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Swallowing air? Is that normal?
Last night was my fourth night using a pap machine. But by 3AM I had swallowed so much air that I was in so much pain I was ready to call 911. It took over 1/2 hour to try and get comfortable. But I gave up using the machine because I was afraid I would be in pain again.
Is this normal? Is there anyway of stopping this from happening?
Thanks for all your help. I would have given up on night 1 without your support and encouragement.
Views: 781
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by MARIE G. on
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I used to have pretty bad aerophagia. I learned to control it by 1) not eating at least 4 hours before bedtime and 2) eating a very light dinner with easily digestible foods that were not spicy or heavy
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Permalink Reply by Rooster on
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Donna B. said:Mary,
I put a little Vaseline in my nose and it has helped with the dryness.
Donna B., You probably have done no permanent damage using small amounts of petroleum jelly in your nasal passages. However, it is possible to develop exogenous lipoid pneumonia from petroleum jelly.
According to the Mayo Clinic: "Petroleum jelly is generally safe to use. Rarely, however, inhaling fat-based substances (lipoids) — such as petroleum jelly or mineral oil — for prolonged periods can cause lung problems.
Typically, petroleum jelly applied to the inside of the nostrils drains down the back of the nose with normal nasal secretions and is swallowed. Rarely, small amounts of the jelly can migrate into the windpipe (trachea) and lungs. Over many months, the jelly can accumulate in the lungs — leading to potentially serious inflammation known as lipoid pneumonia."
The solution is to use a petroleum-jelly-free saline nasal gel that can be found at most drugstores. Ayr Gel is one of the oldest brands, but there are other good brands.
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Permalink Reply by Donna B. on
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Rooster, Wow, yet another thing I was not told at my doctor's appt. Why don't these doc's give you a FAQ sheet on this stuff? This is very frustrating, I had no idea that Vaseline would cause such a thing. Someone told me to use K-Y jelly. Haven't tried that. There is so much to know and not enough hours in the day to learn it all. Thank heaven for you guys!!
So MARY, disregard that comment !!!!!
Donna B.
Rooster said:
Donna B. said:Mary,
I put a little Vaseline in my nose and it has helped with the dryness.
Donna B., You probably have done no permanent damage using small amounts of petroleum jelly in your nasal passages. However, it is possible to develop exogenous lipoid pneumonia from petroleum jelly.
According to the Mayo Clinic: "Petroleum jelly is generally safe to use. Rarely, however, inhaling fat-based substances (lipoids) — such as petroleum jelly or mineral oil — for prolonged periods can cause lung problems.
Typically, petroleum jelly applied to the inside of the nostrils drains down the back of the nose with normal nasal secretions and is swallowed. Rarely, small amounts of the jelly can migrate into the windpipe (trachea) and lungs. Over many months, the jelly can accumulate in the lungs — leading to potentially serious inflammation known as lipoid pneumonia."
The solution is to use a petroleum-jelly-free saline nasal gel that can be found at most drugstores. Ayr Gel is one of the oldest brands, but there are other good brands.
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Permalink Reply by Mary Callahan on
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Great idea, Donna. An FAQ would really help first timers. I know I told my doctor that he could have told me it might get worse before it gets better. And your are so right about all the help us newbies get at this site. Would not have survived past the first night without all this help. Thanks guys!
Donna B. said:Rooster, Wow, yet another thing I was not told at my doctor's appt. Why don't these doc's give you a FAQ sheet on this stuff? This is very frustrating, I had no idea that Vaseline would cause such a thing. Someone told me to use K-Y jelly. Haven't tried that. There is so much to know and not enough hours in the day to learn it all. Thank heaven for you guys!!
So MARY, disregard that comment !!!!!
Donna B.
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I wish I could raise my bed, but it is a tempurpedic mattress on a wooden contraption with drawers under it. They both weight a ton. I have tried putting a pillow under the tempurpedic, but it did not help at all, as I could not sleep on my side when needed. Someone suggest I get a chin strap (and in the meantime I used pantyhose tied around my head), and that seemed to do the trick. I haven't swallowed air since. And I just picked up my new chinstrap. So that should look a lot more chic than tied pantyhose! Thanks!
David said:It is not uncommon and I agree, very painful. The solution is to change your sleeping posture. I can sleep on my left side not my right. I cannot sleep on my stomach at all. Often a neck pillow helps when sleeping on my back. Elevating the bed is something you will hear a lot. It works and is next to free, this is not the same as putting pillows under your head which can make the problem worse by restricting the airway.
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Mary: Congrats on the chin strap !
I put mine on before I put on my headgear and it stays on much better.
