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Anyone else have issues with winter congestion and not being able to breathe thru your nose? If so how do you handle it? I checked the accuweather.com air quality chart and it looks pretty clear for my area. Been traveling a lot the last two weeks and between that and the congestion haven't gotten great sleep or used the CPAP machine at all. Need to refocus and get back on the CPAP consistently. I found some once a day OTC allergy pills (have to look and see what brand) so I tried taking those and they didn't seem to help. Will humidification help?
Thanks in advance.
Machine: Resmed Airsense Autoset For Her Mask Type: Full face mask Mask Make & Model: Resmed Quattro FX Humidifier: Built-in CPAP Pressure: 10.6 - 14.0 CPAP Software: OSCAR
12-28-2021, 04:59 PM (This post was last modified: 12-28-2021, 04:59 PM by StevesSp.)
RE: Winter Congestion
Have you tried a decongestant spray?
A full face mask seems the most obvious alternative, if you can tolerate one. If you haven't used one before, it will take a little while to get the hang of it but it will at least allow your breathing to bypass the blocked nose.
I have chronic nasal congestion due to problematic sinuses, so nasal masks/pillows were never an option for me. Even with a FF mask though, colds and flu make life hard and my sleep is disrupted accordingly - just another thing that keeps us awake when we're ill I suppose.
Some say humidification helps, but because I use it all the time, I can't confirm.
For me, Flonase (fluticasone propionate) saves the day. I use it at various times of the year, and recently find myself going back for the relief. My bigger events are in the Spring. This is an anti-inflammatory nasal spray that works to mitigate allergies and inflammation. It is non-habit forming and does not have a rebound effect, so can be used long-term as needed. Better humidification of your home and optimization of your CPAP humidity can help. I notice you are using nearly default pressure at 5-20 cm on your auto CPAP, so if you would like to fine-tune that device, we're here to help.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
With all the rain here recently, environmental mold is off the charts. It'[s having an effect on me, for sure. I use fluticasone and other meds, but that'[s about all one can do. Envrionmental mold is, well, everywhere. No cleaning up the great outdoors, sadly.
Several things come to mind, Flonase spray, edits to pressure to get you an individual pressure setup, and humidity, heated hose edits for the colder weather.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
If you live in an area with cold weather winter then it might be because of the extra dryness winter brings. You could try increasing humidification settings to see if that helps.
Thanks for the insight all. Some further background - just switched to ResMed machine and am working on dialing it in. My sleep patterns/behavior are not that great to begin with and need modified. I just added the heated hose and water to humidifier this month and tried the Flonase spray. Still having congestion issues as I seem to have every winter. Going to give it a few more weeks before thinking about the full face mask option. Was definitely more consistent and longer wearing at night before the season changed. At this point I don't really remember waking up to take off the mask.
So I added screenshots from last night and earlier in the month. Any thoughts on what to adjust on the ResMed machine? Think shaving the beard might help with the leaks but working outside all winter it is nice for the added warmth.
(12-28-2021, 03:47 PM)veloracer Wrote: Anyone else have issues with winter congestion and not being able to breathe thru your nose? If so how do you handle it?
I just accept that, for parts of the year, I can't breath through my nose. That's one of the reasons I never considered anything but a full-face mask. Steroidal nasal sprays (flucticasone, etc) work a little, but they have to be taken every day, ideally before symptoms start. Fast-acting decongestants are habit-forming, so I don't use them. Neti pots and saline sprays work a little, but they're messy and unpleasant.
I would take the EPR to 3 to knock off residual flow limits and potentially reduce hypopnea further. Current median pressure is 10.0, so if that seems comfortable, don't hesitate to make that your minimum, otherwise, we can put that on the back burner for now.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
