Experiencing Aerophagia at a very low pressure

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
BoobaToad
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2018 1:15 pm

Experiencing Aerophagia at a very low pressure

Post by BoobaToad » Sat Jun 30, 2018 1:16 pm

So I did a home study and scored AHI of 6, the cause seems to be UARS (I am very fit/skinny). My doctor sent me to do a full lab study, the waiting lists here are around 6 months, but since I am experiencing unrefreshing sleep which greatly impacts my life, I didn't want to wait that long, so I bought myself a CPAP and start the treatment on my own. I bought an Airsense Resmed 10 CPAP (it is not auto) on Craigslist since it was a very good deal, almost new and that I can easily resell around the same price if it doesn't work for me.

I have been experiencing with the CPAP for over 2 weeks, trying different pressure and ERP, and so far I didn't get good results. The main problem is that I am experiencing is pretty bad aerophagia, I wake up after a couple hours, feeling a bit like I am blowing up like a balloon, I have to remove the mask from there because I don't feel great with the air accumulating in my organs. Because of this, I have been continually lowering down the pressure, but now I am only at a pressure of 6.4 with an EPR of 2. I feel like continuing to lower the pressure would make the treatment ineffective/pointless, what would be the point of using a CPAP if it applies nearly no pressure on your breathing? From what I heard most people are at a much higher pressure. On top of this, last night my AHI was at 13, it fluctuates a lot but it averages around 10.

What do you think I should do from here? Should I continue lowering the pressure or try to get accustomate to that pressure, or does it seems like BiPAP is the only solution for me?

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Muse-Inc
Posts: 4382
Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2009 8:44 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Experiencing Aerophagia at a very low pressure

Post by Muse-Inc » Tue Jul 03, 2018 1:33 am

Sounds like you have a weak lower esophagus sphincter (that's the one that seals the stomach contents from the esophagus). There are foods that temporarily weaken this sphincter making it easier for air to enter the stomach (and stomach contents to escape up the esophagus). If I were you, I would research which foods/liquids might do this and avoid them for a week or so to see if that makes a difference. Shame you don't have an APAP to see what range the machine uses to manage apneas.
ResMed S9 range 9.8-17, RespCare Hybrid FFM
Never, never, never, never say never.

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LSAT
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Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2008 10:11 am
Location: SE Wisconsin

Re: Experiencing Aerophagia at a very low pressure

Post by LSAT » Tue Jul 03, 2018 5:32 am

Not only is the CPAP model not an Auto, but it also displays very little info regarding your therapy. With your problems, you need the Autoset model that will work with Sleepyhead Software....Maybe it wasn't such a good Craigslist deal