How to Tell If a Fart Is CPAP Aerophagia or a Digestive Issue

I'm well acquainted with farts. In fact, I consider myself somewhat of an expert. Are farts caused by CPAP aerophagia or digestion? Let's find out.

The reason is I've spent the majority of my life dealing with farts. Mostly trying not to fart in polite company. Except for a blissful but short period when I didn't fart at all.

Are my farts caused by CPAP or digestion?

The difference between a fart and your body releasing trapped air due to aerophagia, you see, is in the smell. If it stinks, it's a fart. If it doesn't, it's likely aerophagia if you're like me and use continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for sleep apnea.

My struggles with digestive issues

Looking back, I seem to remember always having excessive gas. However, growing up, that was not uncommon, because in my culture we ate a lot of gas-producing foods like beans and legumes. So everyone I knew farted and it was a part of life.

Unbeknownst to me though, I am intolerant to gluten and dairy, which are also a large part of our diet growing up. One symptom of these intolerances is farting. I'm talking about clear-the-room, gag-inducing, atomic farts.

As I grew older, I became more self-conscious of my farting, so I tried to hold it in. That lead to an even worse problem, sharp pains in my chest and abdomen. A lot of times it got so bad I could barely breathe or move.

The time I stopped farting

It wasn't until recently that I completely changed my diet and eliminated all foods that cause me to fart. So that means no gluten, no dairy, no beans, particularly lentils, and definitely no boiled eggs. It was then that I stopped farting and it was bliss.

In fact, on the rare occasion I do fart, I do a mental check. What did I eat today? Did gluten somehow sneak its way into my meal? Oh, it was the chili, it had beans in it!

The beginning of aerophagia

I say this period was short because once I lost weight, aerophagia became a thing when I slept. At first, I didn't know what it was called. I only knew that I went to sleep with my CPAP and at some point during the night, I was swallowing air. I can only describe it as feeling as if I were being forced to swallow against my will. When I wake up in the morning, I feel bloated and immediately start farting. Thankfully, the bloating and farting don't last all day but it's a very uncomfortable feeling.

I knew for sure the morning farting wasn't due to what I ate the night before, because I studiously avoid gas-producing foods and this kind of farting wasn't smelly. Being new to CPAP therapy, I did the rookie thing and googled my symptoms. Then I did what Dr. Google said and started lowering the setting on my machine myself.

Please note: you are not supposed to touch the settings of your CPAP machine, only a durable medical equipment (DME) supplier can make changes based on your prescription.

However, for me, lowering the setting on my machine did resolve the aerophagia where I was finally comfortable enough to use the machine nightly to treat my sleep apnea. Thus started another blissful period of no farting.

That is, until I got a new machine this year and the problem started all over again. Now I know better and I am working with my sleep clinic and my DME to get my pressure setting right for me.

So there you have it: if you fart a lot and it stinks, it's a digestive issue and if it doesn't it could be trapped air, possibly from aerophagia.

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