aerophagia

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
cpapopedia

aerophagia

Post by cpapopedia » Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:26 pm

The word "phage" in Greek means "to eat." Aerophagia is literally to eat air. In the modern context, it means swallowing too much air, a common cause of gas in the stomach and belching.

This is sometimes a result of CPAP Therapy. Unfortunately, the best solutions for this problem are not a catch all but instead an attempt to find the middle ground between needed CPAP pressures.

Here's what you can do:

1. Tell your CPAP prescribing physician. It may be better to decrease the CPAP level a bit and put up with some minor airway problems if we can significantly decrease the bloating. Sometimes this works great, sometimes not at all. An auto adjusting CPAP should also also be considered as these machines reduce the average pressure the user receives. Get help settings the maximum pressure on the auto as the highest pressures can make things much worse.

2. As the chin of a CPAP user nears the chest, air has a greater change of entering the digestive tract. Where possible, keep chin up in relation to torso.

3. Sleeping in a position different than normal helps keep the air out of the stomach. Try different sleeping positions. Left side, right side, inclined with pillows, or flat.

If these fail, It may be that you should consider a surgical alternative to CPAP. Many have tried all sorts of other solutions to this bloating problem with little success.


nandob
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2011 10:47 pm

Re: aerophagia

Post by nandob » Mon Dec 19, 2011 5:46 pm

Thank you so much for the info. Surgery is not an option for me. I have a bleeding problem & hemtologist is not too reassuring about getting me through surgical procedures. I have tried sleeping with head elevated and lying flat. At one time my pulmonologist prescribed an RX to help alleviate the problem. But won't until I have another sleep study & can't do that before February 2012 when I will be going on Medicare. My #s are 10 & 16 & have only been changed once in 11 years. I also have now lost almost 50 lbs so it may be that my system set up may be wrong for me now. I have been having major leaks with my mask & got the seal cushion replaced which cut down some air leaks, but it still is troublesome. I sometimes have to lie down on my side and prop my head up on my elbow in order to get the air to stop leaking.