Continued Sinus Issues - Tried Auto on my S9 Last Night

[lytepole]

All the comments about people that run their humidifiers dry at night, or keep water by the bed to refill definitely makes me realize that my humidity is on the low end! I rarely even go through half!

I've got it back on auto at 76. Will leave it there a couple days, and then keep going up a couple degrees every couple days to see if I find something that feels good.

Thanks so much for all of the input as I know this has been an ongoing problem for me

[zoocrewphoto]

Are you using afrin on a daily basis? This is addictive and tends to make this worse. It is hard to get off, but worth it. I use nasacort which has worked really well for me. I also use a low temp (in the 60s) with A higher humidity setting. I like the cooler temp but need a lot of humidity.

[lytepole]

Are you using afrin on a daily basis? This is addictive and tends to make this worse. It is hard to get off, but worth it. I use nasacort which has worked really well for me. I also use a low temp (in the 60s) with A higher humidity setting. I like the cooler temp but need a lot of humidity.

I definitely don't use Afrin every day - its something I use maybe a couple days a month if things are really bad.

When you say you use a higher humidity setting, how high are we talking? I think we have the same machine, so I'm curious how high you go.

Thanks!

[palerider]

Are you using afrin on a daily basis? This is addictive and tends to make this worse. It is hard to get off, but worth it. I use nasacort which has worked really well for me. I also use a low temp (in the 60s) with A higher humidity setting. I like the cooler temp but need a lot of humidity.

I definitely don't use Afrin every day - its something I use maybe a couple days a month if things are really bad.

When you say you use a higher humidity setting, how high are we talking? I think we have the same machine, so I'm curious how high you go.

Thanks!

I had a good ENT tell me that if I only used afrin once a day, I'd go a lot longer before the addiction set in. and she was right.

[zoocrewphoto]

Are you using afrin on a daily basis? This is addictive and tends to make this worse. It is hard to get off, but worth it. I use nasacort which has worked really well for me. I also use a low temp (in the 60s) with A higher humidity setting. I like the cooler temp but need a lot of humidity.

I definitely don't use Afrin every day - its something I use maybe a couple days a month if things are really bad.

When you say you use a higher humidity setting, how high are we talking? I think we have the same machine, so I'm curious how high you go.

Thanks!

Usually at 5. If I go lower, I get a really dry mouth. If I go higher, I tend to get a sweaty face. I use a full face mask and sleep with my mouth open all night. My nose can be clear but I still don't use it at night.

[Muse-Inc]

I had a terribly runny nose when I started CPAP therapy; lasted for a few wks-mos as I remember, then calmed down. I have off and on complete nasal blockage from congestion regardless of humidifier setting, so I wear the Innomed/RespCare Universal Hybrid mask which allows me to breathe through my mouth when I get congested/blocked. A lifetime of allergy/sinus issues makes CPAP therapy a challenge sometimes.

[lytepole]

Just an update....

I've been on the auto setting for the last two nights - set at 76 and 77. I'm not draining constantly now, but I am noticing some sinus pain on my left side. Throat didn't start hurting until the evening last night, so maybe I am making progress.

If I wanted to go a little bit higher with humidity than the auto provides to see what happened, what would my next move be? Back to manual, temp at 76 and humidity at like 5?

Thanks all! So glad I have a board where I can discuss my snottiness

[Greg Riddle]

Raise the temp setting

[Pugsy]

According to the ResMed tech I spoke with when I specifically asked about temperature and humidity while in automatic delivery mode....raising the temperature doesn't increase the humidity delivered...he said that the automatic setting is for 80% at any temperature. I still have a bit of trouble wrapping my brain around that one as I have too many years with "warmer air holds more water" but this past summer I turned the temp way down on my S9 to 60 (I think that's the lowest) because I like the air to feel cooler on my face in the summer and I didn't suffer any of my usual nasal symptoms at the low temperature so I have to accept that the humidity delivered didn't change.

When we switch over to the manual humidity settings and the manual temperature settings with the Climateline hose then we have much less control over the humidity delivered. Will a setting of 5 give more than 80%...I really don't know. I think a lot of it will depend on the ambient room humidity.
I think it probably will offer more because I tried a 5 setting this summer (I was wondering if the humidifier was working) with my usual temperature in automatic mode and I got rain out big time but with the same temp in automatic mode I never got rain out.
That's just based on my one night though...I think a setting of 5 most likely will offer more humidity than automatic.
You will need to watch out for rain out though. The only way to know for sure is to try it and see what your nose likes.

Oh.....when I had the symptoms you are having and they were caused by the experiment with lower humidity setting it took my nose a full 3 days running at my usual higher setting for them to forgive me...it wasn't an overnight fix.
I was really miserable for 3 days and in fact probably took about a week for my nose to totally be back to normal but 3 days before I really saw much improvement...I thought I had broke my nasal mucosa. I think I went through a bottle of Simply Saline trying to rehydrate the mucosa.

So if the symptoms are somewhat reduced by the automatic humidity delivery mode...you may just need a little more time for your nasal mucosa to forgive you....I only did one night at low humidity...you may have done several nights at a setting where they got mad at you. Might take them a little while to forgive you.

If you see any improvement with the increase...then we know that your nose likes more moisture. If it was the other way around your symptoms would likely have worsened markedly.

[Greg Riddle]

The res med tech is partially correct. While yes the machine keeps the humidity level at 80% at all Temps, the higher temperature will have a higher level of total moisture. The total amount of water the air can hold without condensation build up rises with higher temperature. 80 % humidity at 70° has less water in it than 80% humidity at 90°