Methinks you have the real answer staring you in your face: At night the CPAP's filter is filtering out all or most of your allergens and you are peacefully breathing all night long. But as soon as you take the mask off, you're exposed to the allergens and you start sneezing and getting congested.dhill wrote:Okay, this is what I'm talking about. I too, have that horrible allergy like symtoms after starting my CPAP. I had allergies before but nothing like this. It feels like I have a worm wiggling around up my right nostril. I sneeze about 25 times in the morning but it bothers me ALL of the time since I use my CPAP every night. When I put it on, I can breathe perfectly but as soon as it comes off in the morning the sneezing and mucas begins all over. I'm at my wit's end. I too use Dawn to wash my hose and pillow. My humidifier part is soaked in 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water and allowed to dry without rinsing. I have the allergy filter in and I was told the rough side faces away from the machine so that's how I have it. I usually sleep with the humidifier on 1. It's such a shame that I can breath so good with it on but everything goes to crap when I take it off.
The solution is to figure out how to treat your daytime allergies now that they are severe enough to bother you.
Ideas:
Have you seen an allergist? If not, you should consider it.
Do you have any ideas on what you might be allergic to that is in your house and where ever else the sneezing and severe congestion are problems? Things you might be allergic to include: dust, pet dander---if you have pets, pollen---if your problem gets worse at certain times of the year, mold or mildew---it can grow unseen in the heater vents, and more.
Do you take any allergy meds? If not, then maybe taking an OTC antihistamine might help. Have you tried taking something like Claritin, Zyrtec, Allegra? Does it help at all? Or a prescription nasal spray like Flonase may be of some use to you.
Do you use saline nasal sprays or a nasal rinse or neti pot? If not, you might want to start using them. Since your problem starts in the morning AFTER you take your mask off, you might want to do a nasal rinse or neti pot as soon as you get up or perhaps just after breakfast. You may want to use the saline spray anytime your nose is feeling a bit clogged.
In other words, I think you need to be treating this problem in the same way you would have treated it prior to CPAP: If your allergies started to get worse pre-CPAP you would have gone to your PCP and asked for some advice and maybe a referral to an allergist. And that's what you need to do here too. Because whatever it is that's bugging your nose, it's likely NOT the CPAP since you can breathe just fine when the mask is on your nose.