Stomach sleeping with CPAP dangerous because possible C02?

I spend a substantial amount of time sleeping on my stomach. I fall asleep on my side, and some time mid-sleep almost always wind up on my belly, where I usually wake up. It's a very comfy position for me to assume mid-sleep. I suspect that the belly sleeping is responsible for the leaks I get, (though my Wisp mask isn't uncomfortable when I'm on my stomach).

So, I was surfing the Web looking for recommended masks for stomach sleepers. I came across one CPAP supply site that claims that sleeping on your stomach with a CPAP mask can be dangerous. According to the article, if you accidentally block the vent holes, you'll wind up re-breathing used air, thus causing a build up of carbon dioxide. The article then recommends particular masks that they say won't cause this problem.

This is the first time I've read something about belly sleeping with a CPAP mask being actually dangerous (except in the general sense of your mask may not fit well and you won't be getting effective treatment). Is this true? Should I be concerned that I'll get carbon dioxide poisoning if I happen to turn my head the wrong way?

jpek

As long as you aren't blocking the vents, you are fine. You know how you sleep and whether the vents are likely to get blocked or not. Just make sure your sleep position works with the mask you have.

jpek wrote:I spend a substantial amount of time sleeping on my stomach. I fall asleep on my side, and some time mid-sleep almost always wind up on my belly, where I usually wake up. It's a very comfy position for me to assume mid-sleep. I suspect that the belly sleeping is responsible for the leaks I get, (though my Wisp mask isn't uncomfortable when I'm on my stomach).

So, I was surfing the Web looking for recommended masks for stomach sleepers. I came across one CPAP supply site that claims that sleeping on your stomach with a CPAP mask can be dangerous. According to the article, if you accidentally block the vent holes, you'll wind up re-breathing used air, thus causing a build up of carbon dioxide. The article then recommends particular masks that they say won't cause this problem.

This is the first time I've read something about belly sleeping with a CPAP mask being actually dangerous (except in the general sense of your mask may not fit well and you won't be getting effective treatment). Is this true? Should I be concerned that I'll get carbon dioxide poisoning if I happen to turn my head the wrong way?

jpek

This is true of any sleeping position.

Keep the mask clean, especially the vent holes, and don't pull the covers over your head.
Avoid any pillow that you cannot breathe through--especially anti-allergy pillow cases.

I take it you haven't died yet from stomach sleeping before XPAP, can't see much difference. Most stomach sleepers turn their head to the side, hanging your head off the side of the pillow works well too. Jim

I don't remember the masks that I originally used ever having vent holes. I am going back at least 12 years.
They were responics comfort gel masks. I know that the new ones have vent holes but I wantnt to say that the old ones didn't. At least I didn't notice them. When the most recent ones came out the vent was very noticeable to me because I am a stomach sleeper and the holes would cause a lot of noise against the pillow.

I sleep on my stomach but I just turn my head and lay it down near the edge of the pillow.

DAYMX5 wrote:I don't remember the masks that I originally used ever having vent holes. I am going back at least 12 years.
They were responics comfort gel masks. I know that the new ones have vent holes but I wantnt to say that the old ones didn't. At least I didn't notice them. When the most recent ones came out the vent was very noticeable to me because I am a stomach sleeper and the holes would cause a lot of noise against the pillow.

The holes were there in all of them, the difference now they are in a white plastic piece in the elbow, instead of just drilled in the clear plastic. Jim

I have modified my mask's vent with a duct that exhausts in a wider area and up the mask hose. This achieves two purposes: makes it very difficult to block even when I burry my face into the dawn pillow I use, and makes the exhaust gentle, so there is no noise, no blowing in my wife's face, or into my own. Also, for what is worth, the only time in my life where I had to go to the ER with AFib was the morning after I had made a "repair" to that duct, effectively blocking most of the airflow. Our brains detect higher concentrations of CO2 but can adapt to a vast range, with the threshold to trigger the suffocation reflex being rather high. Levels well under that threshold could be detrimental to the body, such as the excessive strain on the heart that I believe I may have experienced that night.
McSleepy

If you sleep on your stomach, get either the Airfit P10 or the Circadian masks. They seem to work very well for stomach sleeping and I didn't have problems with vent hole blockage even with a fluffy pillow. I could not do it at all with any of the 3 full face masks I had. Sadly though, I've had to train myself out of stomach sleeping because I was getting back problems. I hate getting older.

As to the article, getting CO2 poisoning with your mask is unlikely unless you are taking medications that severely reduce alertness (think opioids) or have been drinking alcohol. Normal adults respond in some way when their oxygen supply has been cut off or reduced. That's why you wake up when you have apnea.