Major Air Leaks and Dizzy Spells

Hi, I have been using a CPAP machine since 1999. I had the same machine for 11 years until one night I started having "Rain Outs". I took my machine to the local sleep disorder center and they said that the machine couldn't be repaired & that the company didn't make this machine anymore. So about 2 years ago I got a new machine which seemed to do well at first, but now I'm having major air leaks and dizzy spells. I called the sleep disorder center and told them what was going on and took my mask in. Found out that I was supposed to be getting new filters every month and that the pillow seal on my mask was supposed to be replaced every couple of months & that my mask was supposed to be replaced every 6 months. I have only had 2 different type masks and they have only been replaced twice in all these years. Since the nasal pillow seal was replaced the air leaks have let up some, but still having issues and I seem to be inhaling swallowing air as I wake up in the morning with an extreme amount of gas. I had to go off the CPAP machine for a couple of days & the symptoms cleared up. Went back on my machine last night & the dizzy spells and gas returned. Anybody have any ideas of what I can do to alleviate these problems. Thank you.

Not sure why they told you your machone couldn't be fixed with rain out, as all that means is there is humidity in the hose that is condensing. Happens to many of us, and we have various ways to deal with it. Water under the bridge now, but they shuld have told you all this and not sold you a new machine.

As far as the gas, that is called aerophagia. It has been discussed here at length, and I have provided a link to search on it. It is very common. Basically you are swallowing air. I found my body eventually adjusted and it went away, but others have some tips if you follow the link.

Links to Aerophagia

The gas symptoms are caused by aerophagia or swallowing of air. Odd that it would start up now after all these years. wiki/index.php/Aerophagia some hints on limiting it at this link and if you do a forum search for aerophagia you will find it is very common problem for some people. Perhaps something has changed with your body.

Your dizziness needs to be evaluated by a physician. The nasal cavity is connected to the inner ear by some tiny passageways and the pressure could be causing an inner ear imbalance. There are other things that can also cause dizzy spells so best thing is to have it checked out. Again odd that it would start now and I am assuming you have not changed anything with your machine recently.

A very small reduction in pressure might help both your symptoms to confirm if related to pressure but you probably should bring this to the attention of your doctor to see what ideas he might have. We wouldn't want to reduce the pressure and allow a bunch of events occur. Would be trading one problem for another. Does your current machine offer data so you could monitor the events should you try a small reduction in pressure?

Only other thing I can think of to try for the dizziness is maybe some decongestants on the off chance there happens to be a little extra fluid in the ear and decongestant might dry things up and limit the vertigo but that is a long shot. Wouldn't hurt to try but I would sure get an appointment with a physician (ENT probably) if I couldn't get it stopped. Vertigo is miserable thing to have.

Pugsy's question about data is important - depending on your machine settings, could you possibly be receiving more pressure than usual? For example, if you are in auto mode you could be getting your top limit pressure for some reason (perhaps something changed which is causing more events) which is causing the mask issue and the aerophagia.

Comparison of data from before the problem started with now would be the ideal thing to do, looking especially at maximum pressure and 95% pressure.

I'm going to take a wild guess that your old mask, given its age, was leaking more than you realized, and the aerophagia you are experiencing is due to the new mask being much more efficient and delivering the proper amount of pressure.