5 years of CPAP, discovered it was the cause of my vertigo

I've been on the CPAP for 5 years now. Immediately after the use of the machine my blood pressure lowered and my Dr. had to proscribe new medication.I thought that was a good sign, however shortly after I began to get vertigo, dizziness for the last 5 years. Neurologist, ENT, pulmonologist all said that it was stress or blood pressure related and would absolutely NOT be tied to the use of CPAP. I recently read an article about how the CPAP increased pressure on your ears and sinuses and could potentially be altering or adversely affecting your balance, thus vertigo. I decided to stop using my CPAP for a couple of days and immediately the dizziness stopped!!

I haven't contacted my pulmonologist but how can there by almost no info on this side effect?? Has anyone else had this problem?

It's a pretty rare side effect but it can happen.

Do contact your pulmonologist; there may be meds to counteract this effect.
Please let us know if and how your situation gets resolved.
Others may experience this, but doctors may be clueless because of rarity.

In this study, 19 of 48 sleep-apnea and dizziness sufferers found relief from dizziness by using CPAP.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Hi, curious to know if there is any update or new observations on your situation?

I had a similiar experience. I started using a CPAP machine (Resmed) from March and started to get some dizziness after about a month. It was no good in morning but got better in the afternoon. It seemed to get better after exercises. Last week, I went vacation and could not find distilled water in Perth. So I decided to take a break with CPAP but surprisingly the dizziness was gone the next day. I continued for about 8 days (whole vacation) without CPAP and there was no dizziness at all for the whole trip.

I'm now in discussion with the Resmed vendor (on air quality, pressure, usage...etc) but they have no clear answer for me other than restart the CPAP usage and see if the problem comes back then see a ENT doctor if it does.

Wonder any other folks have similar issues and will this dizziness go away after longer CPAP usage?

Thanks for sharing in advance.

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 09, 2022 12:16 pm

In this study, 19 of 48 sleep-apnea and dizziness sufferers found relief from dizziness by using CPAP.

Missing a link to “this study” .

stanip wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 10, 2022 3:51 am

Hi, curious to know if there is any update or new observations on your situation?

welcome to the zoo!

unfortunately, the op was a drive by poster who never returned so reckon we'll never know.

Did some research on this topic... want to share my plan here to invite any advice/comment.

Alternobaric Vertigo in a Patient on Positive Airway Pressure Therapy
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3836348/

Findings:
The pathophysiology of alternobaric vertigo in PAP therapy is similar to the cases evidenced in aviation and diving. Vertigo occurs after interruption of PAP where the increased air pressure in the middle ear does not equalize to the ambient air, resulting in the presenting symptoms as described in the case above.

New-onset vertigo during initiation of PAP therapy should raise the suspicion of alternobaric vertigo. Starting PAP at lower pressures, with slow increments up to the desired pressure, was seen to be effective in relieving symptoms of vertigo secondary to PAP therapy.

My current action plan hope to get to: Can I get a better balance between CPAP benefits and vertigo discomfort?
i) My current CPAP pressure is set at 4-14 in my Airsense 10. From vendor feedback, my peak pressure used before my vacation was around 11 which I assume is causing me vertigo problem.
ii) I want to find out if I lower the max pressure from 14 to 10 (which is lower than my previous peak of 11) can improve my vertigo problem.
iii) I bought a fitbit to measure any sleep pattern change in REM/deep sleep/awake/light before and after. (are sleeping heart rate and estimated oxygen variation pattern most important for this try out? Any other advice?)
iv) On the MyAir report from Resmed, I currently only can view basic user data of Usage hrs, mask seal, events per hour and mask on/off. What other data should I request from my Resmed vendor to help me assess the good/bad of this change?
v) Plan to try it for 1 week and adjust up/down slightly and gradually to see if I can achieve a better outcome.

Other thought/advice please?

stanip wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 11, 2022 4:29 am

What other data should I request from my Resmed vendor

Request nothing from the vendor. Read the first two announcements at the top of the index page and start using OSCAR to analyze and manage your CPAP therapy - pressure settings, leak level, relief features, and more. Both FitBit and MyAir are inferior tools.

This helped my wife...provided immediate relief.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtT2PDJVXlk

SleepGeek wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 11, 2022 6:24 am

This helped my wife...provided immediate relief.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtT2PDJVXlk

Otoliths are not the only cause of vertigo . . .
I had it due to an infection.
Untreated infection (or too late) can lead to hearing loss--I have PROOF.
"Huh?"