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+--- Thread: Sick and need to vent (/Thread-Sick-and-need-to-vent)
Sick and need to vent - cps22 - 01-04-2024
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.
RE: Sick and need to vent - Muggzy - 01-04-2024
You have my sympathies, and best wishes for a quick recovery!
RE: Sick and need to vent - cps22 - 01-04-2024
Thank you! It helped to get all that off my chest. My husband doesn't want to hear it, LOL.
I picked up all the masks to clean them, and yep - the nasal pillows were full of gunk. Yuck.
RE: Sick and need to vent - CPAPfriend - 01-05-2024
That sounds like a lot to go through. I hope things trend upwards for you from now on. Good luck
RE: Sick and need to vent - cps22 - 01-05-2024
Thanks!
I had a much better night last night. Still woke up with 5-minute coughing fits a few times, but otherwise got in some decent sleep (thanks, Nyquil). I hope maybe I've turned the corner on this stupid cold.
RE: Sick and need to vent - srwilsn3 - 01-05-2024
cps22, use a saline nasal wash (like a Neti Pot) before you go to bed! While it won't last you all night, it will help tremendously to start. Not to mention, you'll just feel better.
Also, have you tried upping your humidity a bit?
Sorry about your cold! Bad enough we have to suffer through the symptoms like other mortals, but we also have to have it disrupt our already fragile sleep.
RE: Sick and need to vent - Expat31 - 01-05-2024
Hello,
I am perhaps some practical ideas that may help out a little bit. (I have all year-round phlegm sliding down the back of my throat, which is pretty annoying.)
Whilst my symptoms are very different from yours, I have some things that may mitigate in some small
- Use of nose decongestant with Rhiniclean - see attached photo.
- Steam inhalation, with very hot water in a washing up bowl, towel over your head, perhaps also salt dissolved in the water.
- Simply just gargling with salt dissolved in water.
- Finally, avoiding as much as possibly dairy products.
Hope you can ease your symptoms as soon as possible.
RE: Sick and need to vent - cps22 - 01-05-2024
Thank you.
I know people really love using Neti pots, but I tried it years ago and hated it. I don't remember exactly why, but I think it was that it felt OK immediately after using it, but then I'd have some kind of weird rebound effect and the congestion would get even worse. Maybe if I tried one of those commercial nasal rinses that come bottled I'd have better results.
I may try upping the humidity. I had turned it down a notch a few weeks ago because I was getting a lot of moisture in my mask, but I can give it another try. Though the congestion wasn't really a problem for me last night. I think it's because I was mostly on my back so everything just drained down my throat (hence the coughing).
RE: Sick and need to vent - cps22 - 01-05-2024
Thanks for the suggestions!