Sore back with CPAP?

plr66 wrote: Let me jump in here quickly to say that the kind of dicomfort I mentioned is not the level of pain you are describing!

I certainly wouldn't wish it on anyone... but since CPAP is supposed to be the solution to the pain issues for me, according to the pain doc, hearing that it INCREASED pain for some does not fill me with warm and fuzzy feelings!

Ok here it goes... night two of my unofficial sleeptrial. Last night I took one NAPROXEN 500mg, one chelated magnesium tablet, and one vitamin E before going to bed. I wasn't forced out of bed by the back pain in the morning! I just took all three again and am heading off to bed I'll let you all know how it went in the morning! Wish me luck!

Hello,

As a pain sufferer for the last decade I have found help through a Doctor Sarno in New York or a Dr Schecter in Los Angeles.
No need to travel there but if you want you can google their names and read up on their diagnosis.
Its a bit unorthodox but it cured me. And he has cured a famous person by the name of Howard Stern (of radio and tv fame).
As I said, it is unorthodox, but you can go to TMSHELP.com (another forum )

Just wanted to throw that out there FWIW

Luke

Reply with quote Re: Sore back with CPAP?
by Guest on Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:09 pm

Ok here it goes... night two of my unofficial sleeptrial. Last night I took one NAPROXEN 500mg, one chelated magnesium tablet, and one vitamin E before going to bed. I wasn't forced out of bed by

Ok I just woke up slept the whole night without pain this is the second time in over a year, 2 nights in a row! I took one Prescription Naproxin(500mg) a Chelated Magnesium Tablet(aids in sleep) And a vitamin E capsule(aids in circulation) somehow this seems to be the cure(treatment for upper back pain between the shoulder blades! Tonight I will try it with out the Naproxin, just using the vitamins to see if that works. This way I'm not taking any unessessary drugs. It seem to me I've tried this before just with the naproxin and there wasn't any relief. I'm so damn exited! I'll keep you all posted!

"I have been using my cpap (now an auto) for about 2 months, and have at times had sharp pain in my shoulders or between my shoulder blades. It is very clear to me that this is because I am no longer "allowed" to sleep on my back--and my favorite stomach-position is not comfortable anymore due to the mask constraints."[quote]

My son had the same issue - he was told to sleep only on his side and had a difficult time getting comfortable.
He lost 20 pounds and went back for a re-titratation. This time he was functional and savvy enough to talk with the tech beforehand to be sure titration was done in all of his normal sleeping positions. He's now back to sleeping on his face
(with Swift II).

Shari

My physical therapist is a great resource. Knowledgable about proper sleeping positions and appropriate pillows, bolsters, wedges, etc.
And for me, her routine of daily stretches and strengthenings has been a great help - and the bonus is that with a year's worth of proper sleep, I now have the energy to acutally do them every day!

Shari

Thanks guys for all the responses - its encouraging to know that I'm not alone....

I noticed last night that my pain is coming from sleeping on my side. I do this because side sleeping is a compromise between my favorite stomach position and my hated back position. This morning, I woke up about 6am with back pain and in a side position. I rolled to my side to try to ease the pain. This seemed, at the least, to not make the pain worse, and I was able to go back to sleep. When I woke up again, I rolled to my side and felt the pain again in my back. Weird! At that point I just had to get up.

I am thinking of trying to get a new mattress. Several of you have mentioned the Sleep Number bed. Any advice on purchasing one?

I don't like the idea of nightly ibuprofen. That stuff can blow out your kidneys. Sleeping in a chair is far better than having a kidney transplant

I have also noticed, as one of you mentioned, that sleeping with only one pillow has helped - a lot. Previously, I've always started the night with three. I moved to two for lots of reasons, none really back pain related. I went to one after noticing that the extra elevation was being felt in the area of my back where the pain was most centrally located. So I thought that I would try one and see what happens. Sleeping on one pillow in the most stomach position able has made the biggest difference. Please some of you smart eggs, FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN RECLAIM THE STOMACH SLEEP POSITION.

Thanks again for the contributions.

No matter how it comes about, back pain for part of the beginning of CPAP therapy seems to be a problem for many of us.
Consider: Many of us are not just overweight and over forty years old. We're technically obese. We're also not very mobile as a group. We're the walking dead. (I've just described me here too, so please nobody get on the 'I'm-offended' horse.) All of that is going to pay a toll on our overall health. Long before we started CPAP, sleep debt has been accruing, making different parts of our natural defenses become temperamental. A lot of us are taking drugs for GERD, asthma, circulatory problems - you name it. Some of us are walking pharmacies. The pharmaceuticals are Bandaids on ailing natural defenses.

Now we are on CPAP therapy. Suddenly the body gets a break. The oxygen it needs to repair itself during deep sleep becomes available once again. The fact that we're even getting deeper sleep is a surprise to the body. As jnk theorizes here, "the body does not use the benefits of therapy by making us feel better right away. Instead, apparently (at least according to my personal theory), the body senses that it has a newfound ability to heal itself in some areas that really need healing and goes to work on those deeper problem areas first. The healing process can be uncomfortable and the body may do what it can to slow you down for several weeks. In my opinion, that is why some of us find that we feel worse for some weeks or months, instead of better."

You know how it hurts when your arm or leg falls asleep? You laid on it and then moved it around, but then the pain goes away. Maybe this is long-term de-oxygenation that the back is recuperating from. Maybe you're back has been 'asleep' for a few years. The nerves might just be a bit touchy until they can fully recuperate. It may also mean you're on the right path to recovery. Further, there are going to be plateaus where you'll notice changes. Some of those plateaus in therapy might involve back pain.

