Cold weather and cpap saga: first winter

This is my first winter on cpap. Oh my - I thought I had this mask thing figured out and had decided to use a nasal mask for spring, summer and fall and then a FFM for winter and use an Aussie hose when I had rainout. I tend to be congested and also have lots of nosebleeds all winter so didn't want to use nasal mask during that time. That last part of it is still true since I haven't had any nosebleeds since I stopped using nasal pillows mask(s). But here is a summary of my (mis-) adventures.

1. Cold weather started and I keep my home cool (around 60 deg). I wasn't having rainout so I waited to start using heated hose. Then one night when I couldn't sleep because air from CPAP was too cold, I had one of those Aha! moments and plugged in the heated hose .... voila - very pleasant air temp.

2. I decided to switch to a FFM after I had my first nosebleed of the season when I removed nasal mask in the am. The absolute worst time to switch masks is when you *need* to! For a variety of reasons, including PTSD when I put on FFM, it took me about 2 months to "get it right". Then I thought I was all set ........

3. Then the first spell of colder weather hit (below 10 deg) and I had the first of several nights when I woke up feeling like I was suffocating because my nose was congested and I couldn't open my mouth enough to breath that way. Luckily I had already purchased a netipot so I got up in the middle of the night and did the nasal lavage thing and went back to sleep. It seemed like once or twice a week worked fine.

4. Again I thought - Aha! - now things are fine and I've got it nailed .... BUT... then outside temp went below zero and I was getting congested enough to need nasal rinse every night (finally got smart last night and did it *before* I went to bed).

I owe many thanks to lots of you on this forum. Without all of you I wouldn't have had a clue about #1, wouldn't have thought ahead to #2 or #3 and might not have thought about #4. I would have been in a sorry state, indeed.

So a very big "Thank you" and happy holidays to all!

Mindy

Happy Holidays, Mindy. Isn't it great when we finally figure out what works for us? God bless the people in this forum so generous w/sharing advice, suggestions and experiences.

Hi Slinky,

I'm not so sure I've finally got it all figured out .... every time I've thought that there have been new challenges to overcome. I do hope those challenges will be less frequent but don't expect them to disappear completely

m

Sounds strange but last winter during a period in the 20's here-I'm sure I "burned"/frostnipped my nasal passages. I like sleeping in a cold room and don't heat the sleeping cottage at night figuring I have blankets and an electric bed warmer to start the night. One night it got below freezing in the cottage-too cold for the heated humidifier to help. I'm absolutely sure there is a wind chill factor with that PAP blowing through the nose. My nose took about 2 weeks to get back to normal. (I'm also sure I'm exagerating as there was no ice in the humidifier or tubing); but I have a new cottage heater set to keep the room at 45 and rigged up my coiled PAP hose on top of a heating pad, under the blankets.

This is my first winter on xpsp too, but where I'm at the temps aren't quite that severe. I stopped refridgerating the distilled water for the humidifier a few weeks ago. That became a habbit over the humid summer months. I also increased the heated humidifier setting a bit. A night or so ago we left the heat down a bit and it got chilly in the house. i was fine under my inslulated blanket but the air did become a bit nippy, so I just tucked the hose under the covers with me. That worked pretty well. I really need a hose cover though, a homemade one at the very least. But other than that, so far... so good. I see my pulmonologist two days after Christmas and hopefully it will be a good report.