Back pain early in the morning

[colomb]

I've beeen using my machine for about 5 months. But I could never get rid of the back pain early in the morning everyday. My reguar schedule, go to bed around midnight and get up at 7 am. However, the upper back pain usually wakes me up at around 5 and I'd have to remove the mask and add another pillow to lean my head against the headboard.This way, the symptom will be alleviated. I'm pretty much sure the pain occurred from using the machine. I wonder if anyone here also suffers the upper back pain.

I also wonder if we are inhaling the air that is just exhaled by ourselves as I have no idea how the air is replaced by the fresh one.

Any comments would be welcome.

[cflame1]

When you're wearing your mask and the machine is on... do you feel a breeze coming from a spot in your mask? If so that's where the exhaled breathes are leaving as well.

How the inhaled air is coming in... is through the machine.

[ozze_dollar]

I did have some rib cage soreness early on but it has gone away afetr a month. I tend to lay on my back a lot and it can stir up my lower back.

[Otter]

Where exactly does it hurt? And what position(s) do you sleep in?

[archangle]

It's not uncommon to have some soreness in the chest until your muscles adapt to exhaling against the CPAP pressure, but that should go away in a few weeks at most.

As for back pain, maybe you're lying in a different position because you've got the mask on your face. Or perhaps you're lying in one position instead of tossing and turning because you're sleeping more deeply. What position do you sleep in?

Maybe you could experiment with varying your sleeping position. Perhaps something like a pillow under one or both legs, no pillow under your head, a rolled up towel under your back, side sleeping, etc. You could also try sleeping in a recliner.

cflame1 is correct about the exhaled air. You have to have a "leak" somewhere in your mask to let your exhaled air escape. Your exhaled air mixes with the incoming fresh air from the machine and both fresh and exhaled air leak out the hole in the mask. The holes in the mask have to be sized to leak enough air to get rid of the CO2 you exhale fast enough. On your zest mask, the vent is the holes on the front of the mask just above the air inlet elbow.

[BlackSpinner]

I've beeen using my machine for about 5 months. But I could never get rid of the back pain early in the morning everyday. My reguar schedule, go to bed around midnight and get up at 7 am. However, the upper back pain usually wakes me up at around 5 and I'd have to remove the mask and add another pillow to lean my head against the headboard.This way, the symptom will be alleviated. I'm pretty much sure the pain occurred from using the machine. I wonder if anyone here also suffers the upper back pain.

With cpap therapy you sleep more deeply and move less then you have in years. Your body is not used to that. Also you may need a new or better mattress, new or better pillow. For me it was my hips. A new mattress topper and an old quilt made all the difference.

[colomb]

Thank you guys so much for the response and suggestions! I'm sorry for late response as I've been so busy.

I've been sleeping on a hard wood bed without mattress after I got the problem of "slipped disc". I tend to sleep on my back most of the night and use a contoured pillow. The upper back pain is alleviated recently, but I awalys wake early in the morning, which, if I don't take a nap before getting up, I'd feel drowsy and discomfortable all day long.

Life is so hard, high blood pressure, diabetes, slipped disc and, of course, the severe sleep apnea, plus a busy job...

[ameriken]

With cpap therapy you sleep more deeply and move less then you have in years. Your body is not used to that. Also you may need a new or better mattress, new or better pillow. For me it was my hips. A new mattress topper and an old quilt made all the difference.

For me, it's the hips as well. I'm a side sleeper and the hips hurt on whichever side I'm sleeping on, it feels like a Ka-Bar being pushed into the joint. I have the Tempurpedic mattress and thought that would alleviate it, but it hasnt, however it seems like I'm starting to have somewhat less pain now that I am on the machine.

[BlackSpinner]

With cpap therapy you sleep more deeply and move less then you have in years. Your body is not used to that. Also you may need a new or better mattress, new or better pillow. For me it was my hips. A new mattress topper and an old quilt made all the difference.

For me, it's the hips as well. I'm a side sleeper and the hips hurt on whichever side I'm sleeping on, it feels like a Ka-Bar being pushed into the joint. I have the Tempurpedic mattress and thought that would alleviate it, but it hasnt, however it seems like I'm starting to have somewhat less pain now that I am on the machine.

Many people find that joint pain decreases on cpap therapy (after your body gets over the "OMG I haven't moved in 8 hours" reaction) but this usually doesn't kick in until some months into the therapy.

[colomb]

Hello! Can't believe it's been 10 years since my using CPAP. I want to share my experience here with the following inputs.

1) I've got used to the machine and would get a restless night when not using it.
2) The biggest issue is the upper back pain early in the morning. I tried so many solutions including changing several mattresses (hardwood, extra-firm or regular), putting a pillow under the knees, etc., but the pain is still there...Only thing helpful is to get up as soon as I wake up.
3) Mouth leak. I've been using the nasal mask from the very beginning. Tried nasal pillow, full face mask but no luck. Have to tape my mouth every night for so many years, which seems the best solution for me.
4) I've been playing around with the pressure settings. Finally I set the pressure range at 6 - 20, which is far beyond the prescribed upper level of 14. Even at 20, I sometimes feel a vibrating during inhale. This let me wonder if the machine is powerful enough.

