Can't take deep breaths after using cpap

[searchr]

I've only been on cpap for less than a year, a respironics with humidifier, full face mask. Its been really routine, but recently something changed. I've woken up, sometimes in the morning, and sometimes middle of the night, and I can only take like half a breath. It feels like there's a wall on my lungs, if I breath past it, it kind of hurts and makes me want to cough. Once I'm out in the day, the effect wears off by Noon or so.

I swim at night. My gym is too crowded, so I go use the pool just before bed. I've narrowed this problem down to the nights I go swimming, but it JUST started happening in the last couple of weeks, and I've been swimming for months.

Once I connected it to the swimming, I wondered if it had something to do with the moisture in my lungs, and/or loss of heat in my body. So I recently tried turning off my humidifier mid-night when this was happening. Within minutes, I was breathing better.

By morning, my mouth was really dry, but better than not being able to breath. I never have any congestion or problems, so this is totally new. Has anyone experienced anything like this? A shortness of breath, like you just can't breathe as deeply as you want to? Is it possible to have too much humidity with the airflow? Its been getting warmer here lately (Seattle) could that be why it started happening?

Any info would be very helpful. thanks!

[krousseau]

You might get some ideas here but I'd go see my MD for any new breathing problem. We aren't MD's and we don't know your history-a doc would ask other questions for example. Is the "pain" in the lungs or the chest wall: a "catch" where you have to stop inhaling; dull or sharp; any point tenderness (can you put your finger on it) or is it more generalized? Smoker or non smoker-any other health problems-feet swelling?

[searchr]

yah, I know, and I'm not looking for a diagnosis, I was just kind of hoping that it was something that others had experienced, to get a sense of whether its directly related to the cpap or else I need to talk to a doctor. I'm 35, very healthy, with virtually no breathing problems or health issues (aside from the apnea.) Narrowing it down to the humidifier just got me wondering if there are humidifier side effects that I haven't heard of.

thanks!

[tooly125]

What you are describing reminds me of when i was a kid staying in the pool all day long.Me and my friends experienced the lung pain, just got out of the pool let ourselves dry out and were fine.
I'm no doctor but i would guess its the combined moisture of the pool and the HH is the culprit!
Long term effects....who knows

[krousseau]

35 and in good health does narrow down the possibilities. Are you tracking swimming & the breathing problem on a calendar just to make sure your memory is accurate?This is pure speculation but MIGHT your lungs get used to the respiratory assist of the CPAP and object to having to put full effort into breathing when you come off it in the AM. Or is it the effort of exhaling against pressure (though guess you've been doing that for a year). What machine do you use & what pressure? What is new? If there is really nothing new in your environment I think you're back to seeing an MD. Do you know a pulmonologist that does sleep medicine too?

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[JHZR2]

yah, I know, and I'm not looking for a diagnosis, I was just kind of hoping that it was something that others had experienced, to get a sense of whether its directly related to the cpap or else I need to talk to a doctor. I'm 35, very healthy, with virtually no breathing problems or health issues (aside from the apnea.) Narrowing it down to the humidifier just got me wondering if there are humidifier side effects that I haven't heard of.

thanks!

Ive recently noticed this too. I'm 32, decent shape, a little overweight, but had sleeping issues even when a varsity athlete in college. I've had a cpap for a year and a half, and besides the first few weeks, haven't had any issues until recently. Searching for the issue with breathing brought me here, and I found your thread (I've been a member of this board for a while though).

I believe my sleep troubles are anatomical in nature. As I said, I had issues with restful sleep even in prime athletic shape in college. If I close my mouth and breathe only through my nose, my body feels starved for air! I believe my nasal passageways are I sufficiently sized for my lung capacity. Thus start breathing and you don't feel "full". Less of an issue with mouth breathing, where you can swallow much larger flows of air. But what happens is that an anxiety comes over you because the lungs don't feel satisfied, and then it's trouble. Thinking about breathing is issue #1, and self perpetuates.

I find that when sleeping with cpap, I don't snore (according to the wife), but also though the mouth is open, breathing occurs far more through the nose than it does if I don't have a cpap on. With shallow, rested breathing, it doesn't matter much, but start thinking about it and there you go.

Your comment on humidity hit home to me. Besides the mental aspect, I believe there is some element of physics to this as well. I feel sensitive to humid, warm air, even when breathing in optimal, awakened conditions normally. It's not always the case, but humid air is harder to breathe, and feels "thick" going through the lungs. It is nothing that can't be handled, but it does cause added awareness to breathing, which causes the anxiety aspect to occur and so on. I personally find that my cpap (F&P icon) warms the water in the humidifier a bit even when turned off. In the winter, when the air is dry, I'll have it on at a 1 or 2, and it's great. In moister weather like now, having the humidifier off but the water warm makes enough humidity to let the air still feel "thick", which propagates the breathing thought issues. My next step personally is to remove the water container from my cpap so it is full dry and see of that helps.

The other issue is related, in that the cpap is effectively a throttle on your windpipe. Air has to be blown through a machine, through a long tube, through a headpiece. Even though there is some pressure, there is also pressure for and flow restriction on this path, and some latency on the fan supplying enough flow and pressure at the transitions. For shallow breathing unconsciously, it's not an issue. However conscious breathing when you want full lungs, your body detects the challenge and then perpetuates the issue.

So to a great extent, IMO it is all in your mind; but there is no great way to. Kntrol your mind. Exes swirly, given that breathing is involuntary but lack of breath can really screw with your mind. So the factors that effect how breathing feels are all you can control. That means cold and dry air, which feels more filling to the lungs, and try to relax and use as shallow, natural breath as possible. A pressure increase may also be prudent, but I believe the other issues wil cause more of the root, and need to be addressed to ensure comfort.


Good luck!

[timo123451]

JHZR2 made some very good points and I think I'm going through the same thing right now. Once you start to think about your breathing it's very easy to start the anxiety loop . Most of the time my breathing will be fine but if I have any allergies or colds it can really screw up the breathing process for me.

[caffeinatedcfo]

I've had some of these symptoms before - even before CPAP - except for the pain/coughing ... usually during Very hot & humid environments. I eventually determined that my anxiety over the sensation made it worse.