01-04-2024, 12:45 PM
Sick and need to vent
So the post title pretty well sums it up. I really just need to vent to people who understand.
I have what is probably the worst cold I've ever had, and it's the first I've had since I've been on CPAP (3 months). I'm blowing my nose almost constantly, and have a horrible deep, wet cough. (I've tested for Covid, and have no flu/RSV symptoms.)
A little background on my sleeping and masks: I am a side- and stomach-sleeper. I have to use a FFM with a soft cervical collar to keep from getting chipmunk cheeks. Taping doesn't work - my mouth is closed, it's just the jaw and tongue that move. I've been able to use nasal pillows when sleeping on my stomach since my jaw doesn't move, but I can't sleep that way all night and they hurt my nose. I don't normally sleep on my back because I have chronic tailbone pain, but it's possible occasionally if I spend a lot of time arranging a bunch of pillows so I can position myself without putting pressure on the tailbone. But when on my back, even with the collar, my jaw drops backward rather than downward, and I get the chipmunk cheeks.
The last two nights have been awful. The night before last I used my normal mask (F20) for about 5 1/2 hours. I got some deep sleep early on, but then kept waking up coughing, sneezing, and with snot running out of my nose into the mask. I finally gave up and took off the mask to try to get some sleep. Surprisingly enough, I had my first 0.0 AHI score that night.
Last night I dug out my other masks and started out with the P30i and sleeping on my stomach, since I've seen that people like to use the pillows when they have congestion. That actually went OK and I got some sleep. But then I woke up at 00:35 and there was an annoying whistling noise in the pillows. I got up to go to the bathroom, took off the mask and wiped it off (it was pretty wet from mucus), and tried again. Still had too much whistling noise. I assume the diffuser is blocked - and maybe it was full of mucus as well, since I didn't want to turn on the light and examine it.
So I went without a mask until 2:45, but wasn't sleeping so I tried the F30i mask. That didn't go well at all, my nose was dripping at the top of the mask and I couldn't stop coughing and sneezing.
Went without the mask again from 3:16 to 5:50, when I woke up with my O2 ring buzzing because my oxygen dropped to 79. I was curled up on my side and had the covers pretty much over my face, so maybe I was rebreathing a lot of CO2, or it was just that I couldn't breathe much at all from the congestion.
Got up and put on the F20 mask. Used a bunch of pillows to position myself to just slightly off my back so that my sinuses would be clearer, but had to crank my head to the side so my jaw wouldn't drop backwards. Was awake until about 6:20, then got 25 minutes of sleep before I woke up with more coughing and sneezing and snot dripping into the mask. My eyes were tearing up from the coughing, but I couldn't wipe them because the mask blocks the tear ducts. Threw the mask on the floor but stayed in the "mostly on my back" position and was able to get to sleep until 8:13.
Total use of the CPAP was 4:20, and again, I had an AHI of 0.0. Crazy! I did take Nyquil before going to bed both nights so my initial sleep was a little better than usual, but there was a lot of time when I was in sleep/wake cycles when I usually have a few issues. Maybe I should be taking Nyquil every night.
(Kidding.)
If anybody got through this wall of text, thanks for listening.
I have what is probably the worst cold I've ever had, and it's the first I've had since I've been on CPAP (3 months). I'm blowing my nose almost constantly, and have a horrible deep, wet cough. (I've tested for Covid, and have no flu/RSV symptoms.)
A little background on my sleeping and masks: I am a side- and stomach-sleeper. I have to use a FFM with a soft cervical collar to keep from getting chipmunk cheeks. Taping doesn't work - my mouth is closed, it's just the jaw and tongue that move. I've been able to use nasal pillows when sleeping on my stomach since my jaw doesn't move, but I can't sleep that way all night and they hurt my nose. I don't normally sleep on my back because I have chronic tailbone pain, but it's possible occasionally if I spend a lot of time arranging a bunch of pillows so I can position myself without putting pressure on the tailbone. But when on my back, even with the collar, my jaw drops backward rather than downward, and I get the chipmunk cheeks.
The last two nights have been awful. The night before last I used my normal mask (F20) for about 5 1/2 hours. I got some deep sleep early on, but then kept waking up coughing, sneezing, and with snot running out of my nose into the mask. I finally gave up and took off the mask to try to get some sleep. Surprisingly enough, I had my first 0.0 AHI score that night.
Last night I dug out my other masks and started out with the P30i and sleeping on my stomach, since I've seen that people like to use the pillows when they have congestion. That actually went OK and I got some sleep. But then I woke up at 00:35 and there was an annoying whistling noise in the pillows. I got up to go to the bathroom, took off the mask and wiped it off (it was pretty wet from mucus), and tried again. Still had too much whistling noise. I assume the diffuser is blocked - and maybe it was full of mucus as well, since I didn't want to turn on the light and examine it.
So I went without a mask until 2:45, but wasn't sleeping so I tried the F30i mask. That didn't go well at all, my nose was dripping at the top of the mask and I couldn't stop coughing and sneezing.
Went without the mask again from 3:16 to 5:50, when I woke up with my O2 ring buzzing because my oxygen dropped to 79. I was curled up on my side and had the covers pretty much over my face, so maybe I was rebreathing a lot of CO2, or it was just that I couldn't breathe much at all from the congestion.
Got up and put on the F20 mask. Used a bunch of pillows to position myself to just slightly off my back so that my sinuses would be clearer, but had to crank my head to the side so my jaw wouldn't drop backwards. Was awake until about 6:20, then got 25 minutes of sleep before I woke up with more coughing and sneezing and snot dripping into the mask. My eyes were tearing up from the coughing, but I couldn't wipe them because the mask blocks the tear ducts. Threw the mask on the floor but stayed in the "mostly on my back" position and was able to get to sleep until 8:13.
Total use of the CPAP was 4:20, and again, I had an AHI of 0.0. Crazy! I did take Nyquil before going to bed both nights so my initial sleep was a little better than usual, but there was a lot of time when I was in sleep/wake cycles when I usually have a few issues. Maybe I should be taking Nyquil every night.
(Kidding.)If anybody got through this wall of text, thanks for listening.
