gurgling/gurgles--yes, for real...

[chdurie2]

hi all:

i'm using activa these days, and i love it, but i have this strange sensation of gurgling while waiting to fall asleep. it's like a big air bubble comes up from inside me and goes through my mouth. when it reaches the front of my mouth, it stops, or last nite i was so sick of it that i just opened my mouth for a second to let it out. i feel like a baby that someone ought to burp or a fish or something. anyone know what causes this and/or what to do about it? i'd say it happens about once a minute, maybe less often. is this bizarre?

thanks.

caroline

[chdurie2]

No one knows anything about gurgling with cpap? oh, no.....

Caroline

[Gidgie]

Caroline, dear, maybe you just needed to be burped!!

[NightHawkeye]

Caroline, sounds like a variation on aerophagia to me, although in your case perhaps the air doesn't get past the lower esophageal sphincter and so has to come back out, just like a burp. Sad to say, I do know the experience you describe, although for me it happens only occasionally.

I'd guess that the usual solutions for aerophagia, as poor as they are, could benefit you. These include finding a sleep position that minimizes it, and as I've been playing with for the past week, using a BiPAP machine.

Probably not exactly what you wanted to hear, huh? Sorry about that. Just my $0.02 though. Take it for what it's worth.

Regards,
Bill

[chdurie2]

Bill-

Should mention it's a noiseless gurgle, like an air bubble travelling from my throat to my mouth, uncontrollably. no stomach problems. did a quick internet search and saw that scuba divers sometimes have something like that. yes, best thing is to try to change position. very weird. i thought it would be more typical.maybe i'll call cpap.com and see if they have ever heard of it.

thanks for your reply.

caroline

[chdurie2]

Bill:

Odd cuz only happens with activa, but that's the only nasal mask i have. it's very annoying until i get to sleep. i can feel it starting and think, there it goes again. probably telling me activa is not going to work and to put on UMFF.

caroline

[NightHawkeye]

It makes perfect sense that you would notice it with a nasal mask. With a full-face mask the pressure in the mouth is the same as the pressure in your windpipe. That's not true with a nasal mask, hence you notice it when some air leaks into the mouth.

Regards,
Bill

[chdurie2]

Bill:

If this is an air leak, can I try to get rid of it by making the straps fit tighter? Even this kind of air leak is not good, right?

Thanks.

Caroline

[NightHawkeye]

I doubt that your small air leak into your mouth is any worse than the air leak those of us who get pumped full of aerophagia experience nightly, and that doesn't seem to affect treatment. Well, not the apnea treatment anyway.

Regards,
Bill

[secapp]

Caroline: The same thing happens with my resperonics remstar pro at apap setting as well as bi-level (CFLEX) setting I found that It means that the unit has ramped excessively and it's just my body making sure the pressure doesn't harm me. The tech suggested I prop my head up a bit more and this worked while we retested for my new optimum pressure settings now it only happens at the basic cpap setting with no cflex relief.

[chdurie2]

secapp:

Not sure I understand your lingo. Ramped excessively means not enough pressure? Or too much? Is it still relevant if I never use the ramp feature? This only happens with Activa. Maybe I'll try pillow trick.

Thanks.

Caroline

[roztom]

Caroline:

You sure air isn't escaping past your tongue and leaking into your mouth or do you feel it coming up your wind-pipe?

BTW: I just got a UMFF - any problem with leaks? If so how did you resolve?

Best,

Tom

[chdurie2]

Tom:

I'm not sure where this air bubble starts, but it feels like it's coming up from the back of my throat, then around my mouth, til i have to open my mouth to let it out. It was enuf, along with my deviated septum problems, to regretfully give up on activa--although next week i have an appointment with my regular doc, who will probably give me script for nose spray, so with that in hand, maybe i could give nasal another try.

As far as UMFF leaks go, I haven't had any problem that I know of, except the lower part of the mouth, which may be a biggie.

That also may be because I am a relatively small woman with small features. On me, the UMFF problem is that the nose/mouth piece is too long and maybe wide, so there's not a tight grip in the chin area. When the air is on, if I open my mouth wide, my lower lip can slip under the mask, making a big gap. The key question here is how wide I open my mouth when breathing asleep. I can minimize this problem by severely shortening the whole mask, using that 4-setting gizmo, but then it puts a lot of pressure against my forehead, and i have ordered a forehead pad. i also tried using a shallow cushion, and that helps some.

But the short answer to your UMFF question is that I'm guessing that my mouth leak will not be your problem, if you do have a UMFF leak problem.

But now I am open to trying the full-face comfort-whatever 2.

Caroline

[Bingo]

This definately sounds like something I would bring up with your equipment provider.

Many of them having dealt with these matters for years will be a great source of information.

If they cannot offer any answers or advice (Which they may or may not be able to depending on how common this issue has been with other patients) then I would positively speak with your Sleep Specialist just to be sure it isn't something that should be addressed!

Bingo

[roztom]

I have mouth leaks sometimes and it's air escaping past the soft tissue at the back of my tongue. It's almost like a slow tire leak and then my cheeks billow out until I let the air escape- like a puff of air.

Is that what is going on?

Tom