Burping and mouth “pops” - pressure too high?

[RosPap]

Everyone here has been super helpful in working through the adjustment of a new CPAP user.

The last two nights, I’ve had this weird thing happen where air will be forced from the back of my mouth and out through my (closed) lips almost making a fish-like pop sound. In the same night, I kept waking up to burping.

I’ve also experience a strange sensation way down in my throat when the pressure is very high. It almost feels like someone flicked me in the throat with a finger and my throat has a hard bubble in it.

I’ve been reading here on the forum I could adjust the max pressure to help relieve this — it sounds like it would also help with the other “drowning” feelings I’ve been having. I believe when I woke up, the unit was at 19 or 20. Should I adjust or was it set very specifically by the doctor and should not be messed with?

[LSAT]

If you have been reading the forum, you know we will ask....What is your AHI?...What are your pressure settings? Are you using Sleepyhead?

[RosPap]

If you have been reading the forum, you know we will ask....What is your AHI?...What are your pressure settings? Are you using Sleepyhead?

Last night, I wore the mask for only 4.5 hours:
AHI was 5.3
Mask fit 100%
Periodic Breathing 6%
90% Pressure 16.5

Pressure Setttings:
Auto Min: 5.0
Auto Max 20.0

Haven’t installed Sleepyhead, will definitely do that after we get home from holiday.

[LSAT]

You need sleepyhead...The 90% pressure means that 90% of the time you were at 16.5 OR BELOW. You might have been at 16.5 for only a minute or two during the night. Your minimum pressure probably needs to be increased.

[RosPap]

You need sleepyhead...The 90% pressure means that 90% of the time you were at 16.5 OR BELOW. You might have been at 16.5 for only a minute or two during the night. Your minimum pressure probably needs to be increased.

I should up the mininum pressure? I thought that the symptoms I was experiencing (the air eating, suffocating feeling) was because the max pressure is so high?

I often check the pressure when I feel “comfortable” and can sense the pressure in my airway, and it’s around 13-14.

[Pugsy]

What is that AHI composed of?

How much in each category?
ClearAirway/Central index?
Obstructive Apnea Index?
Hyponea Index?

Before increasing the pressure we need to know if what we are trying to reduce by killing it with more pressure is able to be killed with more pressure.
If the bulk of your AHI is central/clear airway then more pressure won't fix it.

That's where SleepyHead comes in...so you can see the details available in the software that isn't available on the machine or DreamMapper.

And yeah..if the AHI is composed mainly of obstructive stuff (OAs and hyponeas) then more minimum is needed...and often when a more optimal minimum setting is used then the machine might not need to go so high and the maximum pressures could maybe come down.

Sounds like you are having some variance of what we call chipmunk cheeks going on. Air goes up the nose and starts down the airway but enters the mouth because the back door is open.
It's a common annoying problem that might go away with time and if it doesn't it might need some specific work to eliminate that annoyance.

[RosPap]

Sounds like you are having some variance of what we call chipmunk cheeks going on. Air goes up the nose and starts down the airway but enters the mouth because the back door is open.
It's a common annoying problem that might go away with time and if it doesn't it might need some specific work to eliminate that annoyance.

Ha! That’s perfectly descriptive of what’s going on. My cheeks fill up with air and then it pops out my mouth.

I will get SleepyHead as soon as I get home.

[Cereal Killer]

I should up the mininum pressure? I thought that the symptoms I was experiencing (the air eating, suffocating feeling) was because the max pressure is so high?

It's hard to say without Sleepyhead.

The next time this happens, reach over and turn your machine off, wait a few seconds and turn it back on (or use autostart). The next day when you look at SH chart, you will be able to see what was going on at the time the problem occurred. (Turn off/on is to mark the graph at the point of the event.)