Starting out at the level that's appropriate for your health, exercise in the form of yoga, stretches, mindful meditation and water therapy are fantastic physical measures you can take to combat pain. Gaining control of weight - and getting below 'obese' will allow your muscles to work less for the same mobility. NSAIDs, massage and acupuncture are great too, but remember that they are a temporary bandaid for something that should at some point be resolved by the obvious 'best management practices' for your body.

They say 'no pain, no gain'. That's not always true. There are different kinds of pain associated with exercise. Good muscle pain will happen when you've exerted your muscles beyond their normal limits. It will be in the 'meat' of the muscles. You often won't notice this kind of pain until a day or so after the time of extra exercise. However, if you're noticing a ripping sensation from tendons in your elbows, wrists, shoulders or knees or wherever while you're exercising, this is bad pain. You're overdoing your exercise regimen. Use less force, lighter weights or water therapy. Get your muscles used to the new regimen at safe pace for your body and your weight. It's important to recognize whether the level of exercise you are trying to achieve is beyond your body's restorative/recuperative abilities. In other words, don't overdo it.

Changing your bedding to something more comfortable may make a difference too. Not to say that a mattress should be level - some folks with GERD are elevating the head end a couple inches. A good conventional mattress will be flat even if it's not level when you're not on it. If can see that your mattress is hammocked where your body normally lies, the mattress is too old and needs to be replaced.

So if your bed is in good shape, there's a possibility that the back pain (and other pains) you feel may be due to your body doing the deep healing it really needs now.

Yes, there are other causes of back pain. You know your body best, so if you're really concerned, or if the pain is pin-pointable or joint-specific, you likely should see a doctor.

Roughly 5 weeks on therapy at this point, and I think I started having back pain in the 3rd week (I have occasionally taken Tylenol, since I'm allergic to ibuprofen -- when I do take Tylenol, the back pain usually abates for most of the night -- on nights I skip, I wake about 4am and can't get back to sleep due to upper back spasms).

Due to mask leak issues, I had a call in to the DME-R/T (first call since starting therapy) and talked to him today. I mentioned the back pain problem, and he said "I haven't heard of that before". I'm thinking, however, there are so many of us here with that identical complaint that this isn't a fluke. I'll mention it to my somnodoc, but my followup appointment with him isn't for another two months.

BTW, I am obese, but I'm fairly mobile, so to speak. For the last five years, I've done cardio work, including twice-a-week cardio kickboxing classes. I've suffered from lower back pain for years, and did some time with a physiatrist (not psychiatrist!) and a physical therapist to address it (serious abdominal workouts). That lower back problem mostly went away. This present problem is definitely in a different spot, higher on my back, and doesn't seem to be related to "core" muscle groups, like the abs/lower-back connection.

Hi from Turkey. I just want you to know that you are not the only one who has a upper back pain during CPAP treatment. I think it is about the air in the stomach and the muscle's extra work (spasm) to manage the air inside..

I am having the same, or a similar issue. My pain is right over my spine between my shoulder blades. I've figured out that mine is actually a muscle or muscles cramping.

So last night I took 2 Aleve before bed. Didn't make a difference. I still woke up with the cramps. I tried stretching my back by hunching my shoulders and then pulling my arms back and it did nothing for my pain. So then I tried movng my chin to my chest and then to the ceiling and it seemed to ease the muscles and I was pretty sure that I could go back to sleep. Well, my wife woke up as I went back to bed, and asked if I was okay. I told her my back was cramping and she offered to massage out the cramps.

Tonight I am going to try taking a Potassium tablet before bed. In the past I have dealt with middle of the night calf cramps this way. I now believe that those calf cramps were probably from a lack of oxygen to the muscles. BTW, I have just realized that I haven't had a single calf cramp in two weeks. WOW!!!!

About two weeks after I started CPAP I got this horrible sharp pain on my right side right under my shoulder blade. It went away after a few days, but it was excruciating right at the start.

And it came back this past weekend. I thought it was a pinched nerve from *something* but never thought to attribute it to undisturbed sleep (especially Friday afternoon's 5 hour Ativan coma I was in following that morning's dentist appointment).

Ironic that it kept me awake for two days after.

I too have had back pain with my Cpap. I have been using it for about 5 years and have recently started having pains in my right shoulder, back and sometime I wake up feeling as if I am swelling in my collar bone area. I have also been having trouble with my vision, things are kind of cloudy and I've always had 20/20. I've been reading and have found that others have been having similar issues and maybe I am getting too much air and I am wondering if my headaches and vision problems maybe due to my cpap. I will go to my doctor and another sleep study to try find out what is going on. I am obese but I am only 27 and should not be having all these issues, I really believe that my Cpap is causing me some problems.

I'll throw my 2 cents in here on the shoulder blade pain - for me reducing sugar and paying attention to my posture at the computer has helped immensely (includes back pain). If you're hunched over the computer the whole day, you pay for it at night. I've found some exercises that really help - stretching the spine, doing shoulder rolls, sticking your shoulders back and sticking your neck out.. all those help relax the neck and the spine. (I must admit, being addicted to cpaptalk.com makes my back pain worse due to the excessive computer use )

The sugar causes inflammation, which for me goes right to my shoulder blade.

Kiralyx - have you noticed that with the SCD diet your pain has reduced at all? For me the joint arthritis-like pain is very clearly linked to my carbs and sugar intake (my mom has the same response, and she has had arthiritis her whole life).

Now on a completely different note- my colleague's wife had really horrible excrutiating pain just below or around her shoulder blade.. put it off for a few days, but she also had a really weird cough. Turns out her LUNG had COLLAPSED. This happened just this week. She is really skinny (underweight) and very tall, and apparently people like that are succeseptible to getting a collapsed lung. I assume none of you are in this situation, but I just wanted to throw this out there because sometimes we are so focused on the CPAP, the sleep, etc, that we totally forgot about other possibilities.