swollen throat

[mrs. sandman]

I am brand new to the liberty mask with a starting position on 5, going up to 10 - and I'm having problems.
I tried the machine 5 yrs. ago and sent it back after a week. But lately, really feel like I'm grasping for air at night and am very tired in the morning, so....I'm surprised that I was actually able to get 7 hrs. of sleep, although interrupted for various adjustments of tubing, etc. on both of the nights I tried it.

I'm going to list my problems below, hoping that various readers will have answers to one of the problems:

1. The biggest barrier is that I've woken up the first 2 mornings with a swollen throat, not pain like I had from snoring/breathing thru my mouth, but like swollen muscles on the side of my throat airway. It almost feels like either my throat got a workout just trying to process the rapid airflow, OR worse yet, an allergic reaction. It feels like my throat is closing up all throughout the day. It was so bad that I took an advil thinking it would decrease inflammation. I even worked out for 40 min. on the eliptical, but no change. So I took the the next night off from the CPAP and my throat opened up. Then used the machine the 3rd night and same thing happend the next morning, but to a lesser degree. Lastly, maybe unrelated, I got a very red face yest. evening and somewhat of a quick, mild fever and fatigue out of nowhere. Went to bed early w/o the CPAP and slept thru the night. I'm worried that maybe I"m having an allergic reaction to the tube, or plastic in the mask or something. Any advice on this?
2. I've read others post re: bloating and that also has happened. My stomach is distended in the morning and it takes walking around an passing gas for an hour to clear it. Awful feeling. No wonder they say ppl lose weight on CPAP - you can't eat in the morning or night while using it! Uuugghh. Which brings me to my next question...
3. Has anyone tried and succeeded with the mouthpiece that pulls your bottom jaw out. Is it painful? How much does it cost?

Thank you for your help in advance.

[ozij]

1. The biggest barrier is that I've woken up the first 2 mornings with a swollen throat, not pain like I had from snoring/breathing thru my mouth, but like swollen muscles on the side of my throat airway. It almost feels like either my throat got a workout just trying to process the rapid airflow, OR worse yet, an allergic reaction. It feels like my throat is closing up all throughout the day. It was so bad that I took an advil thinking it would decrease inflammation. I even worked out for 40 min. on the eliptical, but no change. So I took the the next night off from the CPAP and my throat opened up. Then used the machine the 3rd night and same thing happend the next morning, but to a lesser degree. Lastly, maybe unrelated, I got a very red face yest. evening and somewhat of a quick, mild fever and fatigue out of nowhere. Went to bed early w/o the CPAP and slept thru the night. I'm worried that maybe I"m having an allergic reaction to the tube, or plastic in the mask or something. Any advice on this?

I've never hear of allergies causing fever. I once had what felt like similar symptoms in my throat (pre cpap)- this was shortly after I had a strep throat. The back of my tongue hurt, and it turned out I had an infection of the pharynx. Very painful, pretty exhausting - and before the antibiotics worked I think my doc was concerned. I realise one night off cpap helped - but I wanted you to know that this could be non-cpap related - I'd go to a doctor.

Allergies: I let my new machine blow into the room for 90 minutes or more to rid it of the new smell. I learned ((the hard way) to soak my masks in warm soapy water for 30-60 minutes before first letting them touch my face, or breathing through them. Do that for any mask part you can (some companies say to soak for no more than 10 - check your instructions) and for your hose.

3. Has anyone tried and succeeded with the mouthpiece that pulls your bottom jaw out. Is it painful? How much does it cost?

You'll find more discussion of dental sleep medicine at http://www.talkaboutsleep.com in the dental forum. schleima has recently reported success, and so did snork1 a few year ago.

O.

[Robespierre]

1. The biggest barrier is that I've woken up the first 2 mornings with a swollen throat, not pain like I had from snoring/breathing thru my mouth, but like swollen muscles on the side of my throat airway.

I'm no MD, but what you're describing sounds familiar. Sounds a lot like swollen lymph nodes.

mild fever and fatigue out of nowhere.

And with the mild fever and fatigue as well, you may have a throat infection. You may wish to contact your MD.

Jim

[Guest]

Please see a Doc and find out why your throat is swollen. Should it close completely for any reason you're done. Very dangerous.
You may want to keep claratin or epinephrin handy if its allergy. (Pardon the spellings)

[riverdreamer]

I've never hear of allergies causing fever.
O.

Allergies can in fact cause a rise in temperature, and a red face, and/or ears. This is one of the ways that the body can react to elements that are perceived as dangerous. In fact, anaphylactic shock will have both red skin flushing as the blood rushes to the surface of the skin, and a very quick rise in temperature.

Throat swelling is one of the more dangerous allergic symptoms. I would speak to a doctor about it immediately. Whetehr it is allergy or infection, it needs to be looked into.

[DreamStalker]

She doesn't like paying doctors just to tell her to go see another doctor.

That's what she said in her other thread anyway.

viewtopic/t42041/viewtopic.php?p=369686#p369686

Maybe she'll change her mind after she is unable to breathe ... Cheney seems to think anyone can be convinced to a different frame of mind with that mehtod.

