Darn this Stubborn Cold!

[Newbee2016]

Hi guys

This is the first time I'm having a major bout of flu / cold after starting apap treatment.

It's entering into the 3rd week now after having completed a dose of Augmentin antibiotics. As I'm now blowing out all the green gooey stuff first thing in the morning when I flush the nasal passages with saline (ph balanced), doc has prescribed another round of Augmentin.

Dug the humidifier out of deep storage and set it at adaptive and at level 4. No longer sleeping in air-conditioning room. 

At the early stage, I couldn't sleep for 3 nights straight as the cough came once it hit close to midnight. Apap hit a AHI of 23 when my normal is 1.x. Saw lots of rainbow colors in my SleepyHead charts, which I've never seen before . Was quite frightening actually to see all the events. 

Finally managed to keep it under control with hot toddy  just before bedtime and it was a life saver. Now I'm back to AHi of 1.x.

I'm wondering if the cpap is causing the delay in recovery (e.g. pushing the bacteria deeper into the lungs?) and I should stop it for a bit?

Would appreciate any advice / sharing / insights from your past experiences. Any issues with keeping up with the Hot toddy treatment - it's my first time trying out of desperation and seems to help with the sleep and keeping the nasty coughs at bay?

[Walla Walla]

Google Using CPAP when sick with cold or flu. It's a short clip and I thought pretty funny although it does explain things.

[OpalRose]

I feel your pain. I've had a bad cold, sinus infection and non stop coughing for 3 weeks now.
Have been on a couple different antibiotics, cough syrup, you name it.

It was hard to keep therapy going all night with all the coughing. I also noticed a much higher AHI.
I'm usually 1 or under and was seeing an AHI of 7 which most were Clear Airways, which I seldom have.

I'm done with all those medicines, but still fighting congestion.

All I can suggest is to keep plugging away using your Cpap as much as you can. When you can't, try to sit up in a recliner if you have one.

I doubt Cpap use will make it worse, but you may want to try to keep the humidity level lower. Sometimes too much humidity doesn't help with the congestion.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Newbee2016,
I hope you get over that stubborn cold, soon.

[Newbee2016]

I feel your pain.  I've had a bad cold, sinus infection and non stop coughing for 3 weeks now.  
Have been on a couple different antibiotics, cough syrup, you name it.  

It was hard to keep therapy going all night with all the coughing.   I also noticed a much higher AHI.
I'm usually 1 or under and was seeing an AHI of 7 which most were Clear Airways, which I seldom have.

I'm done with all those medicines, but still fighting congestion.  

All I can suggest is to keep plugging away using your Cpap as much as you can.  When you can't, try to sit up in a recliner if you have one.

I doubt Cpap use will make it worse, but you may want to try to keep the humidity level lower.  Sometimes too much humidity doesn't help with the congestion.

Thanks OpalRose - and I shouldn't say welcome to the club. It is indeed a pain and having to get up for work bright and early is really no fun. I'm totally beat by the end of day and just moving along, a day at a time, waiting for the weekend to arrive so I can get some good rest. Take care too!

[Newbee2016]

Google Using CPAP when sick with cold or flu. It's a short clip and I thought pretty funny although it does explain things.

Yah, he looked totally sick and not himself.

[Mosquitobait]

I have not had to quit cpap because of sinus infection, but in SOME cases of bronchitis, the doc may ask you to quit until your lungs have healed some. I do not know the criteria. Most of the time, they want you to continue therapy.

When I get sinus problems, I switch to a Circadian mask usually. I just cannot wear nasal pillows because the mask presses on a swollen area. Both nasal Circadian masks work fine (but do leak more than nasal pillows). I bought these out of pocket during an online sale. Last winter, I finally had a cold that closed down my ability to breathe through my nose and I was very happy that the person from whom I bought my backup apap included 3 full faced masks. I found one that worked great! I get colds very rarely, once every other year or so, primarily because I'm not around young kids and avoid grocery shopping on Saturday mornings.