Mouth breathing

[Babycat]

I have been on Bipap for almost 7 weeks. I have been swallowing alot of air and some mornings feel very sick to my stomach. I was diagnosed with silent reflux almost a year ago and that is how I discovered I have OSA. I have been taking Prilosec since then. I suspected I had apnea, but had no idea of the connection to GERD. Over the past few nights, I have experienced an increase in acid in my stomach to the point I had severe burning at the opening. I called the Dr. and she said that along with confirmation that I wake up with a very dry mouth, it is proof I am mouth breathing. She believes if I go on a full face mask, it will cure the acid problem. I challenged her a little with the LES rationale I have seen on this board, and she didn't waiver in her opinion. She said I am probably "reswallowing" the air from the machine and a full face mask will correct this. I am still confused as to how a ffm will correct this, and how do I know it is not the weak LES that is the cause? That sad thing is I feel like I am getting better quality sleep. I am not tired at all during the day, but I wake up dragging and feeling miserable, I suspect from the bloating and cumulative effects of stomach acid coming through the LES. I added an antacid and am basically surviving on bread, water, crackers and lean meat. I stopped the machine last night and propped myself up to an almost sitting position and it did not get worse. I actually feel a little better. I suspect the burning is from irritation and will take awhile to heal. I am afraid the full face mask will put me right back into acid reflux hell. Does anyone have any thoughts? Sorry so long.

[Cass]

Here's a suggestion for the acid reflux. Don't eat carbs like crackers in the evening. If you need a snack before bed eat a small bit of protein like cheese or meat. The stomach produces a lot of acid to digest the carbs. My husband got relief this way.

[don331]

Can you fill in the equipment and pressures you're using?

[Babycat]

Sorry, I am obviously new at this. I have a Resmed Vpap (just the standard one) and a F&P Flexifit 407 nasal mask (which seals great!). My pressure is 14 over 10. Also a fleece cover for my hose so I can now keep my humidifier between 3 and 5 depending on the room temp. Imagine I have done all this through educating myself on this board, only to hit a brick wall!

[SleepyT]

Babycat,
Under the user profile there is a selection called equipment....you can fill out your machine, mask, etc there using the drop down menus. As to the swallowing air...aerophagia....there are many topics here about that. You might do a general search....but there is a train of thought that sleeping position can help with aerophagia. For me, sleeping on my left side seems to alleviate this issue the most. Good luck! And welcome.

SleepyT