Air going into stomach

sgifford · Post by **sgifford** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 10:23 am

Last night was my 2nd night on the Goodnight 420S, ramps up to 12 cm. over 30 minutes. I lasted about 2.5 hours. Woke up, stood up and all this air came up from my stomach (through a series of belches). DME said he's never heard of this & to call my Dr. which I did & his nurse said she's never heard of it. She gave me an appt to see the Dr. Monday. I have pretty bad GERD, am on Nexium which has alleviated all of those symptoms. Common sense tells me the weak esophageal spincter(sp?) is to blame. This didn't happen at Sleep Lab, nor the 1st night (12--12). Am waiting on the chin strap as my teeth do part & air comes through my lips. Anyone heard of this air in the stomach business?

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 10:34 am

Sandra wrote:Anyone heard of this air in the stomach business?

Oh yeah! Almost daily.

If you do a search (above) on "aerophagia", you'll find many, many threads and posts on the subject.

I would be suspicious of DMEs and Doctors that have never heard of it.....it's very common with CPAP users.
You may need to get your pressure lowered AND a different machine.....one that has "C-Flex" (Respironics/REMstar) or "EPR" (Resmed) which are both breathing relief technologies.

I've never (to my knowledge) experienced it, but there are many who will be along to offer their advice with your problems.

Best wishes,

Den

Born Tired · Post by **Born Tired** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 10:13 pm

You are definitely NOT alone. Lots of us have problems with aerophagia. (It's hard to imagine that DMEs and Dr.s really never hear about this problem). An Auto really helps. You set it for a range of pressures. It starts out at the lower pressure and only increases as it detects breathing events. Many people only need their high pressure for a small amount of time during the night. With lower pressure there is less tendency to get air in your stomach. I also had to knock my high pressure down by one and still get aerophagia at times, but it's much better. Some people go to a Bipap which seems to help even more.
Hope you can find something that helps!
Esther
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Sleepy-eyes · Post by **Sleepy-eyes** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 4:48 pm

I suffer with it, and can only "parrot" the two previous posts. Probably a pressure set too high. Of course, it may be a balancing act to keep the pressure low enough to eliminate aerophagia and still keep you from having obstructive apneas. Just hang in there and you'll eventually get it worked out.

tooly125 · Post by **tooly125** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 5:54 pm

Hi Sandra,

Welcome to the "Hose head" way of life.
your comment about the possibility of having a weak esophageal sphincter could very well be correct.
When I first started cpap I would wake having to rip my mask off so I could belch to let the air out. It was quite painful.
within a week it was no longer painful but I still needed to let the air out once or twice a night.
Now I have only have to burp once in the morning and there is no discomfort at all.
At first I tried all sorts of remedies that did not work but in the end it took care of itself which leads me to believe that because the cpap helped my gerd my esophageal sphincter was able to heal and my aerophagia disappeared.

Don't give up getting this right is so important and you will get it right!

snoozeandlose · Post by **snoozeandlose** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 6:04 pm

I discovered I was a mouth breathing when I developed aerophagia. Mine comes out the opposite end. When I tape my mouth closed I swallow very little air, but when I use my full face mask I have much more trouble. Unfortunately I sleep much better with the FF mask.

JimW · Post by **JimW** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 10:50 pm

I had aerophagia pretty significantly during my titration study (but didn't know what it was.) It got worse the first two nights on CPAP at 14 cm. Contacted DME, who suggested trying head elevation and different sleeping positions. Based on what I read here, tried lowering the pressure to 13 cm, and that helped - was still fairly full of air in the AM, but at least was not waking in pain at 1:30 AM. Sent DME respiratory therapist (RT) an e-mail suggesting other possible adjustments, including reduced pressure, APAP, and a machine with exhalation pressure relief. She replied that all might be of benefit, and any would require a script.

Per her suggestion, contacted the sleep lab, who provided the initial script. Took nearly a week and an extra nudge, then got a reply that the physician had ordered APAP. (Had received a call from RT a few days after the e-mail exchange just to check on progress re: aerophagia and the lab contact.) Got a call from the RT the same day the lab called, and picked up the APAP. 95% pressure the first three nights has been 8.0, 8.8, and 8.8. Air in my digestive system has been negligible. Don't know for sure that this is everyone's solution, but it sure seems to be working here - so far.

I appreciate the resource that's available here, and will doubtless be asking questions in the near future. (By the way, I never told either party that I had lowered the pressure; if I hadn't, I would not have continued to use the CPAP during the time it took to get the new script.)

offlineon · Post by **offlineon** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:10 am

Hi,

Welcome to the club GERD.
As the others have mentioned what you are experiencing seems to be perfectly normal and is far from rare.

An auto pap may help, and so might starting with a different sleeping position; but BiPAP is a real potential fix for the mouth farts (as well as the other kind.) At 12cm, maybe even CFLEX technology on an auto pap, might fix your problem.

Nexium (PPI's) are wonderful, but silent GERD in particular seems to be both aggravated and assisted by cpap IMHO. Don't feel you have to wait until the problem resolves by itself - it most likely won't. It may reduce, but now might be just the time for you to take the opportunity presented. Twist your doc's arm into telling your insurance that you *need* a better machine to combat aerophagia - this might not be 100 % necessary (or strictly true), but I won't tell if you don't.

A Gastroscopy could be an idea, just in case you have an extra loose whats-it down there - but I'd seriously think about trying an Auto with CFLEX or EPR, or a BiPAP/BiLevel machine.