BiPap & C-Pap & CO 2
What is BiPap?
The earliest form of a respirator was the iron lung. It worked by creating a vacuum around the chest so that the rib cage would expand and air would be pulled into the lungs. In the 1960's it became possible to force air into the lungs using a ventilator. Out of ventilator technology came something called C-Pap, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. This increased the air pressure so that the patient's airway and lungs were always holding a little extra air. A simple analogy would be to say that breathing is like repeatedly blowing up a balloon (our lungs) and releasing the air. C-Pap keeps the "balloon" from completely deflating. When the 1990's came around, a further refinement to this sytem occurred. BiPap, stands for "Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure". This allowed alternating levels of pressure for inhaling and exhaling. On C-Pap the user has to exhale against all the extra pressure - something that makes adjusting to using it very difficult and makes it unsuitable for use with some illnesses. BiPap allows air to be at one pressure setting such as 12cm, for inhaling and then is dropped to a lower setting such as 4 during exhaling, then cycles back to 12 for the next breath. This makes it much easier to adapt to.
In short, BiPap allows us to get more air in with less muscle effort.
Symptoms you may be retaining CO2(carbon dioxide) and need BiPap - Commonly the person who retains CO2 gets short of breath when lying on their back. Another sign is you wake up with a headache that goes away once you get up. Some have intense headaches at night and difficulty sleeping, thereby making you tired during the day. The reason for the headache and that it goes away once you are up is that shallow breathing begins to affect the ability to "blow off" CO2. The excess CO2 causes blood vessels in the brain to dilate which in turn leads to a headache. The headache goes away when you wake up and start moving around because you breathe more deeply when awake and blow off the CO2.
What tests may I need to determine I have CO2 retention? -
