Ringing ear and dizziness

Hello everyone, hope all is well. I was wondering if anyone has experienced prolonged ringing in the ear and lightheadedness/dizziness following use of CPAP machine and/or apnea episode? I am assuming its due to pressure cause by machine, however I would imagine this to be something that would go away in a short period, whereas I've been experiencing off an on for a couple days now (have elected to stop use of CPAP until it stops, but a couple days later I'm still experiencing). It's actually been pretty intense at times and highly concerning, obviously. I have appointment with my doctor but with all that is going on now she is unable to see me until early next week. Any insights/experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance, and stay safe!!!

It would SO help if you gave us the full name/model of the machine, the mask, pressure settings, how long you've used any machine, whether you take meds, etc. etc. etc.

There may be a connection, but whether or not something else is coincidental depends on what your ENT says, and maybe answers to the above questions.

DJBKGSK wrote: ↑

Thu May 07, 2020 6:22 pm

Hello everyone, hope all is well. I was wondering if anyone has experienced prolonged ringing in the ear and lightheadedness/dizziness following use of CPAP machine and/or apnea episode? I am assuming its due to pressure cause by machine, however I would imagine this to be something that would go away in a short period, whereas I've been experiencing off an on for a couple days now (have elected to stop use of CPAP until it stops, but a couple days later I'm still experiencing). It's actually been pretty intense at times and highly concerning, obviously. I have appointment with my doctor but with all that is going on now she is unable to see me until early next week. Any insights/experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance, and stay safe!!!

It's hard to know whether there's a causal relationship between your ears ringing/dizziness without having more information. Julie's hit it on the nose in that department. It could be a pressure thing with the ears, or it could be something entirely unrelated to CPAP. If things take a turn for the worse sooner than your doctor's appointment, you might want to go to an immediate care facility or the emergency room. I'm glad you have an appointment with your doctor.

See a doctor!
My tinnitus resulted from an infection when I was a pre-teen, which created nerve damage.
My tinnitus is PERMANENT.
If caught early BY A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL, yours might not be permanent.
Trust me, do not mess around.
See your doctor.
Get a referral to an ENT.
DO NOT GIVE UP ON CPAP FOR ANY REASON.

Thank you for responses so far. Sorry for not posting my info, I was mostly interested if others had experienced, or if this was due to pressure if days to decompress seems long.


I was diagnosed over a year ago. I enjoyed positive CPAP therapy for 8 months. I use ResMed AirSense devise. Pressure is actually low -7.8. But I stopped using fir a couple months and trying to get back on. When I first cane back I had some challenges with pressure where it was bloating me and left me pretty messed up but only for short period. I tried a couple days later and had an event while sleeping that forced me to wake. I was dizzy/lightheaded with ringing in my ear and left me pretty messed up for a full day. Even trying to go back all week one day using machine one day not but ringing and lightheaded has not gone away. I spoke to on call doctor but she only focused on changing my settings would not say what cause was. They are so busy there obviously I felt like she barely listened to what I was going through just looked at my chart and said okay adjust settings, I have to run.

But I am concerned if it is pressure relayed why taking so long to decompress and nervous about going back to machine until back to normal since this all started when I returned to using.

Highly unlikely that it has anything to do with your CPAP therapy, so it would not be advisable to stop.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-con ... c-20350156

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/und ... tus-basics


Den

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If you used the machine successfully for 8 months without problems, it's unlikely this problem is caused by the machine, so long as the pressure settings are the same (or similar). Tinnitus can have many causes but it's a good idea to get it checked out by a professional. It may be an ear infection or even an acoustic neuroma - in either case it needs to be investigated and treated. Then again it might just be a coincidence. But permanent tinnitus is a royal PITA (I know from experience) and you want to avoid it if possible.

It is definitely related to cpap and or sleep apnea. Not just the ringing, but the dizziness. Tonight I reattempted machine use (as dr had suggested) but only for a short period. I don’t even think I actually reached sleep but got up and air bloating had returned, more ringing and tingling in head. If felt like I had to burp out air, not stomach but lungs.

I went for walk waited a while before trying to return to sleep without machine and as soon as I dozed off felt apnea setting in. At the moment I am hearing more of the ringing and feeling extremely light headed.

