Nasal congestion try 1,547

[chance]

What do you guys do for nasal congestion?

Is nasal congestion what you notice after starting CPAP due to CPAP, or was it sitting idle until you *had* to breathe through your nose for treatment?

I've tried a lot of stuff, and I've found through trial and error that most of the "tries" were actually "fails" - congestion was bad enough I didn't notice each attempt was actually making things worse. This was the biggest good thing that's happened from trying all of the fixes, finally just stopping everything and trying things one thing at a time. The biggest bad thing is that when nasal congestion is the worst, I sleep AWFUL and make bad decisions about it.

I keep thinking I'm actually doing something simple that's making things worse for myself.

Two angles make sense from where I'm sitting to try:

One: Nasal irrigation seems to be the "right" thing to do - I finally figured out that I was overheating the solution and burning my nose. Even with that now, if I irrigate more than once every other day, it makes the congestion worse.

Two: distilled water. I've noticed lately that when I have a *new* bottle of distilled water, things actually seem better on CPAP. When the bottle is older (they can last awhile) things get really bad. Ditto for nasal irrigation using that same distilled water. Doing nasal irrigation with filtered and boiled tap water instead of distilled seems to be a big win. I remember something in my fuzzy head from HS chemistry - distilled water is acidic and gets more acidic as it ages as it absorbs carbon from the atmosphere. Has anyone fooled with adding baking soda to reduce this, measured pH of their distilled water, or mixed their own nasal irrigation solutions that changed how well irrigation worked for you?

[mdintx]

Well the nasal rinse solution has baking soda in it already. I've experimented with how many packets I've used. I tend to do best with 1.5 packets.

[mullismom]

My routine is at dinner time I check to make sure I can breath through my nose. If my nose isn't clear, I take a 12 hour Mucinex and by bed time I'm usually cleared out. Mucinex is an over the counter medication that loosen mucus. Buy a small box to try and see if it works for you. If you start using it frequently like I do, consider getting it at Costco or Sam's.

If you think that using the CPAP is the source of congestion, look into allergy filters for your machine. My life improved once I added allergy filters to my machine and it is shocking how much stuff they trap and prevent from irritating my nose.

[Curious2]

CPAP didn't really work for me until I had coblation to shrink turbinates, got sinus infections and congestion under control, and stopped mouth leaks with 2" paper tape. I had chronic sinus infections for years that antibiotics didn't cure--predated and had nothing to do with starting CPAP therapy. It took a lot of nasal rinses-- 3 to 4 a day for awhile, and now 1 a day to keep the sinus infection at bay. For the rinses, I use the Neilmed squeeze bottle and pre-mixed packets of solution. At first I was careful to use only distilled water for the rinses, but these days I use tap water. Doesn't seem to make a difference for me. But, if tap water does bother you, I would suspect not only microbes but also floride as the irritant. Bottom line, if you can't breath through your nose, don't expect CPAP with nasal masks to work. (At the beginning, I tried full-face masks, and even an oral mask, but too many leaks to work for me.) If you can, enlist an ENT specialist in helping you find a solution. These congestion issues can be tricky...

[Julie]

Have you tried just turning down, or off, your humidifier? It often makes a big difference.

[shambharwani]

There are a couple procedures in Yoga - Jalneti and Sutraneti - which are excellect in clearing and keeping the nasal passages open. No medicines or drugs used and the effect is phenomenal. I had severe sinus induced headaches and colds, but after Sutraneti I have been relatively free of these for the last 20 years.

Sham

[Curious2]

I did forget to mention my experiences with humidification. For me, at least, too much humidification does contribute big time to congestion. I do best with the heat turned down such that only about 1/2 inch of water is used in the night. From what I read, though, experiences vary considerably, and most do better with more humidification. I know the sleep tech argued with me on this one; but, I am sure of my results...

[sleepycarol]

I, too, find too much humidification to be a big problem. I do better with passover humidification in the winter and no humidification in the summer. I just started using the passover mode for this winter only a few days ago.

Come spring I will no longer need it again until fall.

[angela6]

I had a deviated septum and overgrown turbinates that kept me clogged up for twenty years. Right before I started cpap I had a septioplasty and turbinate reduction surgery done. This helped tremendously. My ENT turned me on to using the Neti pot for nasal irrigation. I use tap water and a very fine salt made for use with the pot. I know some people put a pinch of baking soda into the mixture to avoid stinging but I don't need to. I do nasal irrigation daily usually once a day before going to sleep and on days when my allergies to dust and mold act up I irrigate twice daily. I use Nasonex nasal spray a couple of times a week when the allergies act up.

A combination of having surgery, using the Neti pot and the nasal spray seem to keep me from getting congested. I use distilled water in my cpap humidifier and keep the humidifier around 1 or 1.5.

[chance]

Well I have a turbinate procedure scheduled for the 4th. (submucous resection of the inferior turbinates, powered method). I'm nervous about it, and am frantically trying to find a "regular" solution .. I'm sure I'll go through with it unless I find something that dramatically changes things. This has been a killer year for me, so there's some desperation. Curious2 and angela6, how have your procedures worked for you after the fact? How long has it been?

I've found one full-face mask that works for me pretty well in the leakage department, but sleep sure is worse than a nasal mask. It seems that nasal congestion has an overall big impact for me in how I feel the next day regardless of mask.

I found two nights ago that the nasal pillows I had been using most since I've started actually contribute significantly to the congestion. When I switched to a traditional nasal mask, the congestion has subsided somewhat. It's at least not as painful as it has become more recently after my sleep doc increased my pressure, and the remaining congestion is deeper inside other than right at the front.

I finally just stopped doing nasal rinses. I tried again today and realized there really isn't any frequency of them that my nose cares for.

My hope is the procedure makes my sleep (and pressure) more consistent, and things work out as at least as well as they did when I first started CPAP.

[Jaylee]

I was told not to keep distilled water past 7 days. I make my own and only keep it for 7 days, then I dump it and wash the container and make some more.

I use my Neti Pot every night before bed. I can only use about 1/4th of a pack of the OTC salt solution. That is my personal comfort amount, and I have tried various kinds as well. The neti pot gets enough stuff out that I can sleep with my nasal mask without a problem.

[littleredtree2]

I, too, find too much humidification to be a big problem. I do better with passover humidification in the winter and no humidification in the summer. I just started using the passover mode for this winter only a few days ago.

Come spring I will no longer need it again until fall.

hi,
I keep seeing the term "passover humidification"
Could you exlpain what this is

[miketech]

To answer littleredtree's question: Passover humidification means having water in the humidifier tank, but not turning the heat on. Thus, the air just "passes over" the water, picking up only a small amount of humidity.
Mike

[JohnBFisher]

... Passover humidification means having water in the humidifier tank, but not turning the heat on. Thus, the air just "passes over" the water, picking up only a small amount of humidity. ...

Either that, or it is the humidifier you use during the Festival of Unleavened Bread because the Matza is so dry that it tends to suck the humidity out of the air. Sorry. I really should give proper notice before unleashing such stupid humor.

Mike, of course, hit the nail on the head. If you live in an area with a warmer climate, you might not need the water to be heated to provide adequate moisture. When the humidifier was excessively expensive and not integrated into the unit, a passover humidifer provided a good alternative if your normal ambient humidity was fairly high.

[chance]

Well, good news. I found I have alleviated my nasal congestion almost completely by simply preheating the water in the humidity chamber on my CPAP before I use it.

Less good news: the surgery, although it helped, does not appear to have helped much without the above discovery. It's hard to say if I had tried preheating prior to surgery that I could have avoided it.

EDIT: Clarified outcome of surgery.