Best solutions for reducing aerophagia?

I think I might give the machine a rest for a few nights. I'm taking this bloating thing and running with it...I hope it's not anything more serious, but I don't think so. It really just started happening when I started using the machine. Thanks for your reply. I think I have just listed the equipment I have. I am so thankful I have found this site.

Ok, so I did a little research. Do any of you think that my bloating and stomach pain could be caused from Flonase? I just started using it about a week ago, twice daily. It never occurred to me that perhaps it could be that and not my CPAP machine. My mask seems to fit me fine, and I don't believe I breath through my mouth at night. Only been using the machine for 2.5 weeks and the bloat came a week into my treatment, right around the time I started using Flonase. Anybody heard of this? I am praying that it's the Flonase, as I will stop using it as of now. I really want to love my therapy, as I have SP severely. Thanks for any advice. I'm such a newbie!

dlr0212 wrote:Ok, so I did a little research. Do any of you think that my bloating and stomach pain could be caused from Flonase? I just started using it about a week ago, twice daily. It never occurred to me that perhaps it could be that and not my CPAP machine. My mask seems to fit me fine, and I don't believe I breath through my mouth at night. Only been using the machine for 2.5 weeks and the bloat came a week into my treatment, right around the time I started using Flonase. Anybody heard of this? I am praying that it's the Flonase, as I will stop using it as of now. I really want to love my therapy, as I have SP severely. Thanks for any advice. I'm such a newbie!

No. It is not caused by Flonase. Nor is caused by mask size or shape either.

It is caused by air being blown into your stomach from the CPAP. To reduce it you will need to alter the position in which you sleep, so that the air does not so easily travel past your esophageal sphincter valves and into your gut.

Ending your Flonase will only make you congested.

The air pressure from cpap is actually not strong enough to inflate a balloon, much less fill your stomach.
Aerophagia is by definition, eating, make that swallowing, air.
I found that lying on my left side to sleep helped eliminate it.

chunkyfrog wrote:The air pressure from cpap is actually not strong enough to inflate a balloon, much less fill your stomach.

Under normal conditions yes won't inflate a balloon but over the period of a night enough air can sneak into the stomach to be profoundly uncomfortable.
Doesn't have to be the actual physical act of swallowing. While it can be...it doesn't have to be.
For some people (for whatever reasons) the air enters the esophagus and proceeds down to the stomach and can and will enter the stomach. A little is not much of a problem. A lot is extremely painful and can make a person physically ill. I have had it happen and I know for sure I wasn't mouth breathing or swallowing air via mouth. It's a miserable feeling and involves a lot more discomfort than just farting a mile long fart. It made me very sick to my stomach. It also made my overall sleep quality go south.

Though I do suspect that mouth breathing greatly increases the chance of the air entering the esophagus.
Perhaps with GERD damage or weakend LES the air finds its way into the stomach more easily. I have GERD damage.
I don't normally have painful air in the belly issues but I have had it a few times and sometimes it takes a lot more than sleeping position (like on the left side) to eliminate it.

I didn't use my machine last night hoping to get rid of this bloat, but I still have it terribly. Is this normal? How long before it goes away? Any ideas? I can't go back on therapy until this bloat clears up. It's so crazy. I feel like I am going to "pop". Thanks for any advice.

dlr0212 wrote: I didn't use my machine last night hoping to get rid of this bloat, but I still have it terribly. Is this normal? How long before it goes away?

It will likely be uncomfortable until the air moves through the GI tract and is finally expelled with some good farts. There's no where else to go. Some Gas X or Beano pills might help some. Though I think those are more for while the extra air is still in the stomach and has not yet progressed into the intestines and colon. So it could depend on the speed of your own digestive system to move things along. Speed varies between people and their diet.

