cpap and vertigo

i have sleep apnea . not central. when the doc gave me the machine he said it is set at the lowest cause thats all i need. i only had a short time in my opinion, to get used to it. i had to wear it 4 hours a night minimum in a certain amount of days in order for my insurance to pay for the unit. problem is, i couldnt get use to it to wear it four ours everyday and my days ran out. it caused me to get ear aches and vertigo. i dont know what to do know. is this common? i am in california. thank you

Hi, well it's important to use it all night so you feel better, not just 4 hrs so insurance will pay for it... not much point otherwise.

Which exact machine do you have - all the names on top please for now, and which mask do you have?

Doctors unfortunately don't really understand how the machines work and using the lowest setting means you probably have a lot of trouble trying to get enough air... most of us set it higher, at least 6 or 7 starting out, and don't use the ramp because at such low settings it doesn't help but can slow down your therapy. We can help you but need more info.

I don't know why you have earaches - sometimes that will happen but others here can tell you more. The vertigo may be because your blook pressure is already on the low side and if you jump out of bed fast you could feel dizzy, another thing to possibly get more answers to. Do you know if your BP is normally low? It's also possible that you have a chronic ear condition that apart from it hurting, also affects your balance, and you should ask an ENT doctor about that... get checked out because while Cpap might aggravate it, it may not be responsible and you do need to use the Cpap, so maybe something needs to be done for your ears themselves.

It's not common to have ear related problems with cpap use but it's not totally unheard of either.
Seems like some people have Eustachian tube dysfunction easily and that can mess with the inner ear balance causing the vertigo. Of course there are other things that can also cause inner ear imbalances resulting in extreme vertigo so you really need to see a doctor and have the ears evaluated to make sure it isn't something else that is causing the problem.

There is a cpap mask that bypasses the nose entirely which might allow for cpap therapy to be continued without having the air sneak up into the inner ear via the Eustachian tubes (if cpap pressure is confirmed as the problem) but that mask comes with a whole other set of issues.

You really need to be following up with your doctor about your problem and discussing potential alternatives should be be determined that cpap was the sole cause of your problem.

First thing to do though is rule out potential ear issues. I get the bad vertigo sometimes but it is unrelated to cpap use. Mine is called BPPV or benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and cpap use doesn't make it any worse.
Look up Eustachian tube dysfunction. Normally the little passageway in your nose that connects to the ear canals should be closed off so the pressure doesn't affect the inner ear but for some people it doesn't close off and the cpap pressure makes its way to the inner ear and causes all sorts of unpleasant symptoms.

vertigo or anxiety?

If you can, see an ENT (ears, nose,throat) specialist. Can take a long time to get an appointment, but s/he can rule out other problems whether related to cpap or not better than your gp. The problems I had turned out simply to be coincidental with cpap, it was not the cause.

When I started my CPAP trial with a Resmed Airsense 10 autoset, my dormant BPPV was triggered. No tinnitus however. My vertigo symptoms lessened over time. A month in now...nearing 2 weeks with my own APAP unit. Still getting headaches on occasion and not getting a full nights sleep (less groggy now)...sleep is averaging 7.5 hours a night.

David - you really, really should start your own thread, but... what are your pressure settings - it's very likely the min. is too low, but tell us more and we'll go from there.