aerophagia - swallowing air

[dkdc]

I have been using cpap on 10 cm for about four months. Had a few occurrences of swallowing air - but nothing serious. Just some passing gas in the morning.

Two of the last three days I have had serious air swallowing - I couldn't stand up straight, some pepto bismal helped a little, but I had to wait till the air came out till I felt ok, and that took 20-30 minutes. Last night it was from 12:30 till 1am I was awake trying to resolve the situation and in pain!

I am searching the boards for tips, but thought I should post here as well. Suggestions?

[no_more_headaches]

Happened to me last night too. I was really doubling over. I suspect I had too many carbs and the old number 2 was holding it in.
It subsided as I started drinking and got things moving but I think I am going to have to make sure I have a lot of fiber from now on.

[SuperGeeky]

At Walmart, you can buy a very large toy ball for three bucks. Lay on top of the ball and roll around. The pressure moves the gas around so it can be released...

[dkdc]

Well, I would like to avoid the issue alltogether.

In searching here is the first link worth sharing - sounds dangerous:
viewtopic/t37517/viewtopic.php?p=327210#p327210

"When I had a fixed CPAP machine set at 10, it inflated me like a circus balloon daily and it was very painful. I actually felt like I was being ripped apart in my gut (below the stomach). I made a presentation to my doc using a logical progression of study abstracts to paint the picture of CPAP = gastric insufflation = serious consequences and that it all may be mitigated with APAP. After my presentation to the doc, he prescribed going to an APAP machine. I had given him the information he needed to defend it if the change was challenged. He originally suggested a Bi-Level but as I told him, that would give me low pressure for exhale, but high for inhale or 50% of the time.

So, I switched to an APAP which brought my average pressure into the 7's and no gastric insufflation since. While it spends most of the night at low pressure, it still races up races up to clear events then falls back. Going up I'm not getting much air anyway and after clearing it isn't there long enough (avg 15 sec) to cause harm. So for me, switching from a fixed pressure CPAP to Auto level CPAP (APAP) was the answer."

[dkdc]

Earlier in the same thread:

"I recently talked with my somnodoc about aerophagia (the buildup of gas during *PAP therapy). We also discussed reflux (I've had reflux issues in the past, but those symptoms have disappeared since I started therapy).

What I took away from him is that my reflux issues and aerophagia are related. He suggested taking Prilosec OTC. I'm now on my 7th day (the pills come in a 14-day "course"), and so far so good. In the last week, I've really only had one moderately bad aerophagia night, but that was on a night that I ate a little bit too much a little bit too late."

Both posts mention GERD as the temporary or permanent cause of excess air in the gut. I just happen to have started prilosec for similar reasons (might be GERD or just regular old gastritis or both).
-------------

Ah - the wiki which I couldn't find in the wiki but someone linked to it: wiki/index.php/Aerophagia

Another good thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=47593&p=430593&hili ... ia#p430593

[SleepingUgly]

Setting my machine on Cflex + 3 really helped my aerophagia.