I, too, have been struggling with aerophagia for a few years. About a year ago, I went to a nasal mask, thoroughly fed up with the FFM that was a source of constant leaks for me. Guess my face structure just wasn't right for the two different models I tried. However, when I discovered the wonderful comfort and ease of a nasal mask, I also became uncomfortably all to familiar with gas from almost the moment I put the mask on until well after I woke up the next morning. I love the Swift FX for Her and am using it with a Ruby chinstrap AND taping my mouth. The tape helps, as I know I am a mouth breather. I've been tempted to go back and try the Quattro FX for Her again, but know it will leak as it did before. For me, Tums, Gas-X, Prilosec (all recommended by my sleep dr.) do not help. Sometimes, the gas gets really bad about an hour after I have been awake and out of bed. Nothing relieves the piercing pain, except to go back to bed for about 30-45 minutes. One day, it was so bad when I was in Walmart, that I had to go the a quiet section of the store and just lie down on the floor until the pain passed. Luckily, it was very early in the morning and not too many people were shopping, yet. Since then, I have gradually lowered my pressure to 11 (originally at 18). Still have a low AHI, and lowering the pressure seemed to help the gas pains. Besides taping my mouth, I have learned not to eat a big dinner and not to eat late at night. I also saw my internist about the issue, and she didn't really have any suggestions, either. In the meantime, I will continue to look for just the right chinstrap contraption or mask, or something else that will eliminate the aerophagia.

I know this is probably a silly question.... If I do tape my mouth shut, and my nose blocked during the night...what will happen? The thought of going to a FFM isn't a good thing. When I went for my sleep study, they put one on me and I couldn't stand having it on my face for more than a min. I felt claustrophobic. I don't seem to mind the nose, but perhaps I end up breathing through my mouth, especially when my nose clogs. It's now 6 pm and I still have severe gas pains, even after not using the machine last night. My upper stomach is hard as a rock, and my lower is crampy feeling I feel like I am 9 months pregnant all over again! It's a no win situation for me, because I don't want to put the cpap on tonight, yet, I know I need it. Guess I'll call tomorrow to see what I can do. I'm ready to make an appointment with a gastroenterologist. Thanks for all your responses. I appreciate it.

Pugsy wrote: Some Gas X or Beano pills might help some. Though I think those are more for while the extra air is still in the stomach and has not yet progressed into the intestines and colon. So it could depend on the speed of your own digestive system to move things along. Speed varies between people and their diet.

I think I originally found this in our Wiki or New Users section:

3. For digestive gas in the stomach, try over-the-counter simethicone products like Gas-X.
4. For digestive gas in the intestines, try over-the-counter activated charcoal tablets.

Note though, charcoal can interfere with the absorption of some medications, so it may not be a good choice for everyone, or it may be a matter of taking it several hours before or after your meds.

Changing from CPAP to APAP helped me, pressure was 16 on CPAP. Most of the night APAP is below 10 and 95% pressure is 13. Only minor issues since the change and I sleep longer after the change.

Along with several of the other members I'd have to say IMO, that the most important factor is "Time". It takes some people time to adjust and get their body in rhythm with itself to eliminate aerophagia. That happened with my early onset of aerophagia, which cured itself in a few months. I think this is not uncommon for a lot of people on this forum. I'd advise you to stick with it for awhile by using OTC products for treatment of acid indigestion etc.

I've been dealing with this bloating issue since I was issued my machine. It's a daily occurrence for me. The first hour after waking is almost always spent still in bed resting while my body works to evacuate all of the excess air the GI tract has accumulated overnight. For me, it's not generally painful, but it is certainly uncomfortable. After that first hour, I'm usually okay for the day.

I've brought the matter to the attention of my sleep doctor, who hasn't really been able to suggest any solutions. My pressure setting on the machine is very low (I think I'm at around since my apnea is a mild case. Nevertheless, even at that low pressure I KNOW that it's the machine pumping air into my stomach. There have been a few instances where just before I fall asleep with the mask on, and my body's muscles have all fully relaxed just before nodding off, I can literally feel the air from the machine gently working its way down my throat and into my stomach. I have little doubt that I have undiagnosed GERD damage that is providing an opening that allows air to slip past the esophageal sphincter. I'm taking Prilosec to manage the GERD myself, but the damage is done and will never likely heal, so the machine is always going to succeed in inadvertently pumping air into my stomach.

Using over the counter anti-gas products will not help in this instance. The typical active ingredient in most of those products is simethicone. This substance works to relieve digestive gas problems by (according to Wikipedia) the following action: "Simethicone is an anti-foaming agent that decreases the surface tension of gas bubbles, causing them to combine into larger bubbles in the stomach that can be passed more easily." In the case of CPAP machine induced air, there is no foaming or small bubbles to address -- it's just a big pocket of atmospheric air. Therefore, simethicone will do little to nothing to relieve the bloating. The body simply needs to pass it along naturally.