NASAL SWELLING - STUFFED UP @ 3 am

[Neil Mac]

Nasal swelling.

Like many others on this board I’ suffer from nasal selling during the night. Oddly enough it’s between 3 and 4 am for me too.

My ResMed S9 auto set starts at 5 and goes up to 15. A recent sleep test confirmed my average need to be 11 cc. My built in humidifier is set to 4.0. I have tried settings from 0 to 5 and this seems to be the best for me in the dry cold Canadian winters. In the summer I drop the humidity setting as low as 0. Periodically I have added a drop or two of eucalyptus into the humidity reservoir but the benefits of that wear off after a day or so.

I use Nasonex daily and both my doctor and pharmacist agree it is neither addictive nor known to have caused any problems from long term use. The benefits of using Nasonex, as I understand from the pro’s, will only be achieved through daily use. I have also used nasal rinses and I now use nasal gels 3 or 4 hours before going to bed to help with nasal tissue dryness.

I clean my hose, mask and filters monthly and dust my sleeping area regularly. I have also started running an air filter in the room with a closed door for 3 hours each night before going to bed.

When I woke up I would sometimes take a hit of Dristan nasal spray but I don’t want to use this ongoing because it is discouraged by the manufacturer.

This past week when I’ve been stuffed up I’ve merely removed the mask and laid in bed for about 20 minutes. I find my nasal passages open up on their own and I can put the mask back on and sleep through the rest of the night.

I can only conclude that the CPAP machine is causing my nasal swelling. Is there a medical professional or equipment manufacturer on this Board that can offer an educated explanation and fix?

[DariaVader]

Nasal swelling.

Like many others on this board I’ suffer from nasal selling during the night. Oddly enough it’s between 3 and 4 am for me too.

My ResMed S9 auto set starts at 5 and goes up to 15. A recent sleep test confirmed my average need to be 11 cc.

You would be well served to use Sleepyhead or Rescan software to see if those settings are giving you the best therapy. 5 may be too low if required pressure is 11. Also sleep study is just data from one night... The machine is giving you (almost) a sleep study every night

My built in humidifier is set to 4.0. I have tried settings from 0 to 5 and this seems to be the best for me in the dry cold Canadian winters. In the summer I drop the humidity setting as low as 0. Periodically I have added a drop or two of eucalyptus into the humidity reservoir but the benefits of that wear off after a day or so.

you should never put volatile oils in your humidifier. If you want to use them, apply to a cotton ball and place near your air intake

I use Nasonex daily and both my doctor and pharmacist agree it is neither addictive nor known to have caused any problems from long term use. The benefits of using Nasonex, as I understand from the pro’s, will only be achieved through daily use. I have also used nasal rinses and I now use nasal gels 3 or 4 hours before going to bed to help with nasal tissue dryness.

I clean my hose, mask and filters monthly and dust my sleeping area regularly. I have also started running an air filter in the room with a closed door for 3 hours each night before going to bed.

When I woke up I would sometimes take a hit of Dristan nasal spray but I don’t want to use this ongoing because it is discouraged by the manufacturer.

This past week when I’ve been stuffed up I’ve merely removed the mask and laid in bed for about 20 minutes. I find my nasal passages open up on their own and I can put the mask back on and sleep through the rest of the night.

I can only conclude that the CPAP machine is causing my nasal swelling. Is there a medical professional or equipment manufacturer on this Board that can offer an educated explanation and fix?

getting humidity "right" (this is individual and highly variable) will help. Your profile says you use a nasal mask; consider switching to a nasal pillows mask like the resmed airfit p10 - these have helped many of us to open up nasal passages even when suffering from upper respiratory infections.

None of the advice you get on a forum can be considered medical or professional.

[justMongo]

...you should never put volatile oils in your humidifier. If you want to use them, apply to a cotton ball and place near your air intake

I don't wish to seem a contrarian; But I really am.
I'm not keen on putting volatile oils near the blower unit's intake. I feel they may literally gum up the sensors. Just my opinion.

der Mongo

[zonk]

This past week when I’ve been stuffed up I’ve merely removed the mask and laid in bed for about 20 minutes. I find my nasal passages open up on their own and I can put the mask back on and sleep through the rest of the night.

I can only conclude that the CPAP machine is causing my nasal swelling. Is there a medical professional or equipment manufacturer on this Board that can offer an educated explanation and fix?

Hi Neil Mac and welcome
Its normal for one side of the nose get swollen while the other side remain open so you can breathe, called "nasal cycle"
If both side of the nose get swollen at the same time, that is not normal, talk to your doctor about it
From the profile, it looks that you're using nasal mask, full face mask might be beneficial whenever the nose get blocked

Personally, I like to use 'breathe right nasal strips' at night, helps open nasal passages YMMV

[eplantz]

I had problems with total nasal congestion. happened pretty routinely around 5AM.

I have not thought about it recently but it is no longer a problem for me. I was using a WISP mask but switched about a year ago to an Airfit P10 pillow mask.

I don’t really have anything else that changed, so maybe the change in mask helped.

[eseedhouse]

I think you should increase your starting pressure a bit at a time. These machines run wide open have problems with runaway pressures - at least my A10 autoset did. Run at 5-15 (which is what my DME recommended) it would shoot up to near 15 and basically stay there. Now I run it at 10-16 and it rarely hits the top and when it does only for a few minutes. I also don't use the ramp.

Also I have nasal congestion problems and the higher initial pressure seems to open things up nicely even if I am slightly clogged up when I go to sleep. I stopped using the humidifier but I keep the room temperature at 25 degrees C and sleep without covers.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Neil Mac,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Much success to you with your CPAP therapy.

[green wings]

I'm not sure if it's correct protocol to do this, but I have a question for Zonk. When you say that it's normal for there to be congestion off and on all day and night, do you mean that it's normal for one side of the nose to stuff up completely?

When that happens to me, I can't get enough air through just one nostril and resort to mouth-breathing.

Just wondering. I posted on practically this same topic today. I did a search first but didn't find this thread for some reason.

This past week when I’ve been stuffed up I’ve merely removed the mask and laid in bed for about 20 minutes. I find my nasal passages open up on their own and I can put the mask back on and sleep through the rest of the night.

I can only conclude that the CPAP machine is causing my nasal swelling. Is there a medical professional or equipment manufacturer on this Board that can offer an educated explanation and fix?

Hi Neil Mac and welcome
Its normal for one side of the nose get swollen while the other side remain open so you can breathe, called "nasal cycle"
If both side of the nose get swollen at the same time, that is not normal, talk to your doctor about it
From the profile, it looks that you're using nasal mask, full face mask might be beneficial whenever the nose get blocked

Personally, I like to use 'breathe right nasal strips' at night, helps open nasal passages YMMV

[Mr Nifty]

Had similar problem. Doctor put me on Wilson's solution. 2ml in each nostril before bed and in the morning. Has helped dramatically.

[PaytonA]

What the heck is Wilson's solution?

I now often wake up once somewhere between 4 and 6 AM and often my nose is somewhat plugged. I do not think that it is swollen. Last night I used a nasal rinse before bed and it helped. I still woke up but my nose was not plugged. I have been using my humidity almost as high as it will go in auto.

Best Regards,

PaytonA