Help / Side Effects using a Sleep Abnea Machine

I have sleep abnea and been using an old Res Med machine .. The machine I use is not a face mask it's one where the tubes go up my nose ... For the past 6 months maybe longer it seems when I use this now it seems a couple things are happing to me.. Are these normal things?? If not what can I do to resolve..
1. After I wakup in the morning (8 hrs of sleep) it seems my stomach is FULL.. I know that sounds silly but I feel I'm bloated with lots of air..
2. Also since it feels I like have lots of air in the stomach , I get real gassy.. Not sound gross but feel like I am constantly farting for the next hour or so.. I know this is funny but this happens every day..
Is this normal? I'm thinking not if so what I can do to prevent the stomach full feeling and gassy feeling??
Thanks,
Dx

Not funny at all! I know the feeling. When I first started using CPAP it would bloat me up really badly. I would be doubled over in pain for an hour it was so bad. It eventually / slowly got better for me so I just get gassy in the morning sometimes now. Here's some tips that may help.

• Sleep on your left side only. It was suggested to me before on this forum and it worked. I don't know the anatomy of why. It took me a while to get used to always sleeping on my left side but it was worth it.
• Limit the max pressure if you have an Auto machine. More pressure = more GAS.
• Take cooked peppers (including bell peppers) out of your diet, or at least don't eat them for dinner. When cooked, peppers release an enzyme that weakens the sphincter muscle at the top of your stomach. Raw peppers are fine (according to my biochemist friend).
• Use an Auto machine because you can set the minimum pressure a little lower than if you have just straight CPAP. Then it will raise to a higher pressure only when needed. That way you have less time at the higher pressure.

I tend to have a lot of nasal congestion and it really affects the therapy I get. When it is worse I have more apneas which makes my Auto machine stay at higher pressures longer. So I am constantly open to ways to keep my nose open. Here's a few things related to nasal congestion I found to help keep the APAP pressures low which equals LESS GAS.

• Try a different mask, especially if you have an Auto machine. I find that some masks open my airways better than others. I use a Nasal Aire II mask (nasal prongs) now because the prongs hold open my nasal passages.
• Use breathe right strips to open your nasal passages. I find I don't need this with the nasal aire II though.
• If you use an auto machine, take an antihistamine like Zyrtec to open your airways and reduce inflamation

Hope something here helps for you.

If you're congested, try turning down the humidifier to a lower setting, it often helps.

Oh and one more thing, some people find that they get less gassy when they switch exhale relief (C-Flex, A-Flex, EPR, SmartFlex) either on or off. I can't tell you to turn it on or leave it off because it is different for various people.

Julie wrote:If you're congested, try turning down the humidifier to a lower setting, it often helps.

Yes, this is another good congestion related one. And it works differently for different people. Some people have less congestion with more humidity, some with less humidity.