Lungs full of air?

[meusion]

Hi,
I went for my 3rd sleep study last night. I was put on a new machine, a resmed auto asv because I was having a lot of central apneas. Not sure the exact machine. I slept for about 3 hours straight with little osa and central apnea's. But now my lungs feel really funny, like they are tired and full of air. Is this normal? maybe there was too much air? I know my stomach was full of air after three hours of therapy and I drank some 7-up and it felt better.
But hooray for feeling well rested for Thanksgiving!!!!
Heather

[Lee Lee]

It's very normal, and should clear up soon.

[JohnBFisher]

... I was put on a new machine, a resmed auto asv because I was having a lot of central apneas. Not sure the exact machine. I slept for about 3 hours straight with little osa and central apnea's. But now my lungs feel really funny, like they are tired and full of air. Is this normal? maybe there was too much air? I know my stomach was full of air after three hours of therapy and I drank some 7-up and it felt better. ...

LOL! I love the way you solved the problem!

By the way, if you have problems with central apneas you will want to stay away from bicarbonate (and over the counter antacids). That could knock your blood chemistry out of whack. Over use of bicarbonate or OTC antacids can lead to "metabolic alkalosis". To compensate for this blood chemistry change, your body would decrease the breathing rate and potentially increase central apneas.

I suspect your machine is ramping up the pressure to trigger your breathing. You might be getting more air into your stomach until you start breathing again. I suspect your body will tend to adjust with time.

You might want to use the software to monitor how your machine performs and correlate symptoms like that with data it records during your sleep. That will help you and your doctor have a better understanding of how to tackle the issue.

... But hooray for feeling well rested for Thanksgiving!!!! ...

I hear you. It was amazing to me. I felt more rested after using the ASV unit during my sleep study than I had been in a long time. And that was with only about two hours of sleep. Imagine when I get more. In fact, I wanted to swipe the machine from the sleep lab!

[meusion]

Thanks for the replies. What are bicarbonates?

[JohnBFisher]

Thanks for the replies. What are bicarbonates?

Here in the States, it is labeled as "Baking Soda". Sometimes people use it as an antacid:

http://www.armhammer.com/basics/magic/#12

Like most other things, in moderation it is not bad. However, if you fight central sleep apneas, it is not a good idea to use a lot of antacids or bicarbonates. Occassional is fine.

By the way, the OTC antacids (such as Rolaids, Tums, etc) are typically based on calcium carbonate. Like bicarbonates, in excess, they can make your blood more "base" (less acidic) than it should be. And especially during sleep, your body uses the chemistry of your blood to drive your respiratory system.

So, someone with central sleep apnea should stay away from these products in excess. Occassional is fine.