xPAP...Treatment for coughs?

Like a lot of apneic patients, I've noticed that colds and other maladies visit much less frequently, and with much lower severity since I've been 100% compliant w xPAP for the past 3 years. Nothing new here.

I have found, however, that when I do have a cold + cough, that my APAP just stops the cough in its tracks. (It resumes in the morning, but at night, the pappian air pressure splint is doing its thing, it somehow stops the "I wanna cough" sensation for me.

I wonder if this might be true for others as well. (Or if some folks might have an opposite reaction.)


Regards - - Capt M.


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I have only had one cold in my first year of cpap, but it sucked coughing into a ff mask.. I just reached for the afrin and used it for a couple of days. That helped my cough.

I have a chronic cough due to reactive airways and something inflammatory going on in my lungs that compromises my breathing and makes me cough. Seldom get colds and nasal congestion, maybe once or twice a year. But cpap settles my cough within minutes of putting the mask on. My mask time is the only time I am free of a cough.

Found this research report, though it involved children. Seems that CPAP might well help stop coughing.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/jour ... 1&SRETRY=0

Found this study, too. Who knew!?

CPAP improves chronic cough in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea – a pilot study (0 grade, 0 comment)
K. K. Y. Chan, S. Birring, G. Cossa, L. Laks, A. Ing (New South Wales, Australia; London, United Kingdom)

Recent data suggests that chronic cough is a prevalent symptom in patients with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). In this study we investigated the impact of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on cough in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Methods: 108 consecutive patients referred for evaluation of OSA completed polysomnography, the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (cough-specific quality of life, LCQ) and cough visual analogue scale (VAS). 19 patients were identified with a respiratory disturbance index (RDI) => 15 / hour, LCQ score < 19 and VAS => 20 mm. CPAP therapy was indicated in all. 3 were lost to follow up. 8 agreed to commence on CPAP therapy and 7 completed 24-hour measurement of cough frequency using the Leicester Cough Monitor (LCM) prior to CPAP. These 7 patients were followed up for 3 months. 5 achieved average CPAP usage of => 4 hours / day and 4 had a repeat measurement of 24-hour cough frequency. Results: In these 4 patients, 3 were female. Mean age was 63.3 (13.2) years. Mean average CPAP usage was 5.4(1.6) hours / day. CPAP after 3 months reduced total 24-hour cough count (136.5(54.6) vs 46.8(38.6), p = 0.04); cough frequency per hour (5.7(2.2) vs 2.0(1.5), p = 0.04) and improved LCQ score (14.8(2.0) vs 17.8(2.5)). Conclusions: CPAP may improve chronic cough in patients with OSA, both in terms of objective cough frequency and quality of life. Further randomized controlled studies are necessary to further determine the role of CPAP in the management of chronic cough in OSA. (retreived from http://www.ers-education.org/pages/defa ... owse=47465)

So I have the flu or something with a bad cough. The CPAP, as someone said above, settles the cough. So at least when in bed I can avoid coughing. Interesting.

Yep, works for me. When I have bronchitis I wish I could just wear my CPAP all day

And my incidence of upper respiratory infection has gone from about 10 per year to once or twice every three years. Astounding!

Janknitz wrote:When I have bronchitis I wish I could just wear my CPAP all day

There is a story about wives who don't use CPAP, but their husbands do. They say when bronchitis strikes, after the husband leaves for work, they use his CPAP and get a couple of hours of good sleep that they did not get the night before.

I wonder if the primary effect is from airway splinting, filtered air or humidified air?

Yes it works beautifully to stop the coughs - nothing like warm humid filtered air.

Remember an old remedy for croup was to put a steamer next to the bed.

And yes I have worn my cpap mask during the day while working from home when I had a mild case of pneumonia or bronchitis

BlackSpinner wrote:And yes I have worn my cpap mask during the day while working from home when I had a mild case of pneumonia or bronchitis

Interesting. I have never had such an infection, but will try to remember this idea in case ....

Thanks.

Not Fade wrote:

BlackSpinner wrote:And yes I have worn my cpap mask during the day while working from home when I had a mild case of pneumonia or bronchitis

Interesting. I have never had such an infection, but will try to remember this idea in case ....

Thanks.

Just don't try to answer the phone! (Don't ask how I know this!)

BlackSpinner; it works OK with my P10.
I give my son a wake-up call at 5:00 AM, and never stop papping.