Flatulence

[dilligat]

Not the nicest of subjects but I've nticed since using CPAP that I have huge flatulent bursts during the night. I am a mouth breather and suspect some air is being forced into my stomach and onwards to escape in large clouds!!!
Is this something others have noticed?

[ColinP]

I haven't, but my wife claims to have noticed it

[GuyK]

Aerophagia, most likely. Pretty common occurrence with *PAP. Some people get abdominal cramping, others just "off-gas" (as another poster called it) in the AM.

In another thread, someone posted some exercises to strengthen some muscles. My doctor suggested Prilosec OTC (omerprazole) for me. It is a 14-day course of tiny pills, and I just finished the first course. Doesn't seem like it did anything for me.

[OutaSync]

I have up close and personal experience with this subject. If you have a weak LES (lower esophageal sphincter) that does not close all the way, and you have a source of high pressure entering your esophagus (CPAP), the air will blow right through. Some may get trapped in your intestines and break through at the worst possible moments (like at a solemn will signing, for me) all through the day. Some will tell you that this will go away in a few weeks as your body adapts. I hope that will be true for you. I'm 16 months on CPAP and still have blow throws all night, every night. I have to sit up and belch during the night. There is nothing I can do about the other end. It comes when it comes.

The doctor may put you on Prilosec or other medication to reduce the acid in the stomach. This is to keep the acid from backing up through that open LES and eroding your esophagus. If air can flow through it, acid can back up through it. For this reason, you may want to consider going to a doctor who specializes in gastrointestinal disorders. He may not be able to stop your flatuence, but he can see if there is any damage already done to your esophagus and decide if you need to be on medication. I never would have known that I had GERD, if I had not had problems with flatulence. So, in this case, it may have saved me from future esophageal cancer.

Keep a good sense of humor about it, and good luck.

Bev

[roster]

Not the nicest of subjects but I've nticed since using CPAP that I have huge flatulent bursts during the night. I am a mouth breather and suspect some air is being forced into my stomach and onwards to escape in large clouds!!!
Is this something others have noticed?

Please fill out your profile. You tell us you are breathing through your mouth. The first question we should have is what type of mask are you using. If you fill out your profile we won't have to ask.

[ycartf]

Outasync (and any others out there with GERD), I don't know if your doctor has discussed this with you, but there is a surgical intervention that helps TREMENDOUSLY with bad cases of GERD.

My wife used to wake me all through the night with her jumbo bottle of Tums rattling when she would have to take them (made us even for my snoring I guess). She couldn't lie down with even a cup of water in her stomach because she would get heartburn/reflux so bad. She went to see the GI group here and they would not even consider anything but medication and it got very frustrating. At one point, she was on two different medications for both reducing the acid production in her stomach and for speeding up the food's travel through the stomach. This led to her having to take two OTHER medications in addition to those - for the irritable bowel syndrome and digestive problems she developed (because the gut is not designed to handle food that has been rushed/inadequately broken-down). Throw in various hospitalizations for an endoscopy and other tests where she had to drink the awful "slurry" they prepare you, along with the still-prevalent problems she was having, and you can imagine how frustrated she was (and myself).

I suggested that since the GI group would not even consider surgery, she should go see an internalist, and recommended one I heard people speak highly of around the hospital. She saw him, he listened to her, agreed with her, and recommended a surgeon that he would use if he were having surgery. This surgeon saw her, performed one more test on her (so he could ensure she would benefit from the surgery) and told her she would see immense improvement from the surgery. He then performed what they called a Nissen fundoplication (maybe that is spelled right). It is a surgery in which they take a small portion of the top of the stomach and wrap it around the espohagus (where her valve was essentially non-existant) to create a valve. She couldn't swallow anything but liquids for a couple of days, then nothing bigger than a pea, then larger and larger things until after a couple weeks she could swallow regular stuff. She said that even with the pain of the surgery/recovery and the inability to swallow regularly for a first couple of weeks, she would do it again in a heartbeat. She has not had any further problems and that was about 10 years ago.

Just food for thought if your Dr. has not shared this with you, and not everyone would benefit from it (like minor cases of GERD).

EDIT - Also, this surgery is performed with 3-4 small incisions (laparoscopically) for instruments, etc.

Have a great day,
Tracy

[Georgio]

My emissions have significantly increased on cpap also. For everyone else's sake it's a good thing I live alone. It sounds like this condition is a somewhat normal side effect of the therapy. Am I correct that it isn't anything to worry about, and is mostly only a concern for those around you?

Georgio

[OutaSync]

Tracy,

You are right, there is an option, albeit drastic. I asked my GI doctor about that Nissen fundoplication surgery and he didn't seem to think that I was bad enough to need it. I'm still debating on whether I want to risk the surgery, or live with the problem. On the nights when I'm doubled up in pain from trapped air, I'm thinking surgery wont' be that bad. On the nights it passes through, I'm thinking, Thank God, I sleep alone".

