ASK APRIA

Today's Clinician

Heather Ellis

Heather has been a Registered Respiratory Therapist since 2016 and serves Apria’s respiratory patients in South Dakota. With a strong background in critical care, she’s passionate about patient education and helping individuals confidently manage their respiratory needs. She’s currently pursuing a Bachelor’s in Health Science and stays up to date on evolving medical practices to better support her patients.

Q. How can I stop water droplets from building up in my nasal pillows?

A. Sometimes water droplets form in your mask because of how your CPAP humidifier is set or the temperature in your room. Here are some easy tips to help:

Keep the water tank lower than your head while you sleep. This helps the water go back into the tank instead of your mask or gather in your tubing.
If it feels too wet, try turning down the humidifier setting.
If you have a heated tube, you can turn up the heat. This helps stop water from forming in the tube.

Regarding the humidity in your environment, here are three factors that cause water droplets to form:

Temperature: The temperature difference between warm, moist air and the cold surface. The greater the difference, the more likely condensation is to occur.
Humidity: High humidity means the air is already holding a lot of water vapor, making condensation more likely.
Air Circulation: Poor ventilation can trap warm, moist air and lead to condensation.

This could change from season to season and may not be avoidable.

Q. Why do I wake up coughing and short of breath when using my CPAP?

A. There are a couple of reasons this might happen:

Dry air from the CPAP can irritate your throat. In this case, consider increasing the humidifier setting to add more moisture.
Saliva might be going down your throat or airway while you sleep. Try sleeping with your upper body raised a little to help keep your airway clear.

These small changes can help you sleep more comfortably with your CPAP.

If you wake up with shortness of breath, this can happen for a few reasons, depending on the type of CPAP machine you use:

If you use an AutoSet CPAP: This machine changes pressure while you sleep. When you’re awake, it mostly uses a lower pressure—because your airway is open. When you fall asleep, your airway relaxes, and the machine increases pressure to keep it open. If you wake up while the pressure is still high, it might feel hard to breathe. In this instance, wait a minute or two for the machine to lower the pressure. If needed, stop the machine and remove the mask.

If you use a regular CPAP with a ramp feature: The ramp starts with lower pressure and slowly increases to your full pressure setting. If the starting pressure is too low, it might feel like you are not getting enough air. If the pressure jumps too quickly, it can feel uncomfortable or like there is too much air.

What to do: Call your local Apria branch to speak with a licensed professional that can assess your settings or adjust your ramp pressure or other comfort settings that may help you feel more comfortable. They can also consult with your physician in the event your prescription settings need adjusted.

Q. I use nasal cushions. I've recenlty gotten a new CPAP machine and all of a sudden, it's pushing air out of my mouth. Do I need to get a full-face mask?

A. Not necessarily. If you are a mouth-breather or snore, it is highly recommended that you try to use a full-face mask. However, if you wish to remain on a nasal mask, there are a few factors that could be causing the issue of air being pushed out of your mouth. First, you’ll want to make sure that there has been no change in pressure being provided by your new CPAP device. So, if the old CPAP’s pressure being provided was +6, ensure that the new device is set to +6.

Chin straps are sometimes utilized if needed to keep the mouth closed during use of PAP therapy, but if this was not an issue before, it should not be an issue now. Congestion can also cause a narrowing of the nasal passage which increases the flow, even if the pressure is constant.

There are many options of masks nowadays, I always recommend full-face masks as they are more tolerable for patients when needing higher pressures as well if there is a block in the nasal passage, you still get the therapy as it covers both nasal and oral passages.

Q. I think my CPAP is leaking air into my abdomen. Every morning, I wake up very bloated. How do I fix this?

A. If you wake up with a bloated belly, it might be because you’re swallowing air while using your CPAP. This is called aerophagia, and it can happen if:

The air pressure is too high
Your mask is leaking
You’re having trouble breathing out against higher pressure.

Here are some things that might help:

Sleep with your head raised a little. This can help stop air from going into your stomach.
Make sure your mask fits well and isn’t leaking
Contact your local branch to speak to a licensed professional. If you bring your device into the branch they can check your settings, adjust pressure where applicable, or turn on a setting called EPR (Exhalation Pressure Relief) to make it easier to breathe out.

If the bloating keeps happening, contact your physician.

For more information: Reasons Why Your Mask Leaks and How to Fix It

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