I don’t know why the machine inflating lungs or whatever it’s doing to me but seems to be messing me up pretty good.

Pressure not high only at 8.

I doubt most people have experience like this. I’m just hoping someone has. When I sleep without machine i have apnea which makes things worse but machine causing problems and has made worse after use.

Doctors aren’t very helpful because they’re dealing with COVID and not wanting to deal with my situation at moment. Doctor said she would suggest sleep study but not now due to risk of COVID —only virtual right now.

I’m thinking at moment no choice but to ride it out without machine. Hopefully it really is lungs inflated due to pressure and I just need to give time to decompress. Then try again when my body is back to normal and talk to my doctor next week. But in mean time I’m pretty messed up and scared because I don’t really know what’s going on with me, only guesses. But if anyone has experienced these symptoms and can share insights it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Big mistake to expect what's going on with you can be found out by seeing if others have had similar problems ('and therefore have the answers') because these things are too subjective. And another mistake is to not look hard for a doctor because you're concerned they're too busy with Covid... People have waited too long with e.g. heart attack symptoms not wanting to bother doctors, but believe me if doctors are too busy to see someone they'll let you know - and not all are busy with Covid by any means... plus you are as worthy of care as anyone else. You may well have something like Meniere's disease (Google that) where symptoms became obvious only when restarting cpap, but that doesn't mean it should go unchecked. Nor should vertigo. Or whatever else might be going on. And don't keep assuring others it's only about Cpap because while that may have made things obvious, it doesn't mean it's the actual issue. Just because you don't think you have Covid doesn't mean you don't have something that needs addressing.

Like I said, I have seen a doctor. But the call was rushed, she read my history and told me to change pressure and ended the call. I tried doing what she said but when I used the machine briefly the symptoms got worse. My doctor is working at hospital full time and can’t see me until my appointment next week. This is not me circumventing medical advice. I’m doing best I can under unusual situation.

Google Meniere's and if necessary go to Emergency - wearing a mask.

DJBKGSK wrote: ↑

Fri May 08, 2020 4:18 am

Like I said, I have seen a doctor. But the call was rushed, she read my history and told me to change pressure and ended the call. I tried doing what she said but when I used the machine briefly the symptoms got worse. My doctor is working at hospital full time and can’t see me until my appointment next week. This is not me circumventing medical advice. I’m doing best I can under unusual situation.

Instead of aerophagia, I wonder if there is the possibility that you're experiencing pressure being forced back through the eustachian tubes. Does it feel like your ear drums are being popped, like a change in altitude on a plane as soon as your pressure hits some pressure over your minimum?

I don't know what the technical term would be for eustachian tube cpap pressure sensitivity would be, but there probably is one. It seems likely if this is the case, like for aerophagia, the appropriate step would be to reduce the Max. I'm not a doctor, but I'm guessing it's possible this is the direction in which your doc has told you to proceed. Yet eustachian tube cpap pressure sensitivity is not exactly the symptoms you have talked about: tinnitus and vertigo...

I'm glad you've spoken to a doctor already, even if it wasn't in person, but sad to hear it was rushed. Only you can know when it's time to go the ER.

We're all just concerned for you, hopefully not at you. Best wishes for a speedy resolution and on to better cpap therapy.

I appreciate all the responses. I’m still dealing with dizziness. Last night I almost fell walking up stairs. I’ve been to ER and Urgent Care, but they’re not capable of diagnosing.

I do think Meniere's could be it. But I assume Meniere's would have bouts, go away for at least a day. This is all week and dizziness getting worse. It’s also weird that this all came on when I returned to CPAP. The apnea doctor I spoke with did mention taking days for decompression, so maybe this can be caused by CPAP and I just need more time for pressure to clear? I haven’t used machine since Wednesday though.

If anyone has had to endure prolonged vertigo due to CPAP use, please share your experience. I’m hoping that’s the issue and not Meniere's, as that sounds scary.

Thanks again.

Why do you assume Meniere's is sporadic? I am convinced you likely do have it but are insisting on conflating it with Cpap instead of understanding it is probably coincidental. If you had appendicitis symptoms, would you still try and blame it on OSA or Cpap?