my poor feet

[tinette]

Hello,
I have been using a fisher&Pykel bipap for about 2 months now.the first one I had was messed up.It kept flashing ER over and over.I thought it was normal but it was blasting my face off at night so I took my mask in and she asked me to bring in the machine then traded me for another because of the ER message.I took it home and not long after that my feet and ankles started to swell.I use one that has a humidifier.It has been about a month that I have been suffering with this.It has never happened to me in my life.I thought it was the hydrachlorathyazide I was taking, maybe a rebound edema effect but on stopping it the swelling continued.The Dr. has put me on lasix and I have had blood taken and just 2 days ago had and echocardiogram.I was looking last night to see if the cpap could be causing this to happen.Has any one else had this problem?I am so depressed about this.I do weigh a little over 300 but I have been at this weight for 2 and a half yrs and have never had this happen before.You know I loved to look at my feet because they were the only things on me that didn't get fat.Now I just want to cry every day.PLEASE HELP!!

[Pugsy]

Fluid retention is not a normal side effect from using a CPAP machine.
I know we like to blame everything on the machine or OSA but sometimes there are multiple things going on that just happen to be going on along with OSA and using the machine.
Is the swelling worse when you first wake up? Come on later as you move around? What have you done to try to alleviate the swelling? Have you tried elevating your feet on a pillow or something? Have you mentioned this symptom to your doctor? If not, you probably should. Your medication may need to be altered instead of stopping it.

[tinette]

I have told my doctor and had a battery of tests run. All have come back normal so far but I will find out about my echocardiagram tomorrow. I do not have high blood pressure. I have read on the net about many who have experienced edema from bipap machines.I will post again tomorrow.

[Wulfman]

Drink plenty of water and watch (cut down) your salt intake.


Den

[Drowsy Dancer]

I have told my doctor and had a battery of tests run. All have come back normal so far but I will find out about my echocardiagram tomorrow. I do not have high blood pressure. I have read on the net about many who have experienced edema from bipap machines.I will post again tomorrow.

If you use the search function at the top of the page and search for previous threads with "edema" in the title (seems like a safe bet to be relevant ) you will find the following:


viewtopic/t62312/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=51 ... ma#p476745
viewtopic/t62312/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28 ... ma#p245701
viewtopic/t62312/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20 ... ma#p178395

Including this article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_o ... de36385695

There are more, but you get the point I hope.

DD

[archangle]

I usually sleep in a recliner due to back problems and it also keeps me from rolling around onto my CPAP mask.

I was having leg swelling problems, but only when I visited my dad and slept in his recliner. I changed to a different recliner in his house and my problems went away. I came to the conclusion it was that one recliner put a different pressure pattern on my legs and restricted blood or fluid flow. In particular, I think it was pressure on the back of my legs just above the knees that was different.

Has your sleeping position changed any since you started CPAP? Maybe you're restricting the flow of blood (or other fluids) in your legs. You might try seeing if you can do something to change the way you lie in while sleeping. Or make a point of changing positions a few times during the night. Pillows under the legs, back, sleep in a recliner, etc. It may be difficult with a mask, but sometimes I get a body pillow, grab it between my legs and hug it with my arms to lie on my side on the bed.

Maybe you're you were tossing and turning before CPAP and aren't doing it now. Or lying differently due to the mask.

Of course, you may have a more serious problem, but these are easy things to try. It may take a few nights to show any results.

[tinette]

archangel,
I think you may have something there.I used to get up to pee many times during the night and I always changed positions when I got back in bed.My husband now says I don't move at all.He says it's like I'm so deep asleep that nothing bothers me like it used to.I have had all the test run to make sure my organs are alright and everything came back normal.I will go get a body pillow today and maybe set an alarm for every 2 hours so I can change my positions.
Thank you

[lindywise]

I too noticed swelling in my feet after the first night of using the CPAP machine. After trying several, and finally finding a well-fitted full-face mask, I now find I have severe swelling all over my face, legs, neck, feet, eyes, etc.

I've NEVER EVER had edema of any kind before, nor heart nor lung problems of any kind (got a clean bill of health this year after all kinds of pre-surgery tests for a torn meniscus). One of those tests was for sleep apnea hence the diagnosis and resulting CPAP. My energy is returning and morning headaches have disappeared!

I have noticed throughout trying the various masks, the more the leakage the LESS the edema.

After researching forums about this, I've found several posts/reasons others have given:
1. Too high humidity on the heated humidifier.
2. Diastolic dysfunction causes excess fluid to build up in the lungs; the cpap may be pushing this excess fluid out of the lungs, causing the edema.
3. Too much pressure exerted on the exhale with a resulting affect on the heart's functionality resulting in edema (some noted edema continues even with the use of a BiPap machine).
4. Inactivity during sleep.
5. Gulping air (aerophagia).

I do have the humidity set high (5) but that's because I live in an arid region. I am a very active sleeper even with the CPAP. I don't believe the exhale is my problem as I've always had a fan pointed right at my face at night (due to the hot arid region of the country I am in) and am very comfortable with using the CPAP. I've tried both the full-face and nasal-only masks (prefer the full face) so its not a matter of gulping air.

I am going to try reducing the humidifier and talk to my doctor about diastolic dysfunction. There obviously is a connection with the CPAP as indicated by the numerous threads of others, and directly related to using the CPAP in my case as the edema began immediately upon use of the machine.