Auto BiPAP machines? Aerophagia?

I'm having a lot of difficulty with my machine forcing air into my stomach, despite adjustments of the various parameters (Resmed VPAP III bi-level). I've received suggestions by patients who have solved this problem by switching to a bi-level autopap machine. The Respironics BiPAP Auto with Bi-Flex has been mentioned more than once.

As my DME rep is not very receptive to my inquiries about other equipment, I want to gather as much information on this subject as possible before our next discussion. I'm also wondering if auto-bipap machines might have specific problems that the simpler, more conventional machhines don't. I'd appreciate a multitude of comments from anyone who has had personal experience with any or all of the following:

A) The Respironics BiPAP Auto with Bi-Flex
B) Any other Bi-level autopap machines
C) Air in stomach/bloating (aerophagia), and how you solved the problem.

Thanks!
Brian

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): respironics, bipap, DME, auto, AutoPAP Machine

aerophagia was a major reason I switched to auto.
Though I'm not a bipap user, I was a cpap user prior to apap. The terrible pain of that excess air in my stomach was miserable!
I reported such to my doctor and he quickly changed the prescription to an auto pap! DME filled as prescribed!
(Now, that I do business with cpap.com, it is not crucial to have auto specified on the prescription!)

Brian12465 wrote:I'd appreciate a multitude of comments from anyone who has had personal experience with any or all of the following:

A) The Respironics BiPAP Auto with Bi-Flex
B) Any other Bi-level autopap machines
C) Air in stomach/bloating (aerophagia), and how you solved the problem.

Hi Brian,

I need about 10 cm pressure and because of aerophagia CPAP did not work for me. I experience gut-wrenching, cramp-inducing aerophagia long before reaching the needed pressure. APAP was much better, as it allowed me to sleep much of the night at low pressure, but I had to keep the minimum pressure so low to minimize aerophagia that I'd usually experience some apneas before the APAP could increase pressure to a therapeutic level. Nevertheless, APAP was much better than CPAP, although even with APAP, I still had the occasional night with horrible aerophagia.

Like you, after reading here that BiPAP reduced aerophagia, I decided to give that a try. With the BiPAP-auto I first tried letting the auto cover a wide range, but just as with APAP, a number of apneas snuck by before the machine could raise pressure sufficiently. I immediately found the aerophagia much better though, and decided to try straight BiPAP. Although the aerophagia increased somewhat with straight BiPAP, it has never been at the same level as the bad nights using APAP. More importantly, I immediately noticed that I slept much better on plain BiPAP than I had with either APAP or auto-BiPAP.

To see if I can get further improvement, I think I'm going to experiment with the BiPAP-auto and see how well therapy works if I simply tighten the range to something like 8 cm to 11 cm pressure. My presumption is that I might get even further improvement relief aerophagia.

Good luck with your own quest to minimize aerophagia, Brian. I hope this helps.

Regards,
Bill

Brian,

In addition to what NightHawkeye has posted, are you a sufferer from acid reflux (GERD)? - I am going to guess and say yes. If so are you on medication for it.

GERD sufferers seem far more prone to aerophagia - related to their lack of control of the muscle that shuts the opening to the stomach.

If GERD is involved, you may want to investigate what you can do to improve this area.

DSM