Can intense air inflow hurt you?

[Another Newbie]

Hi...I have been reading a slew of posts...very informative. My new Resmed S9 is set at 4.0 ...In middle of night I wake up gasping and ripping mask off from intense air input (maxed out?) Can over aeration hurt alveoli in lungs or...just get use to it as it helps the apnea? Doc has not returned my call.
Tx so much!

[o2sleep]

I am pretty new as well but I hate to tell you that a pressure of 4.0 is not very intense. I think that 4.0 is as low as a cpap machine goes. Is it possible that your machine starts at 4.0 and then rise? The gasping is most likely still your apnea and your pressure may not be correct. My pressure is 22 on my bipap machine, it was 20 on my cpap, that is intense pressure. If you read other posts you will see what other pressures people are at and 4.0 is rare, the veterns will tell you to fill in all your info on profile. Good luck and do not give up

[Janknitz]

Theoretically, if you turn your pressure too high you can cause problems, but your machine is set so low it might as well not be on. It takes a very high pressure to hurt your lungs, much more than the standard machine can deliver UNLESS you already have some sort of lung problem or you are a premature infant.

More than likely, as O2 points out, 4 is the STARTING pressure for your ramp setting, but we need to know more to help:

Which model of S9 do you have?
What are your pressure settings supposed to be? (If you don't know, call the sleep lab and get a copy of the complete report).
What is the pressure when you are waking and gasping for air?

[ozij]

Hi...I have been reading a slew of posts...very informative. My new Resmed S9 is set at 4.0 ...In middle of night I wake up gasping and ripping mask off from intense air input (maxed out?) Can over aeration hurt alveoli in lungs or...just get use to it as it helps the apnea? Doc has not returned my call.
Tx so much!

Reading a slew of informative posts on the forum should have made you well aware that your post is terribly uniformative - about your health, your machine and your settings - so much so that I really wonder what information you did glean from all your reading.

Let's put it this way:
If a competent doctor set your machine to supply only 4 then you most probably have a lung problem and not garden variety OSA. If your doc has not returned your call, find another one -- you need a competent, and reliable doctor..

If you know about alveoli, you must know more than most people about the way your lungs function -- perhaps yours are copromised by disease. OSA is simple: pressure keeps the upper airway from collapsing, and then the lungs do their job. With compromised lungs its a whole other story.

[Another Newbi]

To OZIJ...NO NEED TO BE NASTY! SHAME ON YOU! Seems like you need a good nights sleep! This is a very informative site with very helpful members. Sweat dreams ms...

[ozij]

To OZIJ...NO NEED TO BE NASTY! SHAME ON YOU! Seems like you need a good nights sleep! This is a very informative site with very helpful members. Sweat dreams ms...

I realise some people dislike being told that they seem confused. However I was actually being kind, and trying to make you aware that there is nothing more dangerous to your health than patchy knowlege. I am concerned about your wellbeing.

I noted you supplied little information - and I notice you still don't supply it, preferring to attack. You seem to know a lot about lungs and nothing about cpap therapy. That combination is liable to hurt you much much more that you pressure of 4.

This is the only further thing I have to say to you:

Let's put it this way:
If a competent doctor set your machine to supply only 4 then you most probably have a lung problem and not garden variety OSA. If your doc has not returned your call, find another one -- you need a competent, and reliable doctor..

ASAP.

[gailandartie]

If you have the S9 APAP machine, the 4 is your minimum number. What is your maximum number? Maybe that is set too high which is why it feels too intense.

[kteague]

Just a little explanation the differences in machines. CPAP machines provide one continuous prescribed pressure, but may have a comfort feature that allows starting at a lower pressure and gradually working up to your prescribed pressure. An APAP machine is set to operate at a range of pressures and auto adjusts to your need at any given time. The upper pressure that an APAP allows might be quite a bit higher than one needs. Providers often leave the top number at the maximum "just in case". However, sometimes a person can get a leak if their mask shifts or they open their mouth, and the machine can try to compensate by increasing the pressure. I think others have referred to this as chasing leaks, or runaway pressure.

Any suggestions given may or may not be applicable to your machine and/or your situation. Once we get some more information, you'll be able to get more targeted advice. There are ways to check your machine settings, so you may be able to begin troubleshooting while you wait for the doctor to call back. Do let us know your mask name also.

