Nasal swelling/congestion after 3~5 hrs with CPAP, will steroid nasal spray work?
Hi All, been using my cpap for 2 years but still constantly waking up in the middle of the night hyperventilating (pretty much throughout the year, not limited to spring/summer), always seems that as the night goes on I feel less tolerant of the cpap pressures and even when I force myself to continue with the cpap session I could not get back to sleep... cpap just felt more uncomfortable as the night goes on....
My pressure is set to constant 7.4 with EPR at 3. My api has never gone above 3 during each night and no leaks.
Humidity I can only set to a maximum of 3, any higher I would have rain out issues even with my hose cover installed.
Before bed I have been taking melatonin and magnesium supplement, which seems to have helped me get to sleep, but I am sorta stuck when I get woken up in the middle of the night....
I have turned off the ramp setting on my machine, while I have no problem with the ramp setting during the initial sleep, but when I woke up at night and restarted CPAP for some reason I have a huge difficulty breathing through the ramp pressure (around 5.5).
After mentioning to my new GP, he prescribed me Avamys (27.5mg fluticasone furoate) nasal spray. What I want to confirm is- would this only work for seasonal allergies, or would it still work for dilating my nostrils after its been irritated with cpap pressure through the night, as I dont think mine is a seasonal allergy problem?
Any other suggestions you guys can think of? I cant turn up tube temp/humidity any higher because the heated air has been very uncomfortable and I have been getting too many rainouts in the past.
Thanks!
RE: Nasal swelling/congestion after 3~5 hrs with CPAP, will steroid nasal spray work?
Have you tried tried using your machine without the humidifier? Sounds counterintuitive but has helped some people with their nasal swelling. Are you using distilled water?
RE: Nasal swelling/congestion after 3~5 hrs with CPAP, will steroid nasal spray work?
Still using distilled water, had dry month intermittently when I change humidity to 2, so I guess during off the humidifier completely would not work for me?
RE: Nasal swelling/congestion after 3~5 hrs with CPAP, will steroid nasal spray work?
I see that you are using a nasal mask. Do you use mouth tape? (Referring to the dry mouth.)
RE: Nasal swelling/congestion after 3~5 hrs with CPAP, will steroid nasal spray work?
Have you tried auto climate control and turning down the tube temperature? I had a similar nasal congestion issue and find that lower temperature is much more comfortable (I'm down at 18C/65F). Do you really need ramp? Most here recommend to switch it off. Was your difficulty with ramp pressure after waking that you couldn't get enough air or that you couldn't breath out against the pressure (which would have been only 4cm given EPR settings)?
RE: Nasal swelling/congestion after 3~5 hrs with CPAP, will steroid nasal spray work?
I use Fluticasone Propionate Nasal spray from Amazon ( There basis brand ). It takes a few day for it to start working good, so don’t get discouraged. I do It every night after my shower and it really helps with swollen turbinates.
RE: Nasal swelling/congestion after 3~5 hrs with CPAP, will steroid nasal spray work?
Also, Fluticasone is an anti-inflammatory, so it can help with irritation in addition to seasonal allergies.
03-17-2022, 10:04 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-17-2022, 10:05 AM by hegel.)
RE: Nasal swelling/congestion after 3~5 hrs with CPAP, will steroid nasal spray work?
OR: maybe your humidification is too low..? I grant that rain out would suggest otherwise. Still, I experience terrible nasal issues if I don't get enough humidification. What's the Relative Humidity in your bedroom? It's hard to see how the temp on your hose is affecting your sleep, but maybe I'm missing something. My rain out issues ended completely when I got a heated hose.
In terms of hyperventilating, I wonder if turning up your minimum pressure might help. 7.4 is pretty low and if you're congested, you may feel like your suffocating. More oxygen might help.