CPAP with heartburn ok?

I have the worst case of sour stomach, heartburn and reflux tonight. Is it ok to use CPAP with this going on? I was worried it might end up getting pushed into my lungs or something. My chest feels like it hurts, I've been trying to sleep

Did you take anything for the symptoms, even a Tums? Certainly the Cpap won't make it worse (or better) and it's very common for the two conditions (OSA & GERD... gastroesophageal reflux disease) to exist together, but it's a good idea to deal with the GERD so you get better results from your Cpap. You can watch what you eat and drink, especially for a few hours prior to bedtime, and if you're smart you'll cut out caffeine altogether (one of the worst triggers), as well as very spicy anything. You could try taking over-the-counter meds like Pepcid AC, or get your MD to prescribe other types of acid reducers that supposedly clear up the initial problem as well as just tamp it down for a night. You could try a trick a lot of people here use and that is to get the head of your bed 4-6" off the floor - it doesn't sound like a lot, but it apparently does wonders for GERD overnight. One way or another, deal with that and Cpap will be easier to deal with.

Guest wrote:I have the worst case of sour stomach, heartburn and reflux tonight. Is it ok to use CPAP with this going on? I was worried it might end up getting pushed into my lungs or something. My chest feels like it hurts, I've been trying to sleep

GERD is often caused by obstructive sleep apnea. When you have an apnea, your stomach and chest muscles struggle to breathe and in the process stomach acids can be expelled into the esophagus.

If you get CPAP working properly so that you are no longer experiencing apneas, you have a chance to cure GERD. Make sure your CPAP is working properly by monitoring apneas, hypopneas and leak rate. Then see a GI doctor about additional treatments for GERD. I followed these two steps and my GERD is virtually eliminated.

As Julie says, raise the head of your bed to allow gravity to help keep those acids in your stomach and by all means use CPAP every minute your sleep. Research GERD and you will find a lot of tips for controlling it.

Good luck,

The thing is, the jury is actually out on whether OSA "causes" GERD - in fact some people even think it's the other way 'round, so I wouldn't necessarily try to get the Cpap thing tweaked to total perfection before addressing the GERD, but that's just my 2 c's worth of course.

Julie wrote:The thing is, the jury is actually out on whether OSA "causes" GERD - in fact some people even think it's the other way 'round, so I wouldn't necessarily try to get the Cpap thing tweaked to total perfection before addressing the GERD, but that's just my 2 c's worth of course.

Julie, I am in agreement with you. Immediate parallel routes to treat both conditions would be my choice also.

Julie wrote:Did you take anything for the symptoms, even a Tums? Certainly the Cpap won't make it worse (or better) and it's very common for the two conditions (OSA & GERD... gastroesophageal reflux disease) to exist together, but it's a good idea to deal with the GERD so you get better results from your Cpap. You can watch what you eat and drink, especially for a few hours prior to bedtime, and if you're smart you'll cut out caffeine altogether (one of the worst triggers), as well as very spicy anything. You could try taking over-the-counter meds like Pepcid AC, or get your MD to prescribe other types of acid reducers that supposedly clear up the initial problem as well as just tamp it down for a night. You could try a trick a lot of people here use and that is to get the head of your bed 4-6" off the floor - it doesn't sound like a lot, but it apparently does wonders for GERD overnight. One way or another, deal with that and Cpap will be easier to deal with.

Absolutely! Also, it's a good idea not to eat within several hours before bedtime if you are susceptible to acid reflux/GERD.

CPAP use MAY also improve a person's digestive problems such as these. I know that I haven't taken ANY antacids since I started on CPAP.

Den

I had terrible heartburn every night before I started cpap therapy- had to take multiple antacids and proton pump inhibitors. Once on cpap, I went to one tums before bed and now dont take anything at all. its a freaking miracle and obviously OSA was either causing or maintaining my chronic heartburn.

I suggest a pepcid complete before bed (before brushing your teeth as it contains sugar)

Thanks everyone, I think it was just something I ate. I've been eating cookies and anything high fat content like that gives me a bad stomach. Very hard to resist cookies tho I didn't sleep very well, but there's always tonight.