[riverdreamer]

She doesn't like paying doctors just to tell her to go see another doctor.

Well, I can understand not LIKING it. You should see my medical tax deductions for the last five years. However, sometimes it is necessary. Maybe she will be fine. Many, many times I have heard people tell the story of something that sent them to the emergency room, and felt "Wow, that is what I deal with all the time!" I tend to do my research, and then decide. I've only been to the emergency room for broken bones and lacerations beyond the ability of butterfly bandages. (Yeah, I can be a klutz.) Because I have spent way too much money on doctors, then find out I still had to figure out what was wrong myself. Still, some things are beyond our abilities as amateur physicians. Only we can decide for ourselves what the line is, when we need to ask for help.

Allergic reactions CAN be dangerous.
Infection CAN be dangerous.
Long term silent GERD CAN be dangerous.
They aren't always.

mrssandman will have to decide how bad it is, and how much risk she wants to take.

[mrs. sandman]

She doesn't like paying doctors just to tell her to go see another doctor.

Well, I can understand not LIKING it. You should see my medical tax deductions for the last five years. However, sometimes it is necessary. Maybe she will be fine. Many, many times I have heard people tell the story of something that sent them to the emergency room, and felt "Wow, that is what I deal with all the time!" I tend to do my research, and then decide. I've only been to the emergency room for broken bones and lacerations beyond the ability of butterfly bandages. (Yeah, I can be a klutz.) Because I have spent way too much money on doctors, then find out I still had to figure out what was wrong myself. Still, some things are beyond our abilities as amateur physicians. Only we can decide for ourselves what the line is, when we need to ask for help.

Allergic reactions CAN be dangerous.
Infection CAN be dangerous.
Long term silent GERD CAN be dangerous.
They aren't always.

mrssandman will have to decide how bad it is, and how much risk she wants to take.

Exactly riverdreamer. That's where I'm at. This is all so new. I'm a relatively healthy woman and I guess i though the hardest part of all this would be simply to get thru the night with the mask on and able to breathe. Now, with this throat thing the day after it feels like a whole new can o' worms. If I knew others had experienced a similar reaction, I would just wait thru the discomfort and chalk it up to newbie freakout, but so far no one has shared this reaction. Perhaps I'll try 1 more night and do what others suggested (soak the mask/tube; let it run for awhile first, etc.) and see if my throat still feels closed in the morning.

[riverdreamer]

Why don't you try wearing your CPAP fsetup or an hour or so while you are awake. Then you can check to see how you react. If you don't have any problem during that time, it is unlikely to be allergy that you are reacting to. It could still be GERD or some other issue, but at least you won't be having a severe allergic reaction while you are asleep. When you are awake, you will better able to assess what is going on.

[mrs. sandman]

THAT is a great idea - BACH!! i will try that this evening.

The other thing i was thinking was, what's the worst that could happen if i have a mask on my nose and mouth blowing air in at a high velocity?

The other thing is that it was clear that the throat thickness only happened the 2 mornings after the cpap us and not on the other 2 mornings (been using it since fri. night) and the 2nd of the 2 mornings after usage my throat was less closed. It's a mystery i'm hoping i/we can solve ourselves.

[jnk]

Could severe mouth leak cause a dry throat to swell and to signal to the body that it is sick, since it is more susceptible to infection and allergic reaction? I don't know. Maybe a doc would.

[BlackSpinner]

The problem with experimenting with the kind of "allergic" reaction that you are having is that it may quickly blossom into a life/death situation. Just how far are you from the hospital and do you have 911 on speed dial? If EMT's arrive in twenty minutes then your CPAP problem will be solved permanently!

[mrs. sandman]

The problem with experimenting with the kind of "allergic" reaction that you are having is that it may quickly blossom into a life/death situation. Just how far are you from the hospital and do you have 911 on speed dial? If EMT's arrive in twenty minutes then your CPAP problem will be solved permanently!

i hear you, but at this point i'm not sure it is an allergic reaction. that;s why i'm asking if anyone has had this happen. my logic asks me what in the tubing or mask would make me have a reaction...OR...is the feeling i have in my throat in the morning and the remainder of that day just an overuse of my throat muscles trying to resist the high velocity of air coming at them for 7hours?. I mean at this point do I stop using it, or do i go back to the sleep center or what? I'm not sure what a general MD with prob very little cpap experience is really going to do anyway. thus my quandry.

[ozij]

I've never hear of allergies causing fever.
O.

Allergies can in fact cause a rise in temperature, and a red face, and/or ears. This is one of the ways that the body can react to elements that are perceived as dangerous. In fact, anaphylactic shock will have both red skin flushing as the blood rushes to the surface of the skin, and a very quick rise in temperature.

Throat swelling is one of the more dangerous allergic symptoms. I would speak to a doctor about it immediately. Whetehr it is allergy or infection, it needs to be looked into.

Thanks for the info, riverdreamer. I've learned something new.

O.