why do I sneeze repeatedly all day long?

[Skodobah]

Oh lordy I am so glad I found this site. Nobody seems to understand at the other chat boards - and neither does my doctor's nurse - that I am having a horrible nasal/sinus reaction to having air blown in my nose. Even with the heated humidifier, I spend the whole next day with swollen, watery eyes.... clear watery discharge dripping from my nose and also down my throat... and the sneezing never seems to stop.

Even Benadryl did not help.

I suspect after reading these posts that I have a mouthleak. I wear the Swift pillows and woke the other night with a very, very dry mouth hanging wide open! Could it be possible that.... if I tape it shut or use a chinstrap... or get a full face mask... that my problem will be solved?

Right now I am very upset and feel physically horrible from the symptoms... and there is no way I plan to wear that cpap deal tonight with the way I feel!

- Jules

[match8]

I am also having this same problem! I got my ResMed Elite S8 w/Heated Humidifier and Swift Nasal Mask only 7 days ago and have had these allergy symptoms ever since. I rarely sneeze and have never had any kind of allergy before.

I came home with my machine and was exhausted so I thought i would try it out by taking a short nap. I laid down and slept like a baby for an hour. Within 5 minutes of taking off the mask I went into a sneezing fit that lasted nearly a half an hour.

I have been sneezing off and on with a runny nose and watery eyes since. I have tried to be very compliant. I have nearly 50 hrs this first week. But it has been a real struggle with the sneezing, watery eyes and clear runny nose.

I called the place that set the machine up for me and they had never heard of such a problem.

It seems that there are many people in this thread with this problem wearing the Swift Nasal Mask like mine.

I'm not sure what all the number mean but my CPAP is set at 12.0. They told me I averaged 74 instances an hour and my oxygen was at 75% during my sleep study.

Thank you all for posting on this forum. It has been very enlightening.

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): resmed, humidifier, swift, CPAP

[elliejose]

For me, the cure for this is a stand alone humidifier running at highest setting. It always took me about a week to get past it once it started. But I tried passover humidifier and integrated humidifiers (which I greatly wanted to be able to use because of space) and nothing else worked for me but a stand alone humidifier. Also, I must have it warm before hosing up else I am in for trouble.

[elliejose]

For me, the cure for this is a stand alone humidifier running at highest setting. It always took me about a week to get past it once it started. But I tried passover humidifier and integrated humidifiers (which I greatly wanted to be able to use because of space) and nothing else worked for me but a stand alone humidifier. Also, I must have it warm before hosing up else I am in for trouble.

[Jimm]

I have been sneezing off and on with a runny nose and watery eyes since. I have tried to be very compliant. I have nearly 50 hrs this first week. But it has been a real struggle with the sneezing, watery eyes and clear runny nose.

I called the place that set the machine up for me and they had never heard of such a problem.

I called my DME the morning after my first night with CPAP with these exact same compaints and they were very familiar with the problem. It's a fairly common problem and the best cure seems to be lots of heated humidification. It's worked for me but I had to spring for the Ausie heated tube to stop the rainout that the humidification caused.

[Snoozin' Bluezzz]

Hello everyone.

The universal thread through this is mouth leaks. You have to stop them. As numerous folks have said, a gaping mouth makes for a gigantic leak the machine can not compensate for and you are not getting, any, nil, zero, zilch, therapy.

Keeping the mouth closed somehow - with tape, Poligrip strips, or using a Full Face mask, etc. is the only answer.

As numerous folks have said - everything is drying out and your nasal passages become ultra sensitive.

Yes, it is connected to CPAP use. Yes, it can be corrected but not without keeping the mouth closed.

Try it. If that doesn't fix it then get thee off to your Doctor and get a referral to an ENT.

David

[Jimm]

Hello everyone.

The universal thread through this is mouth leaks. You have to stop them. As numerous folks have said, a gaping mouth makes for a gigantic leak the machine can not compensate for and you are not getting, any, nil, zero, zilch, therapy.

Keeping the mouth closed somehow - with tape, Poligrip strips, or using a Full Face mask, etc. is the only answer.

As numerous folks have said - everything is drying out and your nasal passages become ultra sensitive.

Yes, it is connected to CPAP use. Yes, it can be corrected but not without keeping the mouth closed.

Try it. If that doesn't fix it then get thee off to your Doctor and get a referral to an ENT.

David

I can't completely agree. True, keeping mouth leaks to a minimum is essential to good xPAP therapy and I now use Poligrip to ensure that my mouth stays closed. However, even before using Poligrip I would get "allergy symptoms" whenever I forgot to turn on the humidifier (the one main thing I don't like about the Remstar is having to turn on the humidifier separately) and would never get the symptoms with the humidifier on.

[Snoozin' Bluezzz]

Same problem, different cause, dry nasal passages and ultra sensitivity.

I was stressing what was central to the thread. Most folks reported mouth breathing. I did not consider non-humification but that could certainly do it as well.

Neither problem is essential to xPAP since they both can be mitigagted.

If the causes that most folks here report or comment on are eliminated and then the problem persists it is likely time to see the MDs.

David

[Gidgie]

Well......sneezing wasn't my problem, but I surely did have A problem in my early weeks with cpap.......felt like someone had lit a fire in my sinuses every afternoon......no idea why it waited that long each day to start.....Anyway, the cure was a steroid nasal spray....to toughen up the membranes. Now my Remstar Pro2 is blasting away at 18.....and I rarely even bother with the ramp........just keep my humidifier on fairly high......usually 4....and sleep like a log. Tho my sinuses to my lungs are probably like leather by now!

[chawint@aol.com]

My husband has used a c-pap machine for about 3 months now. He recently started sneezing all day, over and over again. He will sneeze up to 20/30 times. He is miserable as well as keeping us up all night. He also has a heart condition so the Dr. does not want to give him any medicine to control this. Any suggestions?

[Pugsy]

My husband has used a c-pap machine for about 3 months now. He recently started sneezing all day, over and over again. He will sneeze up to 20/30 times. He is miserable as well as keeping us up all night. He also has a heart condition so the Dr. does not want to give him any medicine to control this. Any suggestions?

Does he use humidifier? If so at what setting? Does he have other symptoms like congestion, runny nose, itchy, etc?
I got these symptoms when my humidifier ran dry once and when I set the setting too low.
Others may get similar symptoms when humidifier is set too high.