Air in eye sockets?

tarzan · Post by **tarzan** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 5:22 am

I've been using CPAP since August of this year. Mostly I've noticed this only recently, and it's hard to describe, but here goes. I put the CPAP on at bedtime, then somewhere halfway through, I wake up with my eye sockets feeling kind of bloated and tired, as if my eyes have been through a lot of strain. So I take the mask off and sleep without CPAP for the rest of the night. It almost feels like maybe the air pressure from the CPAP is leaking through my sinus tissue into my eye sockets. Is that possible? Is it bad? Has anyone else felt that before?

Catnapper · Post by **Catnapper** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 6:02 am

I am not sure this is what you are talking about, but my ENT doctor told me that air can be forced out the tear ducts, and so onto your eyes. Another thing that the sleep docotr told me is that the pressure of the mask on your face can restrict circulation and cause swollen eyes and facial tissues.

You might also be having dry eyes from mask leaks. This can cause irritation and inflammation in your eyes that make for considerable discomfort.

I have no way to know if those cause your feeling of discomfort, but all of those things happen to me, so the combination makes a lot of trouble. Maybe someone else will have other ideas to offer.

Catnapper

rotoplooker · Post by **rotoplooker** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 8:30 am

It's totally natural for any kind of air to come out of your eye sockets sometimes, they are part of or connected to the same system as your nose and throat.

I'm sorry the CPAP air is coming out though

I don't know for sure but I think I have heard of some kind of eye plug you can use to stop this kind of thing. It does not sound comfortable to me. It is possibly a device used to stop this type of air leakage from giving people dry eyes.

hope this helps a little

Roto

JeffH · Post by **JeffH** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 10:57 am

I get air leaking out my eyes every night. I finally got pretty much used to it. Hang in there.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 11:24 am

Titrator described same kind of thing happening, but with the addition of feeling some bubbling under the eyelid:

Dec 16, 2004 subject: Air Comming Out My Eye

WillSucceed · Post by **WillSucceed** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:07 pm

Hey Tarzan:
What pressure are you at? Your machine is CPAP, not APAP, correct?

Air coming out of the eyes can happen, as other posters noted, because your tear-ducts do drain into your nose. This is why our nose gets all wet when we cry. If you were able to be on a lower pressure you might find that the problem lessens somewhat. An APAP might give you lower pressures over the course of the night whereas the CPAP keeps you at one pressure.

Good luck with this!

tarzan · Post by **tarzan** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 12:25 am

It's CPAP, at 7 cm pressure.

WillSucceed · Post by **WillSucceed** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 9:27 am

At risk of offending those that find a pressure of 7 to be uncomfortable, 7 is actually a pretty low pressure. When titrated, the pressure prescribed is generally the highest pressure needed to take care of events during your sleep. Given that you pressure is 7, it is likely that a lower pressure would take care of you during much of the night and that you would not need 7 all night.

Any chance that you could rent/borrow an APAP for a few nights, set to a range of a few points above and below 7? This would let you look at the data and see how long you are actually at 7. Further, it would give you a chance to see if APAP works for you.

The point of this being that if you try an APAP for a few nights, feel rested during the day and have less eye irritation due to the (hopefully) lower pressures over the course of the night, you might find that APAP solves, or significantly reduces, your problem.

Bear in mind that the different autopap machines all have different algorithms running them. For example, despite how much I wanted to purchase a Respironics auto, I just did not feel well rested during the day after sleeping with it. The ResMed and the Puritan-Bennett autopap's both left me feeling well rested. If at all possible, trial autopap machines from several different manufacturers and keep a journal of how you feel each day BEFORE you commit to a purchase.

Hope this helps.

whatrdreamsmadeof · Post by **whatrdreamsmadeof** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 8:49 pm

I have had eye issues ever since i started treatment march of 06. According to my dr. air can escape from your tear ducts and cause swelling...at one time a whistle sound would come out of my tear ducts and my grandson thought is was a riot..it did sound funny........but the swelling is uncomfortable and unattractive as well.......sometimes it's evening before my eyes are back to normal,,,,,,,,then it's time to hose up again.....just one of the many hassles of cpap.
Hope it gets better for you! Ellen

tooly125 · Post by **tooly125** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:28 pm

Just a thought,
I see that you and Ellen both use interfaces that put your airflow directly into your nostrils.
I am wondering if you wore a full face mask if it would solve the air in the tear duct problem?
My thought is the air will be a bit more dissipated in the chamber of the FF mask.
A full face mask may be more uncomfortable than the nasal interface you have but if you can keep it on the whole night it would be an improvement.

Handgunner45 · Post by **Handgunner45** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:10 am

tooly125 wrote:Just a thought,
I see that you and Ellen both use interfaces that put your airflow directly into your nostrils.
I am wondering if you wore a full face mask if it would solve the air in the tear duct problem?
My thought is the air will be a bit more dissipated in the chamber of the FF mask.
A full face mask may be more uncomfortable than the nasal interface you have but if you can keep it on the whole night it would be an improvement.

Nope, not necessarily going to make a difference. My one and only mask is the UMFF and I occassionaly have this same problem. Have had it since I first started treatment. Normally goes away for me in just a few minutes but can be really uncomfortable until then.

WillSucceed · Post by **WillSucceed** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:43 am

I suspect that Handgunner45 is right. When hooked up to the CPAP, the person becomes part of the pressurized circuit. Whether using a nasal pillows, nasal mask, oral mask or full-face, if unintentional leak is eliminated by good seal, the treatment pressure within the circuit would be the same.

If you get leak from tear ducts when proper seal is acquired, I think that it would not matter what type of mask you are using.

whatrdreamsmadeof · Post by **whatrdreamsmadeof** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:13 pm

Thanks Tooly, but I have tried the flex-fit and soyala masks and still have the eye thing going on.. I do have a ff mask in case of a cold but according to the drs. it has to do with the size of the tear ducts, whether air gets out, causes swelling and funny sounds. Thanks for the suggestion though who knew I could play the eye instrument!!!

WillSucceed · Post by **WillSucceed** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:10 am

There is a mask called "Total" made by Respironics. This mask covers your entire face and, as such, would make for the same pressure pushing against your eyes as that which is coming out of your tear ducts.

I don't know if this would solve your problem, but might be worth looking into.

cpap.com sells Total.

Vpapuser · Post by **Vpapuser** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:52 pm

It's taken several months, but I've figured out why I had been having air blow through my tearducts into my eyes. Well, it's when my nose plugs up when I lay down due to my allergies. Then the air has to blow somewhere and it then goes through my ducts. I take my allergy medicine in the evening and my ducts won't blow air through them. I know I've done it. No more air in my ducts.

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Additional Comments: Equipment isn't correct, S9 ASV w/H5i