First head cold with my CPAP
Hi everyone,
I am currently suffering through my first head cold with my CPAP. I tried "pushing through it" as others have said but I ended up sneezing into my mask and tubing and having to wash them in the middle of the night. Other than sleeping upright in my lazy boy and waking up every hour, do you have any advice?
Your miserably,
Darci
RE: First head cold with my CPAP
A saline rinse 3 times a day really helps me. Just make sure to do one just before going to bed. When all else fails I use a generic Vick’s Nyquil for a few nights. Two or three nights with the Nyquil will usually be all I need.
RE: First head cold with my CPAP
I have an expensive idea. Have a backup mask ready to go for such an issue. Then again, most folks have more than one mask, hopefully you do as well. Hope you feel better!
APNEABOARD - A great place to be if you're a hosehead!! 
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RE: First head cold with my CPAP
You're using nasal pillows like me. I have dealt with head colds and much worse over the 11 years since I started this process. I have sneezed coughed and otherwise coped with the problems. If you need to sneeze, feel free to pull the cushion away from your nose and let nature take its course. Keep some tissues handy to dry the mask and nose interface. The CPAP actually makes breathing easier with a nasal pillows mask, you just have to learn to relax and accept the post-nasal drip until it subsides. I find colds are shorter duration and easier to tolerate once you get used to it.
02-08-2019, 09:16 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-08-2019, 09:17 PM by Big Guy.)
RE: First head cold with my CPAP
What's wrong with simply stopping the CPAP therapy if you are sick and not in the mood to deal with it? I'm quite sure that I had sleep apnea some years before I was diagnosed with it.
I don't have a back-up machine as of yet. I have no plans to acquire one in the near future. If mine breaks down, I will go w/o therapy until I have a replacement.
I don't see how missing a few nights of therapy is going to be a life or death issue. Correct me if I am wrong, but if you have been on therapy for a few years and you miss a couple of nights of it, it's not like you are starting all the way back @ square one.
Then again, maybe some of you have an issue where your situation is more severe than mine is. I'm just thinking out loud here and learning with all of your help as I go along. 
RE: First head cold with my CPAP
(02-08-2019, 09:16 PM)Big Guy Wrote: What's wrong with simply stopping the CPAP therapy if you are sick and not in the mood to deal with it? I'm quite sure that I had sleep apnea some years before I was diagnosed with it.
I don't have a back-up machine as of yet. I have no plans to acquire one in the near future. If mine breaks down, I will go w/o therapy until I have a replacement.
I don't see how missing a few nights of therapy is going to be a life or death issue. Correct me if I am wrong, but if you have been on therapy for a few years and you miss a couple of nights of it, it's not like you are starting all the way back @ square one.
Then again, maybe some of you have an issue where your situation is more severe than mine is. I'm just thinking out loud here and learning with all of your help as I go along.
It kind of depends on where you are with therapy. I have called off vacation for a malfunctioned power supply and even used a friends CPAP that felt he could do without it when mine would not power up (it turned out to be defective power outlets). I will personally do anything possible not to be without the machine for a night, and more so if I'm sick and breathing is even more restricted. YMMV.
RE: First head cold with my CPAP
(02-08-2019, 09:30 PM)Sleeprider Wrote: (02-08-2019, 09:16 PM)Big Guy Wrote: What's wrong with simply stopping the CPAP therapy if you are sick and not in the mood to deal with it? I'm quite sure that I had sleep apnea some years before I was diagnosed with it.
I don't have a back-up machine as of yet. I have no plans to acquire one in the near future. If mine breaks down, I will go w/o therapy until I have a replacement.
I don't see how missing a few nights of therapy is going to be a life or death issue. Correct me if I am wrong, but if you have been on therapy for a few years and you miss a couple of nights of it, it's not like you are starting all the way back @ square one.
Then again, maybe some of you have an issue where your situation is more severe than mine is. I'm just thinking out loud here and learning with all of your help as I go along.
