Please help, breathing digestive acid into my lungs?

[glassinthepark]

Hey, I'm really struggling to know what to do. I've been using airsense 10 for a few months but can't keep it on for more than four hours a night. I usually take it off while Im asleep but when I do fully wake up I realize that I rip it off because my lungs and throat are burning and painful and I feel like I'm suffocating. The only thing I can think of is it might be connected to the fact that I get heartburn. I rung my sleep coach and she confirmed this can happen with reflux, something to do with the esophagus, but really downplayed it and just said to turn my humidity up (which seems like her answer to every question i ask her)

I'm scared to use my machine now though because surely it can't be good to breathe acid?! My sleep apnea is classed as mild (12 ahi) but my oxygen drops to the mid 70s during the night. Because my ahi is less than 20 I can't see an actual sleep specialist doctor as I don't qualify for hospital treatment. So I'm renting a machine and stuck with these private sleep clinic 'coaches' that aren't very helpful or knowledgeable so far.

I'm also scared not to use the machine as my oxygen drops so low and I get horrible headaches the next day as well as feeling like my head is stuffed with cotton wool. As long as I get at least 3 hours out the cpap I feel OK the next day. My pressure settings are 7 to 15 and I have epr set to the highest it goes which i think is 3.

Has anyone else had this issue and did they manage to solve it? I am seeing my GP about the possible reflux issue soon but would love any advice.

[Julie]

Hi - someone else will reply with more info re using the machine in different scenarios, but as far as the acid goes, it is common with apnea, but you're not breathing it in even if it feels that way, and what many of us do is take something before bed to deal with it... I perosnally use e.g. half a Tums, but others will give different ideas.

[ozij]

I had something similar happen to me, years ago though in my case, the acid flooded my nose.

Went to a gasto specialist, was temporarily give large doses of a proton pump inhibitor (medication that keep you stomach from producing acid).
The aim: to stop the irritation of the Lower Esophageal Sphincter by the acid. It swells, and doesn't close properly. You have to let it heal. And then I weaned off them slowly, to avoid rebound.

I also had to limit the top pressure of my CPAP, since at that point my body couldn't handle the pressure the machine was zooming to.

CPAP therapy should not be a guessing game. If you're going on your own you have to make sure you have a data recording machine, and the software to read the data. You need the data, and so do we if we are to help you:

Please read and follow the instructions posted here: Sticky: Newbies PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

I will add thate a change if my diet also helped my heartburn issues: I eat very little carbohydrates, and generally avoid gluten and seed oils.
Now, years after that terrifying experiece of acid flooding my nose I can tolerate higher CPAP pressures.

[vandownbytheriver]

Sorry to hear you're a sufferer. I found CPAP helped greatly with my GERD/reflux.

Let's clear up some things... you feel like you're breathing acid? Do you actually breathe acid? Wake up in a panic choking, coughing it out of your lungs? This is what happened to me often enough... I was forced to sleep on my left side to keep the stomach entrance upward. I'd put a Tums in my cheek before bed and let it dissolve. I took Prilosec, Nexium etc. From your description it sounds like you're not completely waking up... you could not sleep through what I went through.

CPAP helped me keep the stomach contents down, now I prefer sleeping on my right (the best side). My dentist told me to lay off the cheek Tums, it looked like I'd started dipping snuff! I've only had one reflux incident in the last decade... no more frito pie after 8pm for me.

These problems are often positional... back sleeping is worst for OSA... we need to know what side do you sleep on? I take a Prilosec OTC every morning, more for the other end (systemic acidosis) than the upper GI. Do you take any meds for this? Are you in contact with your doctor about this? I found CPAP the solution not the problem for myself.

[glassinthepark]

Thanks so much for all the replies. I've seen my doc who has prescribed a ppi so hopefully it helps. I do have my data and OSCAR program so I will start tracking that properly too.