Hyperventilated

[jenniferwantssleep]

Hi everyone. I have been using my CPAP for about two weeks. I have noticed two things that are making me a little crazy. My lungs hurt and my head feels spacey all the time. It feels like there is air getting into bronchial tubes that have been happily lethargic for years and that I weird cloud in my head.

Did anyone else feel this way when they started CPAP?

[locust78]

I ran into some weird sensations when I first started CPAP, but they soon cleared up. In my case, I think it was the whole new experience of being force-fed air through a contraption that was strapped to my head. It was unnatural, and it provoked a measure of anxiety in me. As a result, I wasn't breathing normally. I was very conscious of my breathing, my mask, just about everything, and this led to all sorts of discomfort. Eventually, I settled in, and now I don't even notice my CPAP.

[jenniferwantssleep]

I hope you are right. The lungs hurting and the weird head sensations are happening during the day when I am NOT hooked up to the CPAP. On the bright side, I am slowly experiencing more energy than I have in years. I teach high school and my students have noticed it too.

[Drowsy Dancer]

The sensation of "lungs hurting" might be sore chest muscles if you're breathing more deeply.

[Pugsy]

I don't remember what your pressure is but exhaling against the pressure is a bit of work physically so it is common to have some sore muscles when we exercise or do a bit of work that isn't common.
In this case sore chest muscles because they are doing a bit of work that hasn't been done before. This should fade away in a couple of weeks as the muscles get more used to the workout. It may seem like sore lungs but it probably is the chest wall muscles. Discomfort is similar to costochondritis.

The other stuff...spaced out...I have no idea. Maybe your brain cells have experienced an awakening of sorts and don't know what to make of things. You aren't the first to mention this though. While not common it has been mentioned before and I don't remember any definite explanation as to why.

[jenniferwantssleep]

Thanks, all. I think you are right about the chest muscles. Although I have this image of my bronchial tubes saying, "What the hell?" I blame it on the images from the Mucinex commercials!

The head thing is just bizarre. It feels like congestion+an oncoming headache+too much caffeine. I am currently recovering from a nasty sinus infection.

Pugsy, my pressure is 12.

[BlackSpinner]

The head thing is just bizarre. It feels like congestion+an oncoming headache+too much caffeine. I am currently recovering from a nasty sinus infection.

Pugsy, my pressure is 12.

Try playing with your humidity. Irritated sinus pressing on the inner ear can do it. Some need more humidity other need less.

[Pugsy]

The head thing is just bizarre. It feels like congestion+an oncoming headache+too much caffeine. I am currently recovering from a nasty sinus infection.

While 12 cm pressure isn't horribly high..it is up there a bit and will need much more work exhaling against than a 7 cm pressure.

I wonder if the pressure is possibly irritating the sinuses and possibly the inner ear via the Eustachian tubes. Especially with the history of recent sinus infection. You didn't mention vertigo but sometimes I have had a "space out" feeling with sinus and ear infection. They are connected via the tubes to the inner ear. Are you sure it is a sinus infection and not a response to the humidity or moisture in the sinuses?
Did the sinus symptoms start with the start of cpap machine or did you have them prior?

If associated with cpap...likely it may be a humidity issue. The nasal mucosa and sinuses don't like whatever humidity they are getting so they rebel and swell up and present like a typical sinus infection (right down to teeth hurting) but it is really the moisture (or lack of) causing the rebelling.
Should it continue...try altering your humidifier settings. Some people need more humidity and some people need less. No way to know which one you are unless to test it yourself.