sore throat, coughing & cpap

sanctacaris · Post by **sanctacaris** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 3:54 pm

I'm having my first experience of a cold with cpap, and it's bad. I was up coughing a lot last night until I took the mask off after two hours of trying to sleep. I slept better after I took the mask off. I think the cpap blowing air (and probably a bit of snot, too) down the back of my throat irritates my throat and makes me cough more. I had the heated humidifier cranked up but that didn't seem to help. Anyone have any tips on how to use cpap when you're sick? I get a cold/sinus infection every couple of months, so this will no doubt be a continuing problem for me. I'm not sure what to do tonight--thinking of sleeping without cpap for the first time in thew 2.5 months since I started.

WAFlowers · Post by **WAFlowers** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 4:52 pm

I had to sleep semi-reclined in a reclining chair to get any relief.

sanctacaris · Post by **sanctacaris** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 4:55 pm

Oh, man! I hope it doesn't come to that. I can't imagine being able to sleep very long at a stretch in that position.

Willy D. · Post by **Willy D.** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 5:19 pm

[quote="sanctacaris"]I'm having my first experience of a cold with cpap, and it's bad. I was up coughing a lot last night until I took the mask off after two hours of trying to sleep. I slept better after I took the mask off. I think the cpap blowing air (and probably a bit of snot, too) down the back of my throat irritates my throat and makes me cough more. I had the heated humidifier cranked up but that didn't seem to help. Anyone have any tips on how to use cpap when you're sick? I get a cold/sinus infection every couple of months, so this will no doubt be a continuing problem for me. I'm not sure what to do tonight--thinking of sleeping without cpap for the first time in thew 2.5 months since I started.

sanctacaris · Post by **sanctacaris** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 5:25 pm

Believe me, Willy, I'm trying. All I've gotten from the Docs so far to explain why I get so many colds and why I'm always at least somewhat congested is (1) I seem to get sick a lot and (2) I'm allergic to cats (of which I have one, who's no longer allowed in my bedroom). I'm going in tomorrow to see someone else, so maybe further progress will be made on the sinus front, but my previous visits to my primary care doctor and specialists have not been very helpful.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 5:55 pm

sanctacaris wrote:Believe me, Willy, I'm trying. All I've gotten from the Docs so far to explain why I get so many colds and why I'm always at least somewhat congested is (1) I seem to get sick a lot and (2) I'm allergic to cats (of which I have one, who's no longer allowed in my bedroom). I'm going in tomorrow to see someone else, so maybe further progress will be made on the sinus front, but my previous visits to my primary care doctor and specialists have not been very helpful.

I'm glad to see you are seeking aid.
If your MD was simply allowing this condition to continue I'd say that boarders on malpractice.

It's amazing how getting a little "tough" with a MD will speed up the resolution of a problem such as yours.
I think there are times where they fail to take proper notice of a patient's condition when they are busy etc....so they end up stringing a person along instead of taking care of the original problem.

Good luck!

Willy

Jere · Post by **Jere** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 7:32 pm

Make sure you are seeing an ENT, rather than just a general practioner. There may be something structural that is stopping the flow and causing the infections to develop.

I used to have a lot of infections. I found a good ENT and he fixed a deviated septum and shaved off some turbinates. That helped the drainage. Also, daily flushing with saline is a great way to keep things moving and to flush out the allergens.

Good luck!

WAFlowers · Post by **WAFlowers** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 9:47 am

sanctacaris wrote:Oh, man! I hope it doesn't come to that. I can't imagine being able to sleep very long at a stretch in that position.

It isn't that bad; in fact, it is quite comfortable. My chair folds down almost flat and gives good support to my lower back in that position.

In fact, it is so comfortable that I have to be careful not to recline it too much when watching TV, esp. a DVD movie with the lights dimmed, or I'll doze off! OK, not so much since I started treatment, and with the improvement in my condition since I got the heated hose 2 weeks ago I could probably last a movie at full recline .

sore throat, coughing & cpap

sore throat, coughing & cpap

Re: sore throat, coughing & cpap