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Asthma and Sleep Apnea
I am wondering if there are people here who have asthma and what experiences they have had with asthma as it relates to their XPAP treatment.
My adult onset asthma was very under control and a non issue. I was Diagnosed with severe OSA a few months ago and am on auto titrating BiPap with swift for her nasal cushions for the last two months. I think that I adapted to the use of the machine and mask very well and relatively uneventfully and am 100% compliant including naps (which thankfully are fewer and fewer these days). (Thank you, all of you who have helped me on here from the very beginning)
Sunday night I woke up, went to the bathroom, came back, put my mask back on and just couldnt get comfortable. Stuck with it, stuck with it, and finally after about 15 minutes of feeling like I was suffocating, pulled the mask off. Even without the mask I was having a hard time feeling my breaths replenishing me. I never went back to sleep. When the same thing happened the next night, I called my Pulmonary doctor/sleep specialist (I was out of town) and he put me on high dose of prednisone (for a short period)...plus inhalers and my usual asthma meds. On Tuesday night I ended up in the emergency room with shortness of breath.
I'm starting to feel better now. They did a zillion other tests and all are convinced that it is in fact an asthma thing.
I am wondering if others have had similar experiences, if there is any correlation between asthma and sleep apnea...or if asthma is worsened by sleep apnea etc.
Got home tonight and am headed to my Pulmonary/sleep doctor tomorrow.
Thoughts and insights welcomed.
Jan
My adult onset asthma was very under control and a non issue. I was Diagnosed with severe OSA a few months ago and am on auto titrating BiPap with swift for her nasal cushions for the last two months. I think that I adapted to the use of the machine and mask very well and relatively uneventfully and am 100% compliant including naps (which thankfully are fewer and fewer these days). (Thank you, all of you who have helped me on here from the very beginning)
Sunday night I woke up, went to the bathroom, came back, put my mask back on and just couldnt get comfortable. Stuck with it, stuck with it, and finally after about 15 minutes of feeling like I was suffocating, pulled the mask off. Even without the mask I was having a hard time feeling my breaths replenishing me. I never went back to sleep. When the same thing happened the next night, I called my Pulmonary doctor/sleep specialist (I was out of town) and he put me on high dose of prednisone (for a short period)...plus inhalers and my usual asthma meds. On Tuesday night I ended up in the emergency room with shortness of breath.
I'm starting to feel better now. They did a zillion other tests and all are convinced that it is in fact an asthma thing.
I am wondering if others have had similar experiences, if there is any correlation between asthma and sleep apnea...or if asthma is worsened by sleep apnea etc.
Got home tonight and am headed to my Pulmonary/sleep doctor tomorrow.
Thoughts and insights welcomed.
Jan
Views: 26
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by sleepycarol on
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I have asthma and sleep apnea. I have had asthma for the last 15 years give or take some. I find that high humidity will trigger an attack on me. Cold temps also are triggers. We have had some really cold days with temps in the single digits or below. I find that I have difficulty breathing outside when the temps are that cold. It seems that mine sort of builds up over a period of time. I know that yesterday the temps started going up, but then that means all of the snow and ice is melting leading to more humidity in the air. I went to the nurses office (I teach school) and had her use her pulse ox on me and it showed my oxygen was at 93.
What is your humidifier set on? Does higher humidity trigger attacks for you (some it does, some it don't)?
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Permalink Reply by Jan on
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My humidifier is set pretty low-- between .5-1.5 on a 0-5 scale.
My asthma has been very under control for years and years. Honesty havent had a problem in 8 or more years. I even got lax about carrying around a rescue inhaler.
I know that I am allergic to airborne stuff-- perfumes, mold, fragrance in cleaning materials etc.
The question I have really relates less to the asthma itself and more to the role or presentation of Asthma when usuing CPAP...does use of CPAP trigger asthma (as in your example of possibly high humidity)...once you start having asthma problems does CPAP make it harder to control...or no does it have no impact at all?
Thanks
Jan
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In my case, unless the humidifier is set too high I don't honestly believe that there is a correlation to the use of cpap and asthma. If anything, the airborne stuff is helped by the filters. I have noticed that I don't wake up as often coughing and choking like before. I seldom wheeze, or at least that I am aware of, although the doctor says she can hear it with the stethoscope. Mine seems to be more in the way of severe coughing. The cough isn't your usual cough, in that it will come on and then after the use of my inhaler will be gone. No coughing preceeding nor afterwards of the attack. I do experience shortness of breath though.
In fact, I believe in my case the machine helps by not only filtering the air, but helps with keeping the airway open not related to apneas. I am allergic to many environmental stuff and do have problems with chemicals so am careful that I wash and air out any related equipment prior to using it. My machine was new when I recieved it and didn't notice any lingering chemical smells with it, but I have noticed at times that the masks will give off a slight chemical smell -- similar to the "new shower curtain smell" due to the plastics / silicones used in the manufacturing process. This can and does become a trigger for my asthma. Any new mask is aired out for awhile to help get rid of the smell and is washed good prior to use.
I have been on cpap since August of 2007 and is only my experience with asthma and treatment.
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