Changed masks

I changed from the Opti-life mask that gave me a good amount of pain to the Swift II mask. I really like the swift II mask. It doesn't hurt and its not intrusive. However, it seems since I changed 3 days ago to the Swift II mask that I have had horrible stomach bloating. I was up for almost 2 hours last night trying to get rid of this, it was very painful. I don't want to get rid of this mask since I think I finally found one that I may be able to live with. I have tried to read other posts on stomach bloating to see what may be causing this.

My assumption is that since this does not have a chin strap like the Opti-life mask that I am possibly opening my mouth some and this is causing air to go into my stomach instead of my lungs? Do i need to get a chin strap to keep my mouth closed? Any help? I feel I am very close to being "comfortable" with this situation and to have this happen is frustrating.

Thanks everyone.

M.

Hello---I use the OPTI LIFE mask and that chin strap is only there to stabilize your mask---it will not prevent you from opening your mouth. (ask my hubbie --I can still talk to him while he is trying to watch tv!! LOL!)----so I don't think that chin strap is the answer for you on your bloating problem. Fill in your stats so we can see what pressure you are up to --I have heard people with a setting of 17 or 19 complain of the bloating. Thanks goodness I did not have that as I am only at a setting of "7".

Carrie

My pressure is set at an 11. I did not have this problem with the Opti-life. But, it was uncomfortable for me to wear.

Thanks for the help.

I'm not sure how or if mouth breathing can cause aerophagia (swallowing air into the stomach, causing bloating), but in any case you DO want to avoid mouth breathing. Either try a chinstrap, or try taping your mouth. Here is a post from rested gal containing all the links related to mouth breathing solutions: Links to: Mouth leaks - Air Leaks - Tape - DIY Guard .

And here is some reading on eliminating aerophagia from "Our wisdom" at the top of the screen:
Hose Management and Aerophagia.

I used a chinstrap like you suggested and it did help. I still had some pain from swallowing air, but it was not even close to what I had before. So, I will try to get the strap tighter to see if that helps, maybe i was still able to open my mouth a little.

Thanks for your help.

That's great news!

You might also want to look into the Pap-cap, developed by the forum's own SleepGuy. I found it muuuuuuch nicer to use than a chinstrap (the chinstrap literally choked me to death). http://www.pur-sleep.com/content/?id=44
It distributes the tension around your entire head rather than just the top, and it helps stabilize the headgear to boot.