Headaches & Ringing in my Ears with CPAP

OK, I've been a CPAP user for over a year now and I have a love/hate relationship with it: I love the quality of sleep, not having swollen/sore throat in the morning, and not being sore from my wife hitting me all night to stop my snoring. I also hate it just because sleep is a process now, not a spontaneous act. I have to make sure the unit is filled, the mask is fitted, hose not trapped, etc., but I really miss it when I'm out on a camping trip without power...

Lately, tho, I've been noticing sinus headaches on a daily basis and the ringing in my ears is constant and getting louder. I've talked with other CPAP users who've experienced similar symptoms, especially those like me with deviated septums. Anybody else out there suffering from similar symptoms or who have advice for me? I'm considering surgery to correct my septum and tighten up my soft palate/trim my uvula, but need convincing.

Get checked by an ENT first. Life goes on and we do get older even when we use cpap.
Could be allergies, sinus infection or plain old old age

The surgery you're considering has not had good 'reviews' and does not necessarily help OSA long term. I'd do a lot of research before deciding to go with it.

the septum surgery has had good reviews but not the uvula part.

Thanks for all the advice. I have a Dr appointment next month and I plan to talk to her at length about my symptoms, surgical options, and maybe just adjusting my machine. Ironically, her husband is my ENT physician, so I think I can get the answers I need, one way or another. I've read the online accounts of the combined septum/soft palate/uvula surgery and it sounds unpleasant, to say the least. On the other hand, I have an acquaintance that had the surgery and is a very vocal proponent, asking me why I've waited so long to have it done.

And to Blackspinner in Quebec: yeah, I know I'm getting older. Doesn't mean I can't fight tooth and nail to slow the process (or to fool myself) .

yooper011 wrote:OK, I've been a CPAP user for over a year now and I have a love/hate relationship with it: I love the quality of sleep, not having swollen/sore throat in the morning, and not being sore from my wife hitting me all night to stop my snoring. I also hate it just because sleep is a process now, not a spontaneous act. I have to make sure the unit is filled, the mask is fitted, hose not trapped, etc., but I really miss it when I'm out on a camping trip without power...

Lately, tho, I've been noticing sinus headaches on a daily basis and the ringing in my ears is constant and getting louder. I've talked with other CPAP users who've experienced similar symptoms, especially those like me with deviated septums. Anybody else out there suffering from similar symptoms or who have advice for me? I'm considering surgery to correct my septum and tighten up my soft palate/trim my uvula, but need convincing.

I would stay away from surgery at all costs. May I suggest that you talk to a doctor who does not perform surgeries (i.e. internist, family doc, etc.) .

About the sinusitis and the ear problem, it could be from infections, otherwise, check this:

http://entcare.wordpress.com/category/tinnitus/

http://www.neuromonics.com/patient/trea ... aspx?id=50

p.s. have you considered replacing the S8 Escape II with something newer?

If you are going to consider surgery do as much research as possible. My sleep doctor said that although it does work for some, in the vast majority of the cases it is short term or does not help at all. He felt it was perhaps 10% effective overall and not worth the complications and recovery unless absolutely necessary. I also know several people that were talked into the surgery and in none of their cases did it help, they all said they regretted doing it.

yooper011 wrote:OK, I've been a CPAP user for over a year now and I have a love/hate relationship with it: I love the quality of sleep, not having swollen/sore throat in the morning, and not being sore from my wife hitting me all night to stop my snoring.

yooper
I also love the quality of sleep and lack of sore throat. Also not having my hubby waking me multiple times each night to stop my chain-saw-volume snoring.

I feel pressure inside my ears (sometimes a slight ache) when the Auto kicks the pressure up. But my ears ring anyway... the product of working in noisy factories and going to ZZ Top concerts! The searches and reading I've done all say there is no cure for tinnitus: though there are some claims and they want to sell you something expensive.
What seems to relieve an imbalance in pressure in the inner ear (I'm no ENT or other health professional) is to 'pop' my ears by opening my jaws and wiggling the muscles in the back of my throat while the machine is running. Sorry, even though I'm doing it right now it's hard to describe. Guess it's the same thing you do to your ears after driving up (or down) a long, steep hill.

If you discover something that really stops your ringing ears...I beg you....please post it here to let us know! I'd greatly appreciate it.
Cindy

[quote="Cindy Lou Who

If you discover something that (really?) stops your ringing ears...I beg you....please post it here to let us know! I'd greatly appreciate it.
Cindy[/quote]

Duke treatment offers tinnitus relief

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/12/28/ ... e-din.html

Well, since my last post, I've consulted with my primary care physician and my ENT physician. My main complaint is a marked increase in the past months of ringing in my left ear and low grade headaches on above my left eye. I was concerned that high pressure in my CPAP could be the cause via the eustachian tube. Both physicians said no. An MRI ruled out other causes and a hearing test showed a distinct loss of high range rearing in my left ear. So, since nobody in the CPAP community responded with similar symptoms and two learned physicians hadn't either, it looks like my problems are stress (go figure) and tinnitis. That's something I can live with.

To Cindy Lou Who: my ENT told me about Arches Tinnitis Formula (http://www.tinnitusformula.com/). He said he didn't have any concrete results to quote, but if I tried it to let him know how/if it worked. Pretty expensive, so I'm creating my own. I'll post again in 6 months or so if it helps.

Again, thanks all!