Also, I agree with the post about firing your Sleep Doc and DME, if they can't give you the help you need, get rid of them. I "fired" my first Sleep Doc because I didn't see the same doctor at my appointments. How can they all know what is going on with you when they have so many patients. They barely looked at my file and not one of them made eye contact with me. That doesn't fly with me. Also, I had to wait 45 min to over an hour at each appt. Bad scheduling and no communication keeping the patient informed of wait times is another thing that irritates me.
So, I found another Doc and have been happy with him so far. My DME has OSA and he has been wonderful in answering my questions. There are ways to check out these Sleep Docs on the internet, I'm sure someone here has that info.
As far as raising the bed, I wonder if one of those large wedge shaped pillows would help? Just a thought.
Donna B.
Mary Callahan said:
I wish I could raise my bed, but it is a tempurpedic mattress on a wooden contraption with drawers under it. They both weight a ton. I have tried putting a pillow under the tempurpedic, but it did not help at all, as I could not sleep on my side when needed. Someone suggest I get a chin strap (and in the meantime I used pantyhose tied around my head), and that seemed to do the trick. I haven't swallowed air since. And I just picked up my new chinstrap. So that should look a lot more chic than tied pantyhose! Thanks!
David said:It is not uncommon and I agree, very painful. The solution is to change your sleeping posture. I can sleep on my left side not my right. I cannot sleep on my stomach at all. Often a neck pillow helps when sleeping on my back. Elevating the bed is something you will hear a lot. It works and is next to free, this is not the same as putting pillows under your head which can make the problem worse by restricting the airway.
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I've been on CPAP since Wednesday night (four days), and have had problems with aerophagia since minute one (I also have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and the aerophagia makes that worse, without a doubt.) I have been told that part of the cause for this is letting your chin dip down when sleeping, which lets the machine push more air into the esophagus, as well as the trachea. So, last night, my alter ego "Miss Nurse" kicks in and I decided to figure out how I could keep my chin up, so to speak, and avoid the awful pressure this morning when I got up. I dug out a soft cervical collar and wore it to sleep in. Though I still have some bloating this morning, it is way less than it was yesterday. I will combine the collar with taking two extra strength Phazyme/Gas-X before I go to bed tonight and see if that doesn't kick the problem to a liveable level.
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The cervical collar sounds like a great idea. Let us know if it continues to work. I find that with my chin strap, if I sleep on my back, I am okay. If I lay on either side, I am absolutely miserable. But I cannot lay on my back all night, so I take off my mask after 4 hours or so and sleep on my side. Luckily my apneas are mild. Don't know how I would be able to combat the gas and keep on my mask all night if I had severe OSA.
Good luck1
Karen Day-Lyon said:I've been on CPAP since Wednesday night (four days), and have had problems with aerophagia since minute one (I also have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and the aerophagia makes that worse, without a doubt.) I have been told that part of the cause for this is letting your chin dip down when sleeping, which lets the machine push more air into the esophagus, as well as the trachea. So, last night, my alter ego "Miss Nurse" kicks in and I decided to figure out how I could keep my chin up, so to speak, and avoid the awful pressure this morning when I got up. I dug out a soft cervical collar and wore it to sleep in. Though I still have some bloating this morning, it is way less than it was yesterday. I will combine the collar with taking two extra strength Phazyme/Gas-X before I go to bed tonight and see if that doesn't kick the problem to a liveable level.
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I'm a left side sleeper to begin with. If I try to sleep on my back, I wouldn't sleep at all. As it is, I am lucky if I get three hours a night.
Mary Callahan said:The cervical collar sounds like a great idea. Let us know if it continues to work. I find that with my chin strap, if I sleep on my back, I am okay. If I lay on either side, I am absolutely miserable. But I cannot lay on my back all night, so I take off my mask after 4 hours or so and sleep on my side. Luckily my apneas are mild. Don't know how I would be able to combat the gas and keep on my mask all night if I had severe OSA.
Good luck1
Karen Day-Lyon said:I've been on CPAP since Wednesday night (four days), and have had problems with aerophagia since minute one (I also have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and the aerophagia makes that worse, without a doubt.) I have been told that part of the cause for this is letting your chin dip down when sleeping, which lets the machine push more air into the esophagus, as well as the trachea. So, last night, my alter ego "Miss Nurse" kicks in and I decided to figure out how I could keep my chin up, so to speak, and avoid the awful pressure this morning when I got up. I dug out a soft cervical collar and wore it to sleep in. Though I still have some bloating this morning, it is way less than it was yesterday. I will combine the collar with taking two extra strength Phazyme/Gas-X before I go to bed tonight and see if that doesn't kick the problem to a liveable level.
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