My mom lives in Enterprise, Alabama. Almost your neighbor.

Georgio,

It's only a concern if the LES is weak enough to allow acid to come up into the esophagus. Air isn't damaging, but acid is. The only way you can find out is to have a doctor send a scope down your throat and have a look. I think that anybody who has CPAP related "off-gassing" that continues after a few adjustment weeks, should get a scope done.

Bev

[ycartf]

And (by the way) I have always "off-gassed" (funny - but we use that to describe the evaporation of a liquid or solid hazardous material too) frequently - way before CPAP. My wife used to say she thought I ate stuff just to make myself do it, but when I had fasted with absolutely no calories/food for 7 days one time - and STILL "off-gassed" a lot, she realized it's just me. I know if you experience an increase in it after starting CPAP that your's might be attributed to CPAP, but for most of us it is just a sign of a healthy and productive digestive system.

Outasync - Neat that your mom lives in Enterprise. If you/she ever need anything, please feel free to call on me (I am so closeby).

Tracy

[Billy6]

I think I'd look to the fish and chips, peas and beer first, before chalking it up to the air you breathe

[OutaSync]

I never had a problem with out-gassing until I got on CPAP.

Tracy, That is good to know. Mom lives across the street from the high school that was hit by the tornado a couple of years ago. When I finally heard from her, I asked her how what measures she had taken to protect herself from the tornado. She said, "I didn't know anything about it. I heard the noise and tried to open the front door to see what it was and I couldn't push it open." God takes care of the young and the very elderly? Mom is 85.

She was in the senior center a couple of months ago when the roof blew off from another tornado and landed on her car. She again escaped injury although was soaked from the rain. Who knew that Alabama would be more dangerous for her than her 50 years as a missionary in China?

Bev

[Arizona-Willie]

I had the Nissan Fundoplication done at Mayo in Scottsdale AZ in 99. Absolutely wonderful!!

I had NO pain from the operation. As I remember there was only a little dietary restriction. Just for the first week I believe. But after that I could eat anything again.

Doctors had had me on various medications and one day I saw on the net that they could have been giving me twice as much as my current doc had prescribed and then I came across an article about the Nissan Fundoplication.

So I made an appointment at Mayo and they did an endoscopy and took one look at my esophagus and the valve and had me in surgery 2 weeks later.
Dr. Schlinkert was my surgeon. He is fantastic.

I had messed with the Zantac and Prilosec and other medications as well as keeping the giant size bottle of Tums at the bedside for years.
I would wake up choking because I had inhaled the stomach juice that came up via GERD.

Several times Da Boss was on the verge of calling 911 because I couldn't breathe for the choking.

Needless to say I had a bad case of the GERD.

If you have been fighting GERD for years and medication doesn't help, by all means go doctor shopping till you get one with some brains.
If the medication such as Prilosec ( which is good ) doesn't work then you need something more.

These days they have new procedures much like the lap band surgery for weight loss. They can put a nylon strap around the valve and tighten it up. That way it can easily be adjusted if they need to. The docs would decide which method to use depending on what they find in there.

If necessary, go to Mayo and have some top docs take a look.

It might cost you a few bucks out of pocket ... but what is it worth to keep living?
Between Medicare and my secondary insurance it cost me $200 .... but I would gladly have paid the entire surgical bill out of pocket if I had to ... and considered it cheap. The total bill was $15,000. Cheap at twice the price for the benefit I gained. I would not be alive today without that surgery I am sure.

GERD can actually be a life threatening condition.

It causes esophageal cancer and you can choke to death if it gets as bad as mine was.
And your first time choking might be the last.

GERD does not go away on it's own nor does it get better. It is progressive and worsens over time.

[OutaSync]

Arizona-Willie,

Thank you for telling us of your successful surgery. Especially the part about it not being that painful. Very encouraging.

Bev

[Arizona-Willie]

Yes, there were only five small incisions around my abdomen and they gave me no pain at all. They healed right up and now you have to search for them real hard to see where they were. Hardly any scar at all.

I was surprised myself at how easy it was. Some dietary restrictions for a week or two and then eat anything I want again.

And sleep without choking.

At that time I had OSA but didn't realize it.

I've always had it I believe. Runs in the family. My dad would snore loudly and stop breathing but we just thought that was normal I suppose.

Every woman in my life has always said I did that.

Finally one day my cardiologist asked about sleeping and when I told him my girlfriend said I stopped breathing he sent me right to a sleep lab.
And I joined the ranks of hoseheads

But don't avoid a nissan fundoplication because of fear of the operation. The preparation for the operation hurt more than the recovery.
I hate it when they put the IVs in .. burns and stings. That truly did hurt more. There was no pain from the incisions afterward.

[OldLincoln]

Lots of discussion about flatulence on the board. Here is my long post about it.