It kind of depends on where you are with therapy. I have called off vacation for a malfunctioned power supply and even used a friends CPAP that felt he could do without it when mine would not power up (it turned out to be defective power outlets). I will personally do anything possible not to be without the machine for a night, and more so if I'm sick and breathing is even more restricted. YMMV.
There are times when I wake up about 7 am or so, and I reach over and turn my machine off, and remove my mask and go back to sleep for another hour or so. I see that as kind of a treat. Admittedly, I don't do that as often as I used to. Now, I pretty much sleep geared up until I'm ready to get up for the day.
Other times, I may want to take a nap in the early afternoon for an hour or so. I don't gear up for that. If I were to go on a road trip and somehow, someway, forgot to take my CPAP machine along with me, I'd simply go w/o any therapy.
Again, maybe my situation isn't neatly as bad as others might be experiencing. Since the 1st night of CPAP use and up to today, it has been pretty much a cake walk for me. No issues or problems to speak of. I acclimated quite quickly to this new life-style change.
RE: First head cold with my CPAP
(02-08-2019, 09:30 PM)Sleeprider Wrote: It kind of depends on where you are with therapy. I have called off vacation for a malfunctioned power supply and even used a friends CPAP that felt he could do without it when mine would not power up (it turned out to be defective power outlets). I will personally do anything possible not to be without the machine for a night, and more so if I'm sick and breathing is even more restricted. YMMV.
Absolutely, I don't even want to imagine a what if scenario when I don't sleep with my cpap. Every time I did a sleep study without my machine I simply didn't fall asleep at all. Last time the tech in the lab was the same and he simply gave up and came at 2 am to tell me to put my mask on. It took 3 years and 3 surgeries in total to get my apnea under control. I ain't giving that up EVER.
Unless I get a tracheotomy, then who knows, it's not something they do just because you ask for it.
RE: First head cold with my CPAP
(02-09-2019, 01:34 PM)crowtor Wrote: (02-08-2019, 09:30 PM)Sleeprider Wrote: It kind of depends on where you are with therapy. I have called off vacation for a malfunctioned power supply and even used a friends CPAP that felt he could do without it when mine would not power up (it turned out to be defective power outlets). I will personally do anything possible not to be without the machine for a night, and more so if I'm sick and breathing is even more restricted. YMMV.
Absolutely, I don't even want to imagine a what if scenario when I don't sleep with my cpap. Every time I did a sleep study without my machine I simply didn't fall asleep at all. Last time the tech in the lab was the same and he simply gave up and came at 2 am to tell me to put my mask on. It took 3 years and 3 surgeries in total to get my apnea under control. I ain't giving that up EVER.
Unless I get a tracheotomy, then who knows, it's not something they do just because you ask for it.
I am in the same boat as you, life with out a CPAP machine is unthinkable and like you impossible. I have tried 1 and a half nights with out the machine and quite frankly slept in 10 second bites for each night.
RE: First head cold with my CPAP
(02-08-2019, 09:30 PM)Sleeprider Wrote: It kind of depends on where you are with therapy. I have called off vacation for a malfunctioned power supply and even used a friends CPAP that felt he could do without it when mine would not power up (it turned out to be defective power outlets). I will personally do anything possible not to be without the machine for a night, and more so if I'm sick and breathing is even more restricted. YMMV. Absolutely.
Last weekend, my power went out in the middle of the night. Turned out, I had only logged 40 minutes on the machine.
I did not get any sleep... when I could get to sleep, I'd wake up after 30 minutes.
Power ended up being off for 16 hours, and I was getting concerned that it would not be back on before I needed to go back to bed. Had that been the case, I would have ended up calling in sick Monday morning. No way I'm going to even try to pull my drive to/from work after "sleeping" without the machine.
Ya, I did it for years. My neighbors pounded on the walls, I kept my wife awake, and I was constantly nodding off while driving and in meetings at work.
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