I have a c-pap for about 3 weeks now.  I tried the full face mask and found it constrictive.  i went to the air pillows and it was too loud with a leaking sound plus when the air pressure ramped up it made my ears pop.  After 4 days I developed a very bad sinus/ear infection.  The man who set my c-pap up said it was because I did not change out the water in my humidifier for 3 days.  After a week of antibiotics I got better and tried the c-pap again without the humidifier and at one point in the night my left ear popped and now today it feels like I am getting another ear infection.  Has anyone else had a similar problem?

Do you wear a chin strap?  I know that the few times I tried that I suffered severe TMJ.

Not really a chin strap.  The full nose mask has a strap that runs below my ears as well as a strap that runs on the side of my head that connects to a gell pad that rests on my forhead.  I'm really concerned over this ear popping problem because as I type my left ear hurts when I blow my nose.  I'm not sure if it's just a case of this particular ear infection not completely cured yet but it seems strange that I was feeling better yesterday and now today it hurts again.  Last night the ear popped so loud it woke me up around 3 a.m. and I took off the mask for the rest of the night.  I did not experience the ear popping with this particular mask the first couple of nights.  It's just frustrating because I thought this cpap would solve my sleep problems.

i would accept the ear problems and keep using the CPAP, it takes time to get used to them so be patient the humidifier isnt essential

cosmo...Just recently I had a few problems with my ears hurting and popping...it drove me crazy. I just gave it a few days and it seemed to go away on it's own. I did have them checked by a doctor and they were ok.


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*** Linda ***

Thanks.  I'm going to hold off on using the cpap until this ear problem has resolved itself.  Once I am totally cured I will go back to the cpap and hopefully it wont happen again.  if it does i will have to look at alternatives because the sinus/ear pain is way too much of a tradeoff.

Well, I went 7 days without the c-pap to make sure this ear/sinus infection had run it's course.  I waited an extra 2 days to boot.  Last night I tried the c-pap again and boom!, ear pain has returned.  This is the 3rd time I have experienced this pain and I do mean pain.  if it was just a discomfort I may try to live with  it but the last time knocked me for a loop and I do not want to go thru that again.  I actually called the nurse line at BC/BS and they went over a list of side effects which included swelling of the brain and that scared the hell out of me.  They did state that it was rare but still.  Being that I am 70% deaf in my right ear and the left ear is the one I am having problems with I do not want to take a chance on doing any damage to it.

cosmo wrote:

Well, I went 7 days without the c-pap to make sure this ear/sinus infection had run it's course.  I waited an extra 2 days to boot.  Last night I tried the c-pap again and boom!, ear pain has returned.  This is the 3rd time I have experienced this pain and I do mean pain.  if it was just a discomfort I may try to live with  it but the last time knocked me for a loop and I do not want to go thru that again.  I actually called the nurse line at BC/BS and they went over a list of side effects which included swelling of the brain and that scared the hell out of me.  They did state that it was rare but still.  Being that I am 70% deaf in my right ear and the left ear is the one I am having problems with I do not want to take a chance on doing any damage to it.

For sure you don't want to fool with your good ear...I also have a bad hearing loss in one of my ears, and believe me I am very careful if I feel any pain in it...that would be terrible to lose the hearing in the other ear.


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*** Linda ***