Getting Worse

I´m 33 years old and been using CPAP for 4 years now. On my first sleep study I had a AHI of 30. I use a Remstar Auto M Series with a FF mask. On my physical conditions, I´m thin no problem with weight, eat reasonably and don´t exercise. I don´t fell more tired then I should. I have one nostril with 50% air flow and some mucus overall. My neck is bigger then it should and I have a somewhat restricted air flow on my throat. Hence the apnea.

I started using my CPAP with the AUTO settings and had an average of 6 AHI. After one year I did a second sleep study. With no CPAP I had 5 AHI. The sleep study recommended to use a 6,5 pressure.

I did that, switched from AUTO to a fixed pressure (as recommended by my doctor) and kept the 5 to 6 AHI readings on my machine (no notorious improvement). After the second year I started waking up in the middle of the night with my stomach full of air, hurting.

During this events I tried a ResMed Swift FX mask, and had it worse on swallowing air. I can´t use it or I wake up in 2 hours with my stomach hurting, full of air.

This last year my level of AHI raised to 10. My FF mask is old and might be leaking. I´m still using a fixed pressure of 6,5. No major life changes.

So, my questions are:

Is it normal to wake up full of air on the stomach? Any errors here?

Normally I don´t feel much difference when I sleep with or without the CPAP. Should it be this way? Like I said, overall I feel fine. Only during periods of stress is when I feel difference from using or not using the CPAP (better with CPAP).

I´m having arrhythmia, could it be related to the apnea? I´m not under stress.

Can my mask be interfering with the AHI readings?

Any suggestions on what could I do to improve my sleep and CPAP?

Sorry for the long post.

Hi - first I suggest you do a forum search for aerophagia - the air swallowing/bloating problem, and you should see lots of advice there. Secondly, you can download (for free) SleepyHead software from the first note on main forum page in Pugsy's note. That will give you lots of info on what's really going on pressure-wise, leak-wise, and a lot more - screenshot a graph page on Imgur.com and link it to this thread. There's a chance that it might not work with your machine, but see what you can do and post your full machine name and model # plus age in your Profile under User Ctl Panel below main logo, and hopefully get more advice on that. You may well need to change your settings now, or even machine if it's old. Also I'd check with your MD re the aerophagia because while some people do have that problem, it often comes with higher pressures and yours are not really that high... and you want to be sure there isn't something else going (not everything is about Cpap ).

Thank you, Julie!

I`ve been using my cpap for over a year. I have grown to like the therapy. Over time, I have made minor air flow tweaks to optimize comfort. Tried switching from C-Flex to A-Flex. Over the past 6 mo or so, I have been experiencing severe bloating of the abdomen area. I have seen gastroenterologist and have had work ups such as colonoscopy & upper GI, ultrasound and blood work. Everything checked out ok. I`ve been put into the category of IBS.

My stomach discomfort has really started to effect my quality of life. The stomach distension in particular. My wife asked a simple question last night that I never really considered: Can my cpap be causing my stomach distension? Wow! I have been doing all these gastro tests and hit a brick wall. Now I have a new path to consider. I read a lot of google blogs from other cpap users that have the same symptoms as me. How can I find out for sure? Any suggestions as to what I can try? I`m getting pretty desperate here!
Any advise I can get would be greatly appreciated!

SleepyHead won't work with the M series machines at all.
Must be Encore software and would also need that very special smart card reader...if you have one and want Encore send me a private message.