CPAP air caused intestinal gas

Hi,
I use my CPAP machine every night and I get a good sleep. However, I wake up in the morning with voluminous intestinal gas. Does anyone else have this problem?

Yes. Yes. Yes. It is called Aerophagia.

Problem is that the air, when you exhale, pressing past the valve at the top of the stomach, and gets in.

My Sleep Doc said that if the valve is normal it can resist air pressure as high as most of us would use. Problem is that part of Sleep Apnea is that many of us have a very restricted airway. When we inhale we have a sump pump effect on the stomach, which brings stomach acid out of the stomach, which can damage the valve. This GERD can damage the esophagus. Did you ever wake with a bitter taste in your mouth. Might be stomach acid. Ever have a drippy nose, that might be from the fumes of stomach acid. Also caused me to cough. and so on. These effects are also pretty common.

I hope the rest of the board can chime in and talk about how they have tried to alleviate the impact of Aerophagia.

myrar137 wrote:Hi,
I use my CPAP machine every night and I get a good sleep. However, I wake up in the morning with voluminous intestinal gas. Does anyone else have this problem?

Yes, some of us have this problem and I haven't found a way around it in the 5 years I've been been on xpap. If it only bothers you in the morning, consider yourself lucky. The air goes through me all night and continues to find it's way out all day. If I ever got a good night's sleep, it might be worth it, but I haven't had one yet.

As every one else seems to be off enjoying the labor day, I will expand a bit.

If one moves around the air from the Aerophagia can be burped out. Not pleasant, but it does work. Like go for a walk in the morning.

Some doctors believe that they can get a functional titration where we are not swallowing so much air. That is, part of the problem is that the more air in the abdomen, the more it presses upwards on the heart and lungs, which requires more air pressure.

For me the doc was satisfied that a straight 11 would work for the sleep apnea, and not cause the level of aerophagia I had.

However Straight 11 did not allow me to wake up in the morning feeling refreshed, whatever the AHI machine numbers say.

I am now trying a Bi-Level machine so I have a different pressures when I inhale and a lower pressure when I exhale. Still not perfect but a lot better. Almost no gas, and I am feeling a little better.

The other recommendation is to raise the head of one's bed. Perhaps this was more for the GERD?

If I am wrong, I hope someone comes in here and explains how, and suggests a better solution.

[quote="purple"]As every one else seems to be off enjoying the labor day, I will expand a bit.


The other recommendation is to raise the head of one's bed. Perhaps this was more for the GERD?

I thought that a plus of the CPAP machine was no GERD; that the air coming in keeps it down. I personally haven't had any since I began, over a month ago.

I had painful gas at first; many do. It often just goes away (fingers crossed)
There is some indication that if you sleep on your left side, it helps some.
Also avoid eating late, or a lot.
Good luck with that tummy-ache.