How long have you been on this treatment? I know my first few months were pretty miserable. My settings weren't working well for me and my doctor seemed either unable or unwilling to help. It was by coming here I learned enough to troubleshoot and soon after was steadily improving in my adjusting to the treatment. Hopefully you will soon be able to say the same.

[spitintheocean]

If your machine is an APAP set to default pressure settings of minimum 4 and maximum 20 (the highest setting) you may be getting uncomfortably high air velocity if you have mask leaks during the night. You will need to tell us what equipment you're using and what you're prescribed titration is supposed to be before you can receive meaningful advice.

[Julie]

Hey everyone - I think the OP was asking if gasping hard to get any air in was a problem - not if a setting of 4 was too high! Well gasping for air that hard could make you dizzy (from lack of it), but a short time doing it won't. However, I imagine your prescribed pressure is higher, but you're using the ramp for a long time... can I suggest you turn off the ramp (or 'delay') feature altogether and just start out at the prescribed pressure like most of us do (having quit using the ramp soon after beginning Cpap)? You won't get enough air at all otherwise and soon want to throw your machine away... not much good if that happens!

[BlackSpinner]

To OZIJ...NO NEED TO BE NASTY! SHAME ON YOU! Seems like you need a good nights sleep! This is a very informative site with very helpful members. Sweat dreams ms...

I guess you really don't want help after all. Another troll pretending to be a newbie? Someone asking more details is not being nasty. I suggest you apologize. Until then I suggest you just suck it up and live with it.

[Julie]

I disagree... While I know Ozij is trying to be helpful, I would also have found the particular post to be quite harsh, never mind to a newbie who didn't see the larger picture. I don't think your post (B. Spinner) is helpful at all. Why can't we express ourselves in nicer ways?

[robysue]

Have to say I agree with Julie: Several of the responses have been overly harsh for a newbie, in addition to not even trying to answer the actual newbie's question, which is about too much air being pumped into the lungs.

The requests to clarify whether the OP's machine is APAP or CPAP and whether the OP is using the ramp are reasonable ones since many folks here feel like they can't breathe at 4cm due to lack of air and the OP is complaining of not being able to breathe because of too much air, but could and should have been made without criticizing the OP. And simply dismissing the question out of hand and/or acting like the OP's question is too confusing to address is not the way to treat a newbie.

Maybe I've got more sympathy for the OP because I was originally prescribed a constant pressure at 9cm. And that led to some rather serious problems with air in my tummy, air getting into my eyes via sinuses and tear ducts, and a constant feeling at night that my lungs were having way too much air forced into them. After complaining to my doctor's physician's assistant, she ordered a week of auto-titration that resulted in a lowering of my pressure to an APAP range of 4--8cm. Even now, if I wake up when the pressure is close to 8, I sometime feel like too much air is being forced down my throat and into my lungs. And I can breath at 4 or 5 cm without any problems. So the OP may actually be having problems with too much pressure---particularly if his/her machine is an APAP running wide open. Or the OP may be very, very sensitive to pressure and is having trouble adusting to breathing out even at 4cm.

So for all those folks who can't breathe at 4--6 cm because of too little air, please remember that others might have the opposite problem from you.

To the OP if you're still there: Can you clarify? Is your machine an APAP or CPAP? Are you using the ramp? Do you know your prescribed pressure (or pressure range)? And how long have you been using the machine?

[chunkyfrog]

To another newbie:
We were all newbies at one time.
This experience can be frightening; especially if the people who set you up with your equipment were not thorough enough
with the information they gave you. Some of us just can't remember. . . (Apnea, you know,)
We do need a little more information to be able to know what it is --exactly--that is bothering you.
Knowing your machine and settings will be very helpful--everyone's situation is different.
Somewhere, lost forever is my first post from before I was signed in.--forgotten.
Just sign in: Make up a name you intend to live with for a while. Link to a puppy or kittie pic and let's get to work.
Now; I think we can all reset--and help this 'kid' OK?

[BlackSpinner]

I disagree... While I know Ozij is trying to be helpful, I would also have found the particular post to be quite harsh, never mind to a newbie who didn't see the larger picture. I don't think your post (B. Spinner) is helpful at all. Why can't we express ourselves in nicer ways?

Since when has ANY newbie ever come back with that kind of crack on their first ever thread in response to a request for information?