aerophagia
Does anyone have a problem with swallowing gas and your stomach is distended. (aerophagia) It's very hard to change the settings myself to try and get a comfort level without asking someone to do it for me. I started this about 1 1/2 years ago. I was stopping breathing 28 times/hr. NOw my pressures were at 6 - 16 with great results below 5 all the time but I had so much gas issue that they brought me down to 6 - 15 and now I am below 10 with still some gas issues. Anyone else out there has this problem and what did you do? I have bought my machine but unable to control any of it without asking.
RE: aerophagia
Jinx, we have a lot of members with aerophagia problems and therapy can end up being a compromise in pressure that is effective and comfortable. What are you doing in terms of EPR on your machine? Have you identified what pressure seems to trigger your aerophagia?
RE: aerophagia
I'm sorry about that. What is EPR? Like I said I can't get that setting on my machine without calling Vital Air.
RE: aerophagia
EPR is "expiratory pressure relief", and is a reduction in pressure during exhale. I can be set to full-time and at settings of 1, 2 or 3 which corresponds to reduction in pressure during exhale in cm-H2O. For example, if your pressure is set at 7.0 and EPR is full-time at 3, then your pressure is 7.0 inhale/4.0 exhale. We use the term IPAP/EPAP. This difference in pressure can help treat flow limitations and hypopnea, as well as relieve aerophagia.
EPR is a "Comfort" setting in the clinical menu of your machine. Many doctors and clinics make adjustment of EPR available to the patient, but yours apparently did not. You can change the EPR setting yourself, and it is not considered a change of therapy settings. It is intended for patient comfort. You can easily make the change by following this tutorial. https://www.apneaboard.com/resmed-airsen...setup-info
If you will post a daily detail chart from OSCAR, we can help you to optimize your settings for both AHI and your aerophagia. As you can see, you don't need the supplier to make changes for you, and you can, and should control your own therapy. Please read the article Changing your CPAP settings, and request a copy of the clinical manual for your machine. https://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-p...tup-manual
RE: aerophagia
Aerophagia is an ongoing battle for me. The settings that are a godsend for me are Trigger and RiseTime.
My regular settings in S mode: IPAP 17 EPAP 12. Trigger High, Cycle Low, TiMax 3.8, TMin 0.8, EasyBreathe on
When stomach issue flare up : IPAP 12 EPAP 8, Trigger VeryHigh, RiseTime: 300ms
I know you have Autoset for her and not a VAuto, but Aerophagia is precisely why I changed from Autoset to VAuto.
RE: aerophagia
@Sleeprider - Thank you for sharing this info - I've been on CPAP using this machine for a year and a half with great success - AHI is averaging under 1. But I get aerophagia occasionally and last night it was terribly painful so I'm searched the board for answers.
My doctor has my settings at 6-12 and I've been averaging a nightly pressure of around 9. I noticed the EPR is set to off. Would turning this on help my aerophagia? If so, what number should it be on?
I followed the instructions on the link you provided and when I select COMFORT nothing happens. I assume I'll have to call either my doctor or Lincare to ask about turning the EPR on, but I'm not sure what I should be requesting.
Thank you!
RE: aerophagia
We normally find aerophgia is reduced with EPR and appropriate pressure limits. With a fixed pressure of 6-12 and median pressure of 9.0 without EPR, my recommendation for settings with an Autoset is 7 to 12 with EPR 3. That will give you a pressure range of 7/4 to 12/9 (IPAP/EPAP), which is not a lot different, but is going to relieve pressure during exhale, and reduce pressure overall. It would help to see a chart, but your situation is pretty common, so we have seen improvements using EPR.
RE: aerophagia
Thanks Sleeprider. I'll keep your suggested settings in mind. I figured out the EPR yesterday and set it at 2 last night. No aerophagia and breathing felt more relaxed. I also used an extra pillow since I have GERD. Hopefully, this will solve the problem.
RE: aerophagia
Our weight has a noticeable effect on required pressure. The heavier we are (particularly around the neck) the higher the pressure needs to be and the more aerophagia we will most likely experience.
It follows that losing weight can be an effective way to combat aerophagia. I have personal experience of this, when I lost 12 kilos, from 90 to 78. I was able to reduce my pressure while maintaining an acceptable AHI and this in turn significantly reduced the frequency and degree of aerophagia.
RE: aerophagia
(08-14-2019, 11:21 PM)Sleeprider Wrote: We normally find aerophgia is reduced with EPR and appropriate pressure limits. With a fixed pressure of 6-12 and median pressure of 9.0 without EPR, my recommendation for settings with an Autoset is 7 to 12 with EPR 3. That will give you a pressure range of 7/4 to 12/9 (IPAP/EPAP), which is not a lot different, but is going to relieve pressure during exhale, and reduce pressure overall. It would help to see a chart, but your situation is pretty common, so we have seen improvements using EPR.
This was your suggestion to me too, its early days but using EPR seems to be reducing my gas problem.
I hope it works for you Suzi
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