Why do I get sinus congestion while I'm lying down or asleep?

[CorruptAlligator]

Does anybody have any idea why do I (we) get sinus congestion while I'm lying down or asleep?

I'm not entirely sure if it's due to laying down a long time or after falling sleep.  And when the air is dry and I breath in dry air of certain threshold of humidity, I would wake up in the middle of the night with nasal congestion.  

This is the main reason for my CPAP usage.  So that I can get sufficient humidity fed through the sinus so that no inflammation happen inside my sinus.

Anybody know why it happens while I'm lying in bed or asleep?   What is going on that is differentiated when I'm not laying down and awake that doesn't cause congestion despite the dry air?

[DaveL]

I'm no expert. But this is what I've found out. I need a humidifier on my apap/or cpap. The reservoir is of marginal capacity. S9E before; S10 autosens "for her" now.

I added a furnace humidifier when my ukulele cracked. So house humidity is about 37% most of the winter. On cold days I have a condensation problem on windows. I should turn my humidifier down. My Thermostat is a Google Nest. I get the inside humidity when I touch the centre of it...

My house is about 20 years old. The builder put in terrible quality windows. So I can spend a lot to buy good windows, or not.

It's not normal to put on a mask attached to a machine by a hose. We get to chose the mask we use....well, maybe. Your pressure is fixed. I used 13 for years on my cpap. I don't have the problem you do.

I'm looking for a new mask. I have a cut on my nose that won't go away. It started with my N20 Resmed mask I put the hose on it and I was almost asleep...every mask is different. Would a different mask help you?

So what is the humidity ratio I'm getting? Darned if I know.

[DaveL]

A wonderful manager at 3M Canada gave me questions to ask when I was trying to diagnose a problem.

* Did it ever work?
* What's changed?

He became a VP with 3M. Smart man, Jack Brooks.

[kevrx]

I have recently found that acid reflux can cause congestion for me at night.  When I started prilosec, I started breathing better at night.  There is a type of reflux, LPR, that may not always show symptoms.  Nasacort AQ also helps me when I use it daily.

[Geer1]

Congestion is caused by swelling of your turbinates which happens when blood engorges them. This swelling is caused by a number of factors and humidity/dryness is just one factor that affects it. Other factors include hormones/neurotransmitters (like histamine in an allergic reaction) and autonomic nervous system activity which can cause vasodilation. I think the later is the main reason people primarily have nasal congestion at night because the body is in a relaxed state and the arteries dilate. My understanding is this is the idea behind vasomotor/nonallergic rhinitis.

In my personal experience as well as seeing claims by others food sensitivities are one of the most common causes of this nonallergic rhinitis. In my case dairy is the main culprit and gluten can trigger it as well. Ibs and reflux are other symptoms of a food sensitivity and trying elimination diets is about the only way of finding the culprit.

Before I found my dairy sensitivity I had to use dymista daily and even with it I struggled to breath through my nose some nights.

[CorruptAlligator]

I've tried sleeping without CPAP and notice that I get more acid reflux symptoms than without. I get much greater mucus buildup on nasal/throught area. So, it seems that CPAP reducing acid reflux symptoms seems to be true.