Cracked ribs

I've been working with my doctor on the ramp pressure. I would get so much pressure from my cpap that I was getting bloated to the point where my ribs hurt. This past weekend I fell asleep and my wife heard me choking in my sleep while using the cpap,she woke me up and was worried that I didn't wake up on my own. When I rolled over to get up I was so bloated with air in my stomach I felt my ribs crack.
I went to the emergency room for x-rays and it was confirmed , a cracked rib. My doctor said he's never heard of this , well he has now.
This therapy is dangerous and I wil not use my cpap machine again. If my wife didn't wake me up I could have choked to death in my sleep.

You will chock to death without using your machine,

Your doctor needs to put you on a different machine. This one is obviously not the right machine for you or it is set up completely wrong.

You should also get tested for osteoporosis. Ribs don't break that easily.

Paxton05 wrote:I've been working with my doctor on the ramp pressure. I would get so much pressure from my cpap that I was getting bloated to the point where my ribs hurt. This past weekend I fell asleep and my wife heard me choking in my sleep while using the cpap,she woke me up and was worried that I didn't wake up on my own. When I rolled over to get up I was so bloated with air in my stomach I felt my ribs crack.
I went to the emergency room for x-rays and it was confirmed , a cracked rib. My doctor said he's never heard of this , well he has now.
This therapy is dangerous and I wil not use my cpap machine again. If my wife didn't wake me up I could have choked to death in my sleep.

Sounds like you've been looking for an excuse to quit.
You didn't even fill out your profile with what equipment you're using or what your settings are.

Do you have a data-capable machine and are you using software to monitor your therapy?
Being filled with air is called "aerophagia" and if you do a forum search (above) on it, you'll find it's quite common and things to do to prevent/alleviate it.
It could point to having GERD or a weakness in your LES. So, you've probably got other problems, too.
But, you shouldn't "quit" this therapy, regardless how badly you want to.


Den

.

We've got no pressure settings, machine models or mask info to go on here. Wait, let me dig my my crystal ball out of the closet and see what's going on.

Bloating is common and there are ways to deal with it - it's called aerophagia and we can help with that. You obviously have osteoporosis and that needs addressing. You may have been choking because your pressure settings were not adequate. Please tell us what equipment (full name and model #, not just e.g. "Resmed") and type of mask you use, plus what your pressures are set to. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face... there are ways to make it work.

Paxton05 wrote: I felt my ribs crack.
I went to the emergency room for x-rays and it was confirmed , a cracked rib. My doctor said he's never heard of this , well he has now.
This therapy is dangerous and I wil not use my cpap machine again. If my wife didn't wake me up I could have choked to death in my sleep.

tell your wife to stop using the baseball bat on your ribs...

it's physically *impossible* for a cpap to generate the kind of pressures you allege.

the pressure required to blow up a balloon is between 400-1100 cm/H2O.

your machine generates, at most 20cm/h2o (25 if a bilevel).

nice bs story, but, hey, it's easy to shoot holes in it.

You CAN crack your ribs coughing, especially if you have osteoporosis.
I am not ready to give this a troll rating because I have dealt with older people (and have it borderline my self) BUT the fault is not the cpap treatment.

No, it's the choking, coughing, etc, but in any case needs help.

I would think the doctor would have been aware of the osteoporosis and prescribed a cough suppressant.
Or at least recommended a mucus thinner.

I have osteoporosis and two fractured vertebrae.............. my cpap machine had nothing to do with it, I fell and when I went for xrays they found the osteo. I will never go without my machine at night, that is what keeps me alive, just as yours does. You are looking for an excuse to not use your cpap, it did not crack your ribs, you must have coughed pretty hard or banged up against something earlier. Its pretty easy to break a bone when you have osteo, it had nothing to do with your cpap blowing air.

Sorry for the long time to get the info relating to my sleep apnea.
Resmed model 37026 , serial # 23151593222
Internal modem
Humidifier -sw sx556-0204 . Set to level 7
Ramp time 45 minutes at 15 run pressure
Total run time 837 hours
Resmed@myair.com
Amara view full face mask
6 month sleep report
153/180 days used
37/180 used 4 + hours
Average usage 2.6 hours per night
Hours used 391
Pressure 9.1
Leak 31 l/min
I also struggle at night with rls . I'm constantly changing from the bed to the sofa to the recliner then eventually the floor. When all my broken up sleep is added up I usually get around 3-4 hours per night.

Before you give up on cpap go get checked for 0steo...i've been on cpap for 6 years and have had 3 cracked ribs and NO not due to cpap. I have been taking meds for GERD for 20 years which will thin bones and prednisone for 5 years. A great combo to thin bones, thus my Dr found out I have osteo...nothing to do with cpap so please for your sake go get a bone scan...just my humble opinion...

Paxton, I have restless legs as well and it totally sucks. The problem is that many of the drugs used for it have bad side effects. While getting the osteoporosis checked out, find out if you have diabetes as it can be related to RLS. That's The first stop because metformin alone come eliminate the problem . The next step is a combination of magnesium zinc and calcium. Give that a good couple of months to see if that makes any difference. After that there's a range of drugs always different side effects . Check them out before getting a prescription filled. There are many more concerns about some drugs that have recently been in the news.

My doctor is having me take a sleep study over night , this will be my 4th . 2 at home and 1 overnight at the sleep lab. The most recent one at home about 7 months ago.
But to be fair to my doctor, 7 months ago my insurance carrier changed so I had changed doctors as well. The other doctor that i was going to was treating my rls for the last 5 years . We had also tried cpap therapy , but again I am up and moving around all night so the insurance company asked for it back for non compliance.
Over the past 5 years I have tried a lot of different prescriptions.
Gabapentin, levadopa carbadopa, neupro patch, mirapex and ropinerole . Finally I get a little comfort with mirapex without the side effects of some of the others. But if it wasn't for the little comfort I get from the mirapex I would be awake and crawling out of my skin for days at a time.
Until my sleep study is scheduled ill be using my dental appliance for sleep breathing disorders. It brings the lower jaw forward to open the air way.
I have been checked and cleared of diabetes and I'll ask about a bone scan.

Apart from any questions of apnea and CPAP, let's talk about the cracked rib.

Even if you fix your apnea in some other way, I'm worried about breaking a rib like that. It doesn't seem you should be able to break a rib that way. You should probably give some thought to bone problems.

I see you're male. Do you mind stating your age? You might want to check to see if any of your meds are linked to bone loss. Be careful about internet hypochondria, but do some checking and consult with your doctor.

Good luck.