New User Here

Hi folks

I was diagnosed about 15yrs ago with OSA. About a week after my sleep study a tech came to my house with an FF mask and a machine spent all of 10 minutes with me and I was on my own no support no one to ask questions and like many I lasted a few weeks and said screw this. That machine is still in a box up in the attic. I finally admitted to myself I had to give this another try so 3 weeks ago I had another study done. The problem I have is that I apparently swallow a lot of air I barley made it through the night due to bloating and stomach pains. Of course the techs are not allowed to tell you much. But I do remember this bloated feeling from the 1st study I had 15yrs earlier. When my Dr got the report it was recommended that I use a VPAP machine but of course the insurance company will not approve that as your 1st unit. So I was given a resmed S9 auto to start the EPR set at 2 auto pressure set 4-16. After the 1st week I am averaging 3hrs a night with a nasal mask pressure 9.8 AHI 4.1. But I end up removing the mask when my stomach starts to feel bloated. Will a VPAP help with the air getting into my stomach ? Even with just 3 hrs a night I already feel more rested and alert would love to be able to make 5-6hrs.
Ed

Hi Ed,

I don't have experience of vpap but I have had some experience of pain due to air in my stomach. Luckily, it gradually got better over a few weeks.
I'm sure some of the more experienced people here will be along with good advice as always but maybe it's just a matter of time and if you keep at it for a few weeks, it'll get better on its own.

Good luck,
Pete.

Hi - you didn't say what your pressures are set to, and that would help to know if they're particularly high (sometimes lowering them just a bit can help as long as you're still getting benefit from Cpap. Do a forum search on aerophagia (what you have) and see what others have tried. Also, I'd ask my MD to check why you might have the problem so quickly when using Cpap... could you have some internal glitch that can be addressed?

Julie, the DME set it to 4-16, EPR 2. (Last 1/3 of post).

You're right! I shouldn't post between snow shovelling - brain freeze!

Yes a VPAP (ResMed term for bilevel pressure machine) could very well make a big difference in the aerophagia (the bloating) issues you are having but the S9 AutoSet can be made to mimic the bilevel machines up to a point.
EPR use essentially gives you bilevel pressures but it is limited to 3 cm difference. Bilevel machines allow greater than 3 cm difference and some people need more than 3 to get relief.

But it might be possible to get the Autoset to work by using EPR of 3 and tightly reigning in those pressures and still give you effective therapy. You would need a little higher minimum and limit the maximum a lot more than it is now.

Your current settings are wide open pretty much and that's for sure not the way to go with aerophagia being an issue.
Also when using 4 cm minimum you aren't really utilizing the benefit of EPR because the machine can't go below 4 anyway.

Julie wrote:You're right! I shouldn't post between snow shovelling - brain freeze!

I'd imagine all that white stuff and the cold makes it hard to parse a wall of text too

Pugsy wrote:Yes a VPAP (ResMed term for bilevel pressure machine) could very well make a big difference in the aerophagia (the bloating) issues you are having but the S9 AutoSet can be made to mimic the bilevel machines up to a point.
EPR use essentially gives you bilevel pressures but it is limited to 3 cm difference. Bilevel machines allow greater than 3 cm difference and some people need more than 3 to get relief.

But it might be possible to get the Autoset to work by using EPR of 3 and tightly reigning in those pressures and still give you effective therapy. You would need a little higher minimum and limit the maximum a lot more than it is now.

Your current settings are wide open pretty much and that's for sure not the way to go with aerophagia being an issue.

Also when using 4 cm minimum you aren't really utilizing the benefit of EPR because the machine can't go below 4 anyway.

Thank you for the input I will drop the Max level down to 11 and increase the EPR from 2 to 3 I dont know if the lower level will go below 4 that may be the minimum. But if i read the tech info correctly the machine is settling in at 9.8 so with the EPR set at 3 the lowest the exhale will drop to is 6.8 correct?
Ed

Yes, EPR at 3 and a pressure of 9.8 will give you 6.8 on exhale.
I would suggest the minimum be 6 cm instead of 4. Having a more optimal minimum often will help with multiple problems at once.
1...it often gives more optimal therapy in that it holds the airway open better and thus prevents the collapse better in the first place
2...often when the events are better prevented in the first place the machine won't need to go as high as it did when trying to fix something as opposed to preventing something....which of course lessens the chance of the higher pressure causing aeropahgia or leak issues.
3...it limits the range of changing pressures which could impact sleep quality.