What about colds?

Festerann · Post by **Festerann** » Tue May 12, 2015 2:05 pm

I did search... and didn't find anything on this topic, maybe I'm just not using the right key words - so sorry if this has been discussed previously.

Everyone in my family have recently come down with colds that include post nasal drip. And then sinus congestion. I'm gonna get it too, there's no way around it. Any day now

So, is there anything I should/can do differently when this happens? I can't imagine using my machine with either post nasal drip or congestion and cold meds only last so long or are limited in effectiveness. Do I just resign myself to waking after 3-4 hrs to take more meds and deal with it as best as I can?

Thanks!

Julie · Post by **Julie** » Tue May 12, 2015 2:12 pm

What you need is a full face mask for such times - it lets you mouth breathe when you're congested and still get Cpap therapy. As well, be careful about using humidity because it may add to congestion... you'll have to work it out yourself about how much, if any at all, you need.

englandsf · Post by **englandsf** » Tue May 12, 2015 2:15 pm

I cannot tolerate FFMs so I have worked hard on daily nasal rinses and cortico steroid nasal sprays for the last year and so far have had some congestion (allergies) but no colds or other infections at all.

LSAT · Post by **LSAT** » Tue May 12, 2015 2:43 pm

A good rinse before bed (NeilMed)...a cold tablet...medium humidity...a full face mask

kaiasgram · Post by **kaiasgram** » Tue May 12, 2015 2:57 pm

Festerann wrote:I did search... and didn't find anything on this topic, maybe I'm just not using the right key words - so sorry if this has been discussed previously.

Everyone in my family have recently come down with colds that include post nasal drip. And then sinus congestion. I'm gonna get it too, there's no way around it. Any day now

So, is there anything I should/can do differently when this happens? I can't imagine using my machine with either post nasal drip or congestion and cold meds only last so long or are limited in effectiveness. Do I just resign myself to waking after 3-4 hrs to take more meds and deal with it as best as I can?

Thanks!

You might be surprised to find that sometimes the machine can be helpful -- some of us have found that turning up heat and humidification on the machine during a cold helps relieve nasal symptoms. With the worst colds I've had since starting cpap there are usually one or two nights where the cold is so bad that a mask -- any kind of mask -- just doesn't work (mask would be "slimed" within moments of putting it in ) . On those few nights I've slept in my recliner. But early and late in the cold, the machine is not only tolerable but actually helpful.

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Tue May 12, 2015 3:11 pm

You know it will be 6 years next week that I have been using the cpap machine and only once was I not able to use the machine at all one night and that was because I traveled and forgot the long hose.
I have had maybe a half a dozen cold/flu like symptoms and not once have I not been able to use my nasal pillow mask. Might not have had the best sleep in the world but I wouldn't have anyway simply due to the crappy cold symptoms anyway.
I find that if I can get the nose opened up just a little with the usual remedies (oral meds, spray, etc) that the humidified air actually helps the congestion and I wake up breathing better than I did when I started the night.

Now I have had a few short nights because of stomach flu but that's a different story and different circumstances but for nasal symptoms .....I haven't had a real need for a full face mask. Geez...I am miserable enough with the cold symptoms...no way am I going to add in adjusting to a new mask in the middle of all that misery.

yaconsult · Post by **yaconsult** » Tue May 12, 2015 3:17 pm

My cpap clears me out when I'm congested which is, thankfully, not often. I've never needed to use anything besides the cpap. Maybe I'm just lucky.

avi123 · Post by **avi123** » Tue May 12, 2015 3:23 pm

common cold is viral so what can you take against it? I would quit the machine until it's gone, and wake up often if it happens. I my self, have not had a head cold or an allergy rhinitis for years. The lack of colds is probably b/c I am not around young kids that often. I do get vasomotor rhinitis caused by air flow from the machine. The remedy: blowing the nose until not a single drop of stuff is left in the nose. Afterwards, the warm machine's air keeps the nostrils clear, and dry (a bit too much).

BlackSpinner · Post by **BlackSpinner** » Tue May 12, 2015 3:26 pm

As long as I copiously use cream on my nose to keep it from turning red, I can use my Hybrid. But often it gets so irritated that I can't stand to touch, in which case I use my now shabby 6 year old full face mask. I turn up the heat and humidity and put some Tiger Balm on a cotton pad at the intake of the air.

Hot humid air is what is recommended for many respiratory infections. That is why they sell steam humidifiers.

BlackSpinner · Post by **BlackSpinner** » Tue May 12, 2015 3:28 pm

avi123 wrote:common cold is viral so what can you take against it? I would quit the machine until it's gone, .

The last thing you want to do is reduce your sleep and O2 and decrease you immune systems ability to fight invaders.

Gasper62 · Post by **Gasper62** » Tue May 12, 2015 3:34 pm

Go to the pharmacy window and ask for some old-school Sudafed. The newer stuff out on the sales floor is a poor substitute for the real thing. Meth cookers have made Sudafed a restricted sale commodity unfortunately. Not recommended for HBP or other cardiac conditions as far as I know. I have never taken the "Hipaa-cratic oath, either.

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Tue May 12, 2015 4:03 pm

BlackSpinner wrote:
avi123 wrote:common cold is viral so what can you take against it? I would quit the machine until it's gone, .
The last thing you want to do is reduce your sleep and O2 and decrease you immune systems ability to fight invaders.

Avi can usually be counted on to give an example of what not to do, can't he?

robysue · Post by **robysue** » Tue May 12, 2015 4:28 pm

In all seriousness: I find that I'm about as miserable when I have a cold and use my CPAP as I was before I started CPAP and had a cold.

It's the same old drill I've had for my entire life: Bottom nostril gets clogged, and I wake enough to turn over and *cough* *cough* *cough*. New bottom nostril gets clogged, and I wake enough to turn over and *cough* *cough* *cough*. And repeat all night long.

I don't find it any harder to do this with the CPAP hose on my nose than I did before I started CPAP.

But at this stage, I would NOT try sleeping without the CPAP just because I have a cold: I'd still be tossing and turning all night long. And I'd have the apnea-induced hand and foot pain in the morning to contend with. And the low-level OSA-headache that's not quite a full headache, but hurts more than normal.

And when I've got a head cold, I just use my nasal pillows mask as usual---with almost no increase in my usually very good to excellent leak rates.

robysue · Post by **robysue** » Tue May 12, 2015 4:30 pm

Gasper62 wrote:Go to the pharmacy window and ask for some old-school Sudafed.

I'll agree that Sudafed will dry the congestion right up. But at the recommended dose, it overdries my sinuses and that triggers it's own problems. But the biggest problem for me is that even a minimal dose of Sudafed keeps me wide awake all night long. Regardless of how early in the day I take it.

hyperlexis · Post by **hyperlexis** » Tue May 12, 2015 4:34 pm

You can always just place the blower outside the bedroom window and then you wont have to inhale all the indoor cold viruses from your family....

(In an ideal world... lol)

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