Feeling wierd

Hello All,
Im on my fourth week on the cpap and am having pain im my lungs. It started feeling pain 3 days ago after about 5 hours on the machine.The pain is in both my lungs. When I take my equipment off the pain goes away in 5 to 10 minutes.. My doctor recommended a pressure of 16. I set my Apap between 15 and 17. I have changed nothing since the beginning and..... I do not feel sick-any ideas ??? I have to take the full face mask off in the middle of the night just to get back to sleep. HELP

Perhaps you have gastric acid reflux?

From my experience, if you are prone to acid reflux, especially if you have a hiatus hernia (loose stomach sphincter that causes the stomach to roll up through the diaphragm into the chest, causing acid relfux), CPAP can easily cause aerophagia, which can make the hernia and the reflux worse.

This can lead to pain in the chest area due to the lining of the Esophagous becoming irritated and inflamed by stomach acid, which might feel like pain in the lungs. If the acid refluxes high in the throat, it can also be inhaled into the lungs and cause pain and some lung problems.

I had a bit of a problem with this at the beginning of my CPAP therapy (but no breathing in acid into lungs though). But it soon resolved and I don't get it anymore.

good luck!
arkein

I dont have heartburn- could that still be the issue ??

Well,

Acid relfux doesn't always feel like classic heartburn. It can manifest as general chest pain, pain in the shoulders, jaws, etc.. it can mimic angina symptoms. I sometimes get what feels like pain in the lungs from it. I even get rapid heart beat from it sometimes...

sometimes acid reflux is asymptomatic, but could suddenly be aggravated by aerophagia caused by the CPAP

So it might be worth considering with your doc,

one way to find out would be to avoid eathing immediately before using the machine, and take some zantac or gaviscon before,

The surest way to test for GERD / Hiatus Hernia is to have a gastroscopy...

But that being said, I'm no doctor!

I agree with Arkein. I didn't know I had GERD, either until I went to the ENT and took a swallow test. I saw for myself in the xray that the food went into my stomach, and then when I laid down, it came right back up into the esophagus. Didn't bother me at all until I started with CPAP. Thank goodness I discovered it, as the stomach acid can eat away at the lining of the esophagus with not so nice results.

Please have it checked out.

Bev

But sometimes it's just a matter of adjusting the Cpap, your breathing muscles are not used to being 'stretched' and may be sore for a while, but it usually goes away in time.