CPAP and Ileostomy: Sleep Apnea Issues?

Hi there.

Can anyone comment on using a CPAP for sleep apnea with an ileostomy? I am having some problems and wonder if it is just me? Thank you!

Maryellen

Hello Maryellen.

Thank you for your question. However, as you have not described more precisely what the problems are that you are experiencing, it is difficult to say whether these are the same or similar to the problems that a CPAP machine might throw up with or without a stoma. I use a CPAP machine and occasionally have problems at night, both with it and with the stoma but I have never linked the two together.  The problems with experiencing disturbed sleep is that it can cause all sorts of other issues but I can attest to the fact that the CPAP machine has made a fantastic difference to my tiredness levels during the day, which makes any minor irritations seem irrelevant.

Best wishes

Bill

Thank you, Bill.

Hello Maryellen

I have a colostomy and use a CPAP machine. My problem is terrible wind! Because I'm a mouth breather, I'm taking in lots of wind and it blows my bag up and has even blown it off! Is this the problem you are referring to?

Regards

Hello Sandywinmin.

Thanks for the reminder about the wind!  When I first got my CPAP machine, nobody had told me about the problem with it pumping air into the stomach as well as the lungs. I woke up on the first night in great pain and looking like an inflated balloon. I immediately got in touch with the nurses at Papworth Hospital who supplied the CPAP machine , to be told that this was a common phenomenon. Apart from the fact that it amusd me to think that common phenomenon rhymed, they sent me some chin strps to keep my jaw up and my mouth shut, which resolved the problem but caused another.

The straps made me come out in a dreadful rash around my chin where the pressure was greatest but they did not have any suggestions as to how I could resolve this problem. After several attempts at making a solution, I decided to tailor-make a chin protector with a simple cup shaped chin protector made from plaster of paris, which fitted perfectly and is now lined with soft tissue. I have not had any problems with either wind or chiin chaffing since.

Also, I use a few drops of Olbas oil in the water chamber at the start of the night which helps to clear the synuses and the nasal passages so that I can breath more esily through my nose. 

I hope this is helpful to you in resolving your wind problem.  

Thank you!

Thanks for your experience and suggestions. I am relatively new to the CPAP and have been having this problem too. I'll try a chin strap, although I've noticed that I gulp air even when my mouth is closed. I'm not sure that I'll see a difference with a chin strap, but it's worth a try. So far my bag has stayed put, even stretched tight with air, but it's only a matter of time before it blows off and goes zooming around the room (as it does in my imagination!). I'm not sure that the actual event would be quite so entertaining, though, so I'd rather avoid it.

Hello Goodlife.

Thanks for replying to this post - which I had forgotten all about!

Since I posted this in 2017, I have tried a few more experimental devices/ chinstraps and found that the best one so far is one that I made from an old pillowcase, folded and sewn into a strip about 2inches wide. This is secured with the velcro-like stuff that I 'borrowed' from an old hernia belt. This cotton material has virtually no elasticity, so once it is secured it stays in place (unlike the stretchable stuff which tends to allow the jaw to drop open when asleep). To make it softer around the chin, I sent for a thin offcut of the sort of material they use for wetsuits, but I cannot remember what they call it. That works well for comfort; As an aside, I also have a small piece of velcro material that secures the airpipe to the centre of my chin and then on to the CPAP machine via a longish tube. 

If these sorts of devices don't work for you, I would suggest you try sleeping in the 'hammock-position' which tends to use gravity to keep reflux at bay and therefore reduces the swallowing of air.  ( I have a purpose-built bed for this but I think the same effect could be obtained with cushions and/or or pillows.

As for the potential output of  faeces or gas; I would strongly recommend wearing an irrigation sleeve at nights, (folded to make a large bag)  rather than a smaller bag which, like you indicate is likely to be a bit vulnerable when full. 

I can almost guarantee that you will not be filling an irrigation sleeve and they are so much easier to empty and rinse out than ordinary bags.

I have devised my own baseplate for the irrigation sleeve so that  the bottom part of the two-piece device is semi-permanent and the bags I can keep re-using daily and nightly for about a month, until they become too soiled to bother about. The boxes come with about 12 sleeves, so they last me about a year; the clip-on base has thus far lasted for about 3-4 years. (This can be viewed on my profile photos) I stop it sliding on the skin/mucus by spraying around the hole with medical adhesive. Also, My design for the baseplate includes a 90degree waste bend, which channels any output down into the bag, rather than allowing it to potentially pancake around the stoma. It's not everyone's idea of a solution, but it works for me! 

Yet another slight adaptation is that I have inserted a medical filter in the CPAP output airpipe to filter out any impurities in the air. (we have a problem with air purity in our area with vehicle fumes and industrial pollution!) The CPAP pressure needed to be turned up a bit to compensate for this and the albas oil is now dripped directly into the air tube nearer to the mask, rather than in the water condenser. It was interesting that the filter worked so well that it filtered out all the smell from the oil and nullified its effects. Hence the change to nearer the mask and away from the filter.   

I hope this gives you some useful ideas you can try to resolve the issues you are presently having.

I will finish by stating that many of my experiments have worked, but there is always room for improvement, so if you find something better, then please let us know.

Best wishes

Bill