[Health] pain, weight gain, bloated since started using machine

[cyrano]

My friend at work started using a cpap machine the same time I did, just over 5 years ago, he has trouble with english so he asked me to post this for him. He wonders if anyone else has experienced aches, pains, weight gain and feeling bloated since they started using one of these machines. I told him I haven't had any problems like these, but he's curious if anyone else has. Thank you for your help.

[Stom]

Dunno about weight gain, but some feelings of being "bloated" can be from aerophagia, swallowing the pressurized air from CPAP, which can also lead to acid reflux and even aspiration - inhaling stomach contents - which can even lead to pneumonia in some cases. Aerophagia can lead to significant health issues, so it's something that should be addressed if your friend is experiencing it.

My RT reduced my minimum pressure and increased EPR from 1 to 2, which has helped with my aerophagia. But if I need higher pressures in future to keep my AHI down, I don't know what will happen.

[silentsnore]

Yes to bloating. Still working on addressing it.

Bloating is most likely from aerophagia, as Stom mentioned, and I found that reducing my max pressure by 2cm and using 1cm pressure support makes difference.

Just from bloating alone, I had to jump pants one size up (no weight gain).

[mesenteria]

I wonder if it isn't the chicken 'n egg question for many of us.  Some report that they gain wait after starting PAP treatment, but some need the treatment BECAUSE of weight gain.

I have had some bouts of aerophagia.  It isn't pleasant; it does make one's pants a tad tighter in the morning, and not in a good way.  It happens mostly when I awaken on my back...supine.

I have been on PAP for about 10 months and have gained weight.  Truthfully, my level of physical activity has not been normal the past six weeks, and it shows.  I'm at the point where I desire strongly to change my practice and to increase activity back to normal.  I can hardly bend over to pick things up off the floor, and that's far from where I was this time last year.

Sometimes it takes a disciplined approach to dealing with the changes we experience if they are undesirable.  Actually monitoring calorific consumption and using a device such as wearable tech to monitor steps, changes of altitude, caffeine intake, and calorific expenditures based on motion and body weight (which you must faithfully and honestly input into your personal profile).  Otherwise, it's simply too easy to mistake the degree of change, or to account for it.

[flyingninja1234]

I experience a lot of chest pain during & after I use my machine.