CPAP causing inner ear issues - help needed

[stephennic]

Hi all,

I haven't been here for quite awhile. When I use my CPAP machine I get ringing in my right ear (tinnitus) and slight vertigo (balance issues) and sometimes get slight nausea. When I go off the CPAP for a couple days the tinnitus nearly all disappears including the other symptoms. I went to a couple ear/nose/throat specialist and they think maybe the pressure of the CPAP impacting my inner ear. The hearing specialist gave me an article see link and suggested this maybe happening: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4896658/
Has this happened to anyone else of this forum, any suggestions to help??. I need to use CPAP but feel i can't when I get these symptoms. Any input would be appreciated.
Cheers
Steve

[Pugsy]

I have heard of it happening...it's not common but not impossible either.

What are your settings that you use on your machine...all of them...mode, pressure and any Flex exhale relief.

The only thing I know to try is maybe try to reduce the pressure in hopes of finding a pressure that will still be effective in treating the OSA and not trigger the ear issues.

The DreamStation Pro is a fixed pressure machine but does have a limited auto adjusting mode available that could be used to see if reducing the pressure part of the time might help the ear or not.

[thomasbcpap]

No worries. I have had this problem including very severe vertigo. Went to Drs. and treated for inner ear infection with Z-PAC, nasal spray etc. None of this worked very well. I then suspected that the water in my humidity chamber may be contaminated and I threw the old water out and emptied and cleaned my machine and put fresh distilled water back in. In a few days all symptoms are gone. Clean your machine well, including hoses and mask with a disinfectant cleaner and then wash with baby shampoo to remove any residual disinfectant.
Throw out the gallon bottle of distilled water too - buy a new bottle - the water may be contaminated from the store.

[chunkyfrog]

You need to see an ENT, but don't let them blow you off.
Call, and keep calling until they do their job.

[stephennic]

Hi all,
An update, I went and saw the sleep specialist and what I have seems not very common. Its possible because I use to use earplugs with my CPAP (as I hate noise at night) its possible its caused pressure in my inner ear as the air couldn't escape which caused an issue for me whenever I go on CPAP. I don't wear earplugs anymore.

They recommended me to try a mandular advancement splint , has anyone used these have they been successful for you ? Any issues with these? In the past i have had a dislocated jaw so I would have to be careful not to agrravate it. The specialist suggests I get the splint and they will adjust to max for me and then I redo a sleep study to see if it works for me.

Any advice would be helpful, many thanks in advance.
Steve

[Julie]

Many people develop TMJ issues with MADs and in your case you could be looking at very serious ones... I certainly wouldn't 'go there' if I were you.

[jnk...]

My suggestion would be to combine your doc's recommendation with Pugsy's thought: Use the mandibular advancement device set by a trusted, experienced specialist (set reasonably so as not to bother your jaw [there is an art to that]) BUT use it IN CONJUNCTION WITH your PAP as a way to home-titrate pressure a little lower so that the PAP does not irritate your brain/ear.

Please note, though, that it may be that less-than-optimally treated OSA and snoring and bad sleep (such as insomnia) are much more likely a bigger contributor to tinnitus than any form of CPAP use. Thus the likely connection providing any statistical associations, in my opinion. https://www.thecpapshop.com/blog/are-ti ... ea-linked/

You have given me food for thought. I also always sleep with earplugs and have had some tinnitus issues. Based on your posts, and I am going to wean myself off of earplugs for a while. It won't be easy because my earplug habit traces back to my pressroom nightshift days in my early 20s.

[Janknitz]

An update, I went and saw the sleep specialist and what I have seems not very common. Its possible because I use to use earplugs with my CPAP (as I hate noise at night) its possible its caused pressure in my inner ear as the air couldn't escape which caused an issue for me whenever I go on CPAP. I don't wear earplugs anymore.

I have something called "Sleep Phones". It's a soft flannel band with soft flat speakers embedded in it. Mine goes under the headgear for my mask. You could try those with some white noise (lots of downloadable white noise MP3's you can loop and listen to from a device). I listen to NPR all night--it puts me right to sleep.

Another thing to try is an earplug in ONE ear only. That may equalize the pressures, as strange as it sounds.

[jnk...]

NPR, or white noise? Perhaps a distinction without a difference?

as strange as it sounds.

[Janknitz]

NPR, or white noise? Perhaps a distinction without a difference?

as strange as it sounds.

LOL. I've been doing the NPR thing since I started CPAP. Radio Lab had a story about a couple who adopted a chimpanzee and when it got too hard to manage the chimp they sent it to a group that reintegrates chimps born in captivity with wild chimps. Part of the story was calling a woman named Janice. You heard the phone ring a few times and then when it picked up they called "Janice? Janice?" Woke me out of a dead sleep and there I am fumbling to rip off my mask and sleep phones trying to pick up the telephone in the dark before I realized it was a recording. If there was a video it would have gone viral!