Pressure in ears

I just got my CPAP machine yesterday ( Respironics Remstar Pro C-Flex+) with heated humidifier. I was on APAP over a year ago and was noncompliant due to mental illness. Previously my pressure was 11-14 and my prescription now is 15. The humidifier was set to 2 which was too much heat for me but barely enough humidity.

Some of the time when I swallow my ears will pressurize, almost like if I blow my nose too forcefully. Today I am having dizzy spells. Neither of these things were an issue with the lower pressure, but apparently the cpap would stop apneas at lower pressure but my blood oxygen was still dropping occasionally until it was at 15. I have gone off all medications except for a multivitamin (when I remember) and am pretty sure I have lost weight since the last test. Also, when I wake up and shut the machine off it feels like it significantly harder to breath for a minute or two which I assume is due to the sudden drop in air pressure considering it takes me a few minutes to adjust to the high pressure.

Is this a normal issue when just starting CPAP at higher pressures or should I be talking to my doctor immediately? I am wondering if APAP set to 11-15 might be a better choice but at this point I may be stuck with the machine I have but I am not sure of medicare/illinois medicaid's policy (disability). My prescription was handled through Lincare.

In addition I took the titration test I was a little extra sleep deprived and my doctor had prescribed, if I remember correctly, an ativan to help me get to sleep because there are times I have been awake for 24 hours and still couldn't sleep due to not being home combined with occasional panic attacks and I am wondering if that may have affected the results.

I don't want to risk damage to my ears and it is more of a concern for me as I would love to eventually get off of disability and into a field like live sound (which has enough risks on its own). Relatively high pressure humidified air going into your ears can't be a good thing.

It's uncomfortable, but I haven't heard of anyone having ear damage from CPAP.

That happens to me all the time, like if I swallow at the wrong time, the machine doesn't know to ease up the pressure at that moment, and so it forces pressure into my ears. I've never heard of it causing any damage, however if it is too uncomfortable, talk to your doc to see if you can get the pressure dropped a bit, though that may not stop it from happening.

It happens to me less now as I'm aware of it and try to avoid doing things that will cause the pressurization, and if I do need to do something that I know will cause it, I'll remove the mask for a moment.

Last night I swallowed and had a sharp pain in my left ear so this has gone from uncomfortable to actually painful. The soonest I can get in with my doctor is the 5th so hopefully last night was the only time that happens.

My first nap on cpap I got intense ear pain.. never had it again since.. I think my head was on a funny angle cos the mask was creeping me out.. I sleep on a comfy recliner now, so this has probably helped.

I used to get ear aches/problems all the time until I discovered that sligthly warm water and that bulb thingy you get from a chemist works awesome for cleaning the "wax" out.. I've found keeping the outside in check helps with keeping the inside functioning.

Sinus allergies and stuff can cause havoc with ear pressure.