stomach aches from swallowing air?

[mimi7grands]

Morning stomach aches. Arghhh. Bloated. No fun. And my pressures are not even that high. My average is around 11 to, maybe 11.5. I have the min set at 9 and the max to 14. My leak rate is nearly nil. (I'm waiting to get a new computer this week to look at the detailed data.)

Some mornings are better than others. I think, I've got this licked! Then I'll have a bad morning, like today, and I'm whining about it. I've read the more recent posts on stomach ache, swallowing air, aerophagia, and insufflation and would like your advice on what to try next. BTW, I don't have a sleep doc to consult with right now as I don't have insurance, so this forum (thank you for being here!) is it.

• I just changed my EPR from 2 to 3 hoping that would help.
  
  I've thought about wearing something tight around my middle at night.
  
  I saw where one person was sleeping on their stomachs. That would be hard on the back but maybe worth a try???
  
  Another person I talked to was getting better results with the S9. Would it be worth the upgrade?

I read where somebody said insufflation (sp?) could be dangerous. I wouldn't want to fix the apnea problem only to create another.

Thanks for your help!

[chunkyfrog]

My swallowing air went away by itself in about 3 or 4 days of starting cpap.
I drank 7up to help me burp--water might help, too.
There's a video on youtube that suggests you keep your chin down with extra pillow height and it helps.
Something tight sounds like a really bad idea.
If you've been using your machine for some time, it could be totally unrelated.
My gall bladder felt like a lot of painful gas.
check with your doctor.

[KatieW]

I could not tolerate apap mode on the S8 AutoSet II, because I would get gas and pain. In spite of watching what I ate, not eating 2 hours before dinner, all the usual things. I switched to cpap mode, staring with my 95 percentile, and my events went down, and the gas pain stopped.

On the S9 AutoSet, I can tolerate apap mode, but only on a very narrow range, eg. 11-13, using an EPR of 2.

OTC Gas-X can help some. And this yoga pose:

[sister]

I had gosh awful gas for the last 8 months, yesterday I looked at the video on u-tube about sleeping on your side and keeping your head down so so air can enter the stomach,guess what!, it worked last night,no gas at all today! Hope it works for you because i really know how bad it hurts. GOD BLESS YOU!
Sorry, i meant keep your head down so the air cannot enter your stomach!!!!!

[Sandra]

Same problem here, very bloated with gas since CPAP. Can you please post a link to said youtube video?

[chunkyfrog]

Sorry, I can't get on you-tube right now (work computer--break time),
but I found it by searching for 'aerophagia' and 'cpap'
That should get you to see the thumbnails with preview notes.
He's a thirty-ish slender white guy. good luck.
I'll look again when I get off work.

[nosenabook]

I changed masks, had a huge increase in gas, and changed back. It worked to lessen gas.
Good luck in your search!

[mimi7grands]

Katie, "the pose" I will do in the privacy of my room! Some people say they got better when they went to apap. Like yours, mine is worse than it was on cpap, although that machine was so noisy and miserable, I never made the connection that the variance in pressure could be the culprit in swallowing more air. I'll try narrowing the range or changing it to cpap.

I've heard to sleep with your held tilted up to open the airway so the air goes into your lungs, not your stomach. The idea of sleeping with your head down is interesting. Definitely worth a try. I'll take a look at the u-tube vid to make sure I understand how this should work.

Thanks for all the good ideas. I'm excited to try them.

[pdean44]

I had some issues with that when i went from 11 to 14 in pressure. The doc started me low at 11 for the first 3 months. My apneas were high and she put me to 14 which is what i was titrated at. I had issues with gas for the first 3 weeks or so then it calmed down for me.

I am straight cpap so my experience is definitely different from yours. Good luck hope you get a handle on that soon.

[sister]

Same problem here, very bloated with gas since CPAP. Can you please post a link to said youtube video?

I would post a link Sandra, but I don't know how to do that. i am not computer smart. Just go to u-tube and type in ,How to stop air from entering your stomach while using c-pap.

[mimi7grands]

I just watched the YouTube video. Very interesting. Just the opposite of what I'd read before which was to get close to the position you'd use for CPR - which is head back to open the trachea. This is head down to close off the opening to the stomach. I'm definitely going to give it a try tonight. Maybe trying to keep my head back is what's made it worse!

Here's the YouTube link. Cute guy too! (Young enough to be my son but, hey, you can still look):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL0GndbTrSE

[KatieW]

I just checked the link....I agree, it seems to contradict what I have read here, about keeping the airway open. Also, I think it would strain my neck to have it in flexion all night.

Let us know how it works for you, though.

[JOR7]

I also suffer from huge amounts of air in my body. I can blow the national hymn every morning when I awake. Thanks for all your tips, will try them out.

[OutaSync]

Any of the above recommendations may help you. But if they don't and believe me I have tried everything, don't feel alone. I'm at nearly 3 years on XPAP and I still blow up and blow through every night. Yes, the air blows all the way through, all night. A lot of air gets trapped in my belly and *below* and leaks out throughout the day. And it's under a lot of pressure! There are some advantages of having one's own office and sleeping alone

jnk,

Don't let that be the first thing that you tell your dad about me.

Bev

[mimi7grands]

Bev, what a pain! I've got a good old stomach again this morning. I wish it would just go through instead of sitting in the middle! You'd think I was a long-distance runner with a stitch in her side. I only wish it were so!

I tried the head-down sleeping position. It's going to take some practice as it's not comfortable. I wind up abandoning it part way throught the night. I'm not giving up though. I'll let you know if it makes a difference for me.

Katie, the "pose" does help some. I'm also going to try setting my Autoset to straight CPAP and see if that helps.