Farts!

[SisterBenedict]

I'm glad I sleep alone.

I can feel the CPAP air inflating me. For a while each night I think the every-five-minutes farting is funny but after a while they're obnoxious and I am tired of them. Should I prop myself higher on pillows? See if my doc can lower the pressure? Something else? Or is this just the way it's going to be?

[First Reviewer]

Although I'm not sure what could be causing you to have such a bad case of night vapors, my guess would be that you are swallowing air while you are sleeping. You didn't give too many details but I would think that if you were using a Nasal Mask, and you were not swallowing air there wouldn't be any way for air to get into your stomach, due to normal body back pressure. I have never heard of anyone that could inflate themselves with a CPAP Device, but I guess it wouldn't be impossible?

On top of that I would also think that you would burp any air you might swallow, just like when we drink a soda. Again, just guessing the problems that you are experiencing would more likely be caused by the type of foods you are eating.

The main reason that I'm thinking this way, is that if that much air could get to your stomach that easily, then I would think that you wouldn't have sleep apnea. Of course your Doctor would be the one that should hear about this, and in short order. I take it that you have a very high CPAP pressure setting.

I'm sure that whatever this is you will get it taken care of in a timely manner. Let me know how you solved this situation. To answer your question, No this isn't the way it's going to be.

Have a Great Day !

[scottcumming1]

Are you talking mask farts or... bottom farts?
My device has never caused me to think i was building up internal gas...
try cutting down on beans & german beers

[Pugsy]

Is it painful or just annoying?
It's called aerophagia and some people it can be severe problem and others minor annoyance.
Some things you can do here.
wiki/index.php/Aerophagia

If it's really painful and makes you ill do talk to your doctor about it. Sometimes just a little reduction in pressure will ease it to manageable levels.

Are you using EPR? If so at what setting...if it is a lower setting try increasing the EPR setting to see if that helps.

The mechanics of things is that the pressurized air goes down the airway and some of it makes a side exit into the esophagus and goes down to Lower Esophageal Sphincter and the sphincter doesn't/can't stop the air from entering into the stomach and once in the stomach it has 2 ways to exit...belch or move on and fart. Sometimes it is quite painful and will make a person actually physically ill. I have had that happen a couple of times. It's miserable.

Now if it is just annoying because of a few farts...may not be enough to worry about. We all have had them at one time or another.

If you are truly miserable night after night....talk to your doctor if you can't get the discomfort to manageable levels.
There are things that can be done...reduction of pressure or even a bilevel machine.
No one should be miserable.

[SisterBenedict]

It's only been the case since I went on CPAP. Maybe I am swallowing air. Dunno. I'm going to give this one more week and then call the pulmonologist and make that embarrassing admission. Yikes.

No beer in my fridge. Beans? Well... no more than usual.

[DiverCTHunter]

Yup, sounds like garden variety aerophagia.

Forgive me if you've already answered this, but what EPR setting are you using?

[Denial Dave]

yep, aerophagia.... as Pugsy indicated, it can be quite painful

give yourself some time to acclimate and if it continues- see your doctor about changing pressures

something else to try is change your ramp time to a longer period, it might give you a chance to get accustomed to it better while falling asleep.

my pressures were close to yours when I started (21 IPAP / 15 EPAP). I had painful aerophagia.... At my 90 day review, my sleep doc agreed that lowering my IPAP pressure to 20 might be usefull... but the doc didn't do it.

So I went home and changed it myself to 20 and everything has been great ever since.

good luck

Dave

[PST]

I'm one of those people who just lives with it. We are all friends here sharing a common problem, so I will be a little more explicit than I might be sitting around the dinner table having a chat. Aerophagic farting, in my experience at least, tends to be almost odor free. Fermenting beans and cabbage can, as we all know, produce quite a stink, but the air being forced down our esophagi by our little machines lacks that unfortunate quality. So if, in your judgment, the new affliction is at least without much unpleasant aroma, then yes, it is almost certainly caused by the CPAP.

Lower pressure can help. For some people, that means weight loss or sleeping on their sides. If you can get effective therapy at a lower pressure, that's well worth trying. I know aerophagia can be a painful trial for many. I'm just lucky. I got used to it. I find the night's air supply tends to reach the end of the line about the same time every day and can be pushed on through during a routine pit stop, so my friends don't shun me.

There, that wasn't embarrassing.

[SisterBenedict]

Thank you all for your suggestions and commiseration. Gonna look into the ramp thing and if that doesn't work I'll talk with my doc about the pressure.

No smell. Just constant. So I think I am just eating air under pressure (cue Freddy Mercury and Queen).

Too bad I didn't have a CPAP when I was twelve and at summer camp. I'd have been famous.

[chunkyfrog]

Some artificial sweeteners have the same effect--IN SPADES!
Sorbitol and many of its relatives can contribute to some of the most noxious emissions ever.
Usually, moderate amounts may have little or no effect; but over-indulge, or be one of those poor souls sensitive to the stuff;
and all your friends will be making up excuses to be somewhere YOU are not!

[wildboar]

I started CPAP almost a month ago and the 2nd night on it I started having gas and loose stool like I couldn't believe during the night. This was a Tuesday night and continued into the weekend. I thought what in the world is this machine doing to me??

Sunday night my wife started having it come out both ends and Monday we ended up in urgent care where she got 2 bags of IV fluid... yep, I had norovirus that whole week and didn't know what it was because i was fighting it off well enough it only gave me loose stool. The doctor said what normally lasts 3 days had been lasting 6 days and sure enough that Monday mine quit. Unfortunately hers then manifested into 2 nights in the hospital with viral meningitis, so needless to say my first month on CPAP has not been under ideal conditions.

Now I'm just dealing with occasional burps from the Quattro FX and my mouth puffing up.

[Conrad]

I'm glad I sleep alone.

I can feel the CPAP air inflating me. For a while each night I think the every-five-minutes farting is funny but after a while they're obnoxious and I am tired of them. Should I prop myself higher on pillows? See if my doc can lower the pressure? Something else? Or is this just the way it's going to be?

Just curious, which end are you strapping your mask on to?