01-04-2023, 04:28 AM
RE: Blocked nose and face mask, how to adjust?
I do have some suggestions for settings that may be more effective at comfortable sleep. But, first, just know that I have never switched from full face mask. When I started treatment, I had the same or similar issues with nasal blockage, nearly a constant congestion for 10+ years, sometimes breaking clear for a couple minutes on only one of the nostrils. So, I mouth breathed through the day. I was a chronic user of decongestant and antihistimine, trying to scrape a few brief minutes of comfort.
Once I started using the CPAP, and stopped choking myself, my congestion reduced greatly, and after 8 years of treatment, I generally breathe through my nose while sleeping, and even most the time during the day. I did not stop using medicine.
The way I explain the cycle of breathing while congested is that I would start out mouth breathing, and when I transitioned to sleep, my body would naturally switch to nasal breathing (or at least it would try). As soon as that happened, the lack of air flow would either prevent passage and therefore would cause long apneas or there would be enough airflow to suck phlegm into or towards my lungs leading to either coughing to clear, or at very least jolt me back awake enough to switch back to mouth breathing. Of course, the brain continued to switch back to nasal breathing the moment I sank back toward sleep. It was a vicious cycle.
Alot of my congestion went away, as apneas themselves reduced which were definitely fueling the congestion.
A real transformation occurred when I noticed that I could breathe through my nose enough stop the rattle jack awakenings, but only if I tilted my head just right so I could get some air flow through both nostrils. For me that means positioning my head about 15 degrees left of vertical face up. Surely everyone has a different best position. For me it is lying on my left side, and head cocked to the right and upward, a travel pillow to support the chin. It seems like that would not work, because head up generally leads to "tongue slides down" air blockage. Somehow it does not cause obstruction.
I wish you the best of luck as you try new things.
QAL
Once I started using the CPAP, and stopped choking myself, my congestion reduced greatly, and after 8 years of treatment, I generally breathe through my nose while sleeping, and even most the time during the day. I did not stop using medicine.
The way I explain the cycle of breathing while congested is that I would start out mouth breathing, and when I transitioned to sleep, my body would naturally switch to nasal breathing (or at least it would try). As soon as that happened, the lack of air flow would either prevent passage and therefore would cause long apneas or there would be enough airflow to suck phlegm into or towards my lungs leading to either coughing to clear, or at very least jolt me back awake enough to switch back to mouth breathing. Of course, the brain continued to switch back to nasal breathing the moment I sank back toward sleep. It was a vicious cycle.
Alot of my congestion went away, as apneas themselves reduced which were definitely fueling the congestion.
A real transformation occurred when I noticed that I could breathe through my nose enough stop the rattle jack awakenings, but only if I tilted my head just right so I could get some air flow through both nostrils. For me that means positioning my head about 15 degrees left of vertical face up. Surely everyone has a different best position. For me it is lying on my left side, and head cocked to the right and upward, a travel pillow to support the chin. It seems like that would not work, because head up generally leads to "tongue slides down" air blockage. Somehow it does not cause obstruction.
I wish you the best of luck as you try new things.
QAL
