.
My range I believe is low 4-10. So it stays at 4 but goes up if needed. I have a full face mask because I didn't know if I was nose or mouth breathing. I had always been a nose breather but had started using my mouth because of the neck issue in case clenching my jaw was adding to it. It wasn't so I had tried to go back to nose breathing. The rep is posting me a nasal mask and chin strap as I figured that at least if I need to burp I can do so with my mouth and it won't be against the air.
I had the sleep study done around that time so I'm not sure what's going on. Anyway last night the air was coming against me and I feel as if I'm not breathing on my terms but on the machines terms. I also have a 26mm polyp in my sinus and allergies.
I know I'm only on one night but it seems like it will be really difficult to use long term. I wasn't expecting to get a result of sleep apnea as I didn't snore as such. I did occasionally wake myself with a snort but maybe twice and not every night and it depended on my nose being stuffed up. I was suffering from daytime fatigue. I didn't really have questions ready for the consultant as I wasn't expecting this. My sleep apnea score was 12 which is mild. Do they ever try to figure the cause and improve that as I can't see how I will be able to use the machine long term with all the air in my stomach.
RE: New User - Bloating, Gas, diarrhea, reflux
(09-27-2017, 06:01 AM)Carobu Wrote: I'm brand new to this. I used the cpap machine last night for the first time. I woke several times and had to rip the mask off my face so I could burp up the air. My stomach felt very swollen. I do not have a history of reflux. My first experience of stomach problems was after a course of antibiotics for a uti about 6 wks ago, at the same time I had severe neck problems with the muscles going into spasm in one side causing involuntary gagging in the morning when I got up. This caused air in my stomach but I had resolved this through neck stretches and being careful what I ate.
My range I believe is low 4-10. So it stays at 4 but goes up if needed. I have a full face mask because I didn't know if I was nose or mouth breathing. I had always been a nose breather but had started using my mouth because of the neck issue in case clenching my jaw was adding to it. It wasn't so I had tried to go back to nose breathing. The rep is posting me a nasal mask and chin strap as I figured that at least if I need to burp I can do so with my mouth and it won't be against the air.
I had the sleep study done around that time so I'm not sure what's going on. Anyway last night the air was coming against me and I feel as if I'm not breathing on my terms but on the machines terms. I also have a 26mm polyp in my sinus and allergies.
I know I'm only on one night but it seems like it will be really difficult to use long term. I wasn't expecting to get a result of sleep apnea as I didn't snore as such. I did occasionally wake myself with a snort but maybe twice and not every night and it depended on my nose being stuffed up. I was suffering from daytime fatigue. I didn't really have questions ready for the consultant as I wasn't expecting this. My sleep apnea score was 12 which is mild. Do they ever try to figure the cause and improve that as I can't see how I will be able to use the machine long term with all the air in my stomach.
4 is a low pressure for most people and typically we would recommend a pressure reduction to cope with your aerophagia (swallowing air) so asking for a picture of what is going on.
Fred
RE: New User - Swallowing air (Aerophagia)
Your machine has a lot of settings that can affect your comfort and the effectiveness in controlling apnea. For example, your machine has exhale pressure relief (EPR) in addition to the 4-10 pressure settings. It will help to see your current event rate, and the pressures that cause problems. If we can avoid those higher pressures without hurting your treatment, then hopefully you will feel more comfortable. It may also take some time to adapt to this...give it a fair shot.
RE: New User - Swallowing air (Aerophagia)
I'm new too (3 weeks in). I also had a hard time with aerophagia at first, but I received help here. You've come to the right place. 
One thing that helped me in the short-term was taking a product called Gas-X. I don't know what a comparable product would be in your part of the world. Gas-X's tag line is "Fast relief for gas & bloating."
I mostly just wanted to give you some encouragement. It really can get better. Don't forget that this is a sudden change for your body and it does need time to adjust. Hang in there! The good folks here can help you.
RE: New User - Swallowing air (Aerophagia)
Thanks for your the replies. I was looking at the literature today and one thing that stood out to me was the ramp time. It said that most of the air intake is when you are awake and I had it on while I was awake for a good while I thought this would help before I lay down fully. So I was going to set it to the 45 mins to see if this would work. The 4 seems low according to what I've read. My event rate for last night I believe was 1.2 but I'm not sure about this because I has a .2 before I settled to sleep. Then it went to .8 when I slept a bit but I really struggled with the mask from then onwards and too much air. I was also in and out to bathroom a lot so had to take it off numerous times. The pressure relief was on when I checked a while ago so I don't know what going on as it just wasn't comfortable with my own breathing as soon as I went to settle to sleep.
RE: New User - Swallowing air (Aerophagia)
It would help to know exactly what your settings are. On the airsense 10 Autoset, you could be using ramp from 4 and a fixed pressure of 10. If that is the case, then I recommend changing to Autoset mode, Soft, with minimum pressure at 5 and maximum pressure at 10. That way, you will be at higher pressure only when needed. If you use ramp at all (should not be needed at these low pressures), then set it to AUTO. In addition, you can use EPR. With EPR on full-time, the exhale pressure will be dropped according to the setting 1-3 cm of pressure. So at maximum pressure of 10, you will still only have 7 cm of exhale pressure using EPR at 3. The only caution is that using too much EPR can allow obstructive apnea to occur if you need that pressure to keep your airway open.
As I answered before, get the free #Sleepyhead software, let us help you adjust.
09-27-2017, 04:20 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-27-2017, 04:23 PM by Carobu.)
RE: New User - Swallowing air (Aerophagia)
Thanks I will try to get more info from the machine. It's all new to me and I'm at a bit of a loss to some of the things you are talking about. The rep from the company came and set it up. She had my prescription from consultant on her phone. I did not see it.
Ramp time set to auto
Climate ctrl auto
Tube temp auto
Pressure relief on
Smart start off
Mask full face
In the sleep report section it says pressure 11.4
Leak 6l/min
Pressure is actually 4 - 12 when I turn it on but stays at 4 initially.
I'm not really sure when it goes up because the light is dimmed off after a few seconds.
RE: New User - Swallowing air (Aerophagia)
You can get more details from your machine by entering clinical settings (control knob + home button) and scrolling through the settings to Essentials. If it is ON, set it to PLUS . That will help give an onscreen breakdown of AHI by type and your average and 90% pressures for a period of your choice. Not quite as good as #Sleepyhead data, but good nuf.
While you're scrolling through the settings, note Minimum CPAP pressure, Maximum CPAP pressure, and EPR. In your sleep report, let us know what your AHI is and what the CAI, OAI and HI is (central, obstructive, hypopnea events/hour).
RE: New User - Swallowing air (Aerophagia)
On the left side of your machine there are 2 doors, the upper one should have an SD card installed. If it doesn't it will take most SD cards (those 32 GB and under) The default size is 2GB, I doubt you can find one that size. Detailed data is stored to this SD Card.
Download and install SleepyHead then Post the detailed data (Many of us have instructions in our signatures) In the meantime provide the info SleepRider has requested.
Fred
RE: New User - Swallowing air (Aerophagia)
(09-27-2017, 05:31 PM)bonjour Wrote: On the left side of your machine there are 2 doors, the upper one should have an SD card installed....
If you are going to use the SD card...
1. If its light is on (which is really unlikely), wait until it is off before removing it.
2. Slide the tab to the LOCKED position before connecting it to your computer. This will prevent your computer's operating system from writing any files on it.
3. Be sure to slide the tab back to UNLOCKED position before putting it back into your machine. Otherwise your machine will not be able to save your data onto the SD card.
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