Any feedback or tips would be appreciated.

Thanks you!

[Goofproof]

Many of your question could be answered from "Oscar Data", real data is what we need to see what is going on. Jim

[Julie]

Have you considered (esp. if your min pressure setting is high) that your muscles are readusting to Cpap and may take some time to settle down? Have you seen anyone re cervical or thoracic problems that may not be obvious in the daytime but show up at night regardless of Cpap? Lots of people develop those as they age and depending on what position they sleep in. Btw, it's the min. setting that does the Cpap job, and the machine won't go to 20 or anywhere near it unless it's necessary... but moving that to a lower setting can 'cap' the occasional event that needs a high setting (the min. won't be able to reach it in time unless it's also set very high).

[Lifeisabeach]

Hello! Can't believe it's been 10 years since my using CPAP. I want to share my experience here with the following inputs.

1) I've got used to the machine and would get a restless night when not using it.
2) The biggest issue is the upper back pain early in the morning. I tried so many solutions including changing several mattresses (hardwood, extra-firm or regular), putting a pillow under the knees, etc., but the pain is still there...Only thing helpful is to get up as soon as I wake up.
3) Mouth leak. I've been using the nasal mask from the very beginning. Tried nasal pillow, full face mask but no luck. Have to tape my mouth every night for so many years, which seems the best solution for me.
4) I've been playing around with the pressure settings. Finally I set the pressure range at 6 - 20, which is far beyond the prescribed upper level of 14. Even at 20, I sometimes feel a vibrating during inhale. This let me wonder if the machine is powerful enough.

Any feedback or tips would be appreciated.

Thanks you!

It's great that you've gotten used to your machine. It's truly a life changer.

As for your back, are you certain this is related to using your machine? It may be sheer coincidence that you developed back issues as you started using it. I started having similar problems... waking up with severe upper back pain and I'd have to sit up in the couch for about 15 minutes in the morning before I could do anything. What alleviated it for me was getting a new mattress with a latex pillow top, not a firm or soft one... more "medium". What you could try is a latex topper. Don't go too thin... get at least a 2" one.

Since switching mattresses, I've learned that I have developed a condition called thoracic spondylosis, which explains my back pain and growing stiffness over the past 10 years. It could be you have something similar, but you'd really need talk to your doctor about it to find out what you have.

As for your mouth leak, it could be a number of factors, including too high a pressure. I had been having issues with leaks myself recently, and it turns out it was partly due to a feature on my AirCurve turned off called "Easy-Breathe" that I was accustomed to being on for my older S9. Once I realized it was off, turning it on made an immediate difference. I don't know if the AirSense 10 AutoSet you are using has that same option available, but if it does, consider turning it on.

[colomb]

Hello everyone who answered my post, I sincerely appreciate your inputs and thoughts regarding my problems. They’re very helpful and I will follow your ideas to try these great tips. I here provide more points as follows.

- Upper back pain. The severe pain happened about 7 years ago on a night, which was tremendous and made me get up. Since then, I’ve tried many solutions, like pain killers, mattress switch, etc.. The only effective remedy I found is to put a tennis ball under the pain spot. This would alleviate the pain when I lean on the headboard. I also talked to my doctors for several times but they seemed not caring at all. At the beginning, I didn’t think it was related to the CPAP machine. Along with the time passing by, I gradually realized that it was because of the machine, as I noticed the pain was gone when not using the machine during special scenarios. By doing online research, I got to know that we human beings turn around our bodies during sleep by signals sent from the brain, which is triggered by the nasal congestion (the lower nostril when sleeping on the sides). This automatic response is perfect for us to avoid keeping the same posture for long. However, the forced air from the CPAP machine might disable the function and thus bring the trouble. Especially, I have a deviated septum. So I sleep pretty much on the back and I have no idea if I turned around. Each morning, when I wake up, I’m always on my back. I know that sleeping on the side helps, but I’m unable to control my body during sleep. I think the pain is for sure caused by keeping this sleep position for too long. Of course, this is purely my own assumption. The most recent action I took was the switch to an extra firm mattress, which didn’t help. I then put back a 2” coir mattress topper on it. Yet, the problem is still there! I will let my doctor know about the possible thoracic spondylosis which is the first time for me to know. I will also try to get more information about the latex mattress topper.

- Mouth leak. I don’t see a similar setting like “easy-breathe” on my machine. It’s hard to contact the manufacturer about tech support. This seems difficult from the regular industries.

Thank you again!

[Julie]

You need to ask your doctor for an x-ray to see if arthritis, osteoporosis, etc. etc. could be at fault - they come with age and how you sleep may or may not be able to help (though other things like exercise or OTC meds might).