chest pains from cpap?

hi i stopped my cpap auto last week after i woke up with chest pains, i went to a & e had two ekgs done which were normal, then a chest xray which showed a shaped c where the cpap pressure had messed up my lung, i have pain on both sides but on the right when i breathe in and also on the left where my heart is , the doctor said to me it must be your cpap, my question is, has anyone else experienced this? and if so how long does the pain last and will my lungs return to normal, i have to see my sleep doctor in 2 weeks and chest doctor could not explain, my pressure was low at 5, 20,, i am really worried it has been 6 days since this occurred. regards mel

Sounds preposterous.

You do great damage to your health by not using CPAP. The side effects of CPAP on the lungs are nil.

mellew5000 wrote:hi i stopped my cpap auto last week after i woke up with chest pains, i went to a & e had two ekgs done which were normal, then a chest xray which showed a shaped c where the cpap pressure had messed up my lung, i have pain on both sides but on the right when i breathe in and also on the left where my heart is , the doctor said to me it must be your cpap, my question is, has anyone else experienced this? and if so how long does the pain last and will my lungs return to normal, i have to see my sleep doctor in 2 weeks and chest doctor could not explain, my pressure was low at 5, 20,, i am really worried it has been 6 days since this occurred. regards mel

mel, why don't you register properly and add detailed description of your CPAP, hardware, and results of your Sleep Study?

mellew5000 wrote:... a chest xray which showed a shaped c where the cpap pressure had messed up my lung...

Did the doctor tell you the c-shaped area was messed up by CPAP? It seems extremely unlikely.

Yes, some of us have experienced chest pain when beginning CPAP. I did. It took a few weeks for my body to get used to using CPAP. If it's the same kind of thing, it will pass. If you haven't spoken yet with your cardiologist/pulmonologist/somnologist/whatever yet, then you should relax and wait for feedback from the professionals. There are more efficient uses of your time than worry, eh?

When I first started, I was using Respironics M-Series Pro with C-Flex. For me, I found that the C-Flex caused my body to breathe in and out faster than it ordinarily would all night long, making me feel like I'd run a marathon by morning, and making my diaphragm feel very painful. I turned C-Flex off and found that my breathing was more normal at night. The chest pain subsided. If you have a Phillips Respironics machine with C-Flex or A-Flex, consider turning it off. It's supposed to be a comfort thing, but I found it mostly just an annoyance. C-Flex is a patient-available setting, so don't feel weird turning it off or putting it on a milder setting.

mellew5000 wrote:hi i stopped my cpap auto last week after i woke up with chest pains, i went to a & e had two ekgs done which were normal, then a chest xray which showed a shaped c where the cpap pressure had messed up my lung, i have pain on both sides but on the right when i breathe in and also on the left where my heart is , the doctor said to me it must be your cpap, my question is, has anyone else experienced this? and if so how long does the pain last and will my lungs return to normal, i have to see my sleep doctor in 2 weeks and chest doctor could not explain, my pressure was low at 5, 20,, i am really worried it has been 6 days since this occurred. regards mel

Cpap at full pressure of 20cm H2O can't blow up a balloon. Your diaphragm and chest muscles do get sore at first because they have to work slightly harder to exhale. It lasts no longer then any other muscle pain you get after you start exercising.

Go back to your sleep doctor and see a pulmonologist about your lung issues.

About four years ago, my CPAP machine (Respironics) at the time started giving me chest pain and I suddenly had problems whenever I started using the machine. Over 5-7 days my chest muscles got sore, in the end I went to the ER because I was concerned that I might be have heart problems.
Anyway I had the pressure output tested on my CPAP a few days later, and it was pumping out 14cm instead of 7cm. The guy said that there had been some reports (how true I do not know) that some CPAPs has a chip failure and were doubling the output pressure.

Dave

DJL wrote:About four years ago, my CPAP machine (Respironics) at the time started giving me chest pain and I suddenly had problems whenever I started using the machine. Over 5-7 days my chest muscles got sore, in the end I went to the ER because I was concerned that I might be have heart problems.
Anyway I had the pressure output tested on my CPAP a few days later, and it was pumping out 14cm instead of 7cm. The guy said that there had been some reports (how true I do not know) that some CPAPs has a chip failure and were doubling the output pressure.

Dave

That's unfortunate about the chip failure and the pain it caused. However, for it to be exactly twice the prescribed pressure makes me wonder if it was chip failure or just miscalibration on the part of human error in the DME's office. I'm guessing there was no damage to you lungs though, correct? Did you go home with the same machine? If so, it was definitely human error. I seriously doubt DME's carry spare chips or even repair the machines locally.

I've heard of some people having trouble with their ears from high pressures possible on a BiPAP. I can see that as more likely because just traveling in the mountains can cause your ears to pop.

I'm tempted to approach this like "Ducky", the medical examiner from the popular television series "NCIS". As mask pressure increases, what would happen and in what order with regards to tissue damage?

Beyond discomfort like aerophagia, I suspect the first physical damage would be broken ear drums, but that would be past safe CPAP/BiPAP pressures, wouldn't it?

Once is a great while, (I hope) someone manages to cheat their way through medical school.
The OP needs to find a different doctor --ASAP!
--before that idiot KILLS him!