It's all about the passages!

Having fought mega claustrophobia with a full face mask (F10 and Quattro) - (I WAS a mouth breather and am a side sleeper) for a couple of weeks, I decided to tackle my nasal and sinus congestion with a very aggressive sinus rinse program. Now I'm getting 8 hours with AHIs less than 3 on a very comfortable AirFit P10 nasal pillow set up. Anyone want to swap notes on best frequency and ingredients? I am doing 7 am, noon and two hours before bed treatment with Sinugator of 8 oz distilled water, one Neilmed Sinus rinse packet and one tablespoon of Alkolol. Using two sprays per nostril corticosteroid every morning (Veramyst). Also found the largest possible pillows helped wedge my nose open - better than BreathRite strips. To much humidity can make my nose congest too - I run an S9/H5i at 4.0 and 65 degrees with a Climate Line hose. Pressures 10-20 apap. Just ordered a Waterpik with adapter and am trying to get down to two rinses per day.

Thanks for sharing englandsf. So happy you have had this improvement.

I have tried sinus rinsing repeatedly and have always felt worse afterwards about 30 minutes later. I mostly rinsed in the early evening. As an FYI, I have narrow nasal passages and what is considered to be a mild deviated septum.

I have used the NeilMed Sinus Rinse bottle and a nasal injector rinse device. And several years ago, I used the Grossnan device.

I have used corticosteroid sprays off and on. I think I hesitate to commit to using them due to having insomnia from nasonex in the past as a side effect. I definitely have tried using it at night and it feels very activating. But I need to stick to the morning and go from there.

Great advice on using the large size nasal pillows. I will may follow up on that since full face masks and I do not get along:)

Agree about the humidity issue. I have found that passover mode or low humidity works the best.

I did seriously consider having surgery but for various reasons, decided against it.

Thanks for a very encouraging post. I needed this.

49er

englandsf wrote:Having fought mega claustrophobia with a full face mask (F10 and Quattro) - (I WAS a mouth breather and am a side sleeper) for a couple of weeks, I decided to tackle my nasal and sinus congestion with a very aggressive sinus rinse program. Now I'm getting 8 hours with AHIs less than 3 on a very comfortable AirFit P10 nasal pillow set up. Anyone want to swap notes on best frequency and ingredients? I am doing 7 am, noon and two hours before bed treatment with Sinugator of 8 oz distilled water, one Neilmed Sinus rinse packet and one tablespoon of Alkolol. Using two sprays per nostril corticosteroid every morning (Veramyst). Also found the largest possible pillows helped wedge my nose open - better than BreathRite strips. To much humidity can make my nose congest too - I run an S9/H5i at 4.0 and 65 degrees with a Climate Line hose. Pressures 10-20 apap. Just ordered a Waterpik with adapter and am trying to get down to two rinses per day.

englandsf, I also use the P10 so I'm heartened by your post. I've struggled with nasal congestion all my life. Currently, like 49er, I'm using NeilMed Sinus Rinse bottle earlier in the night, because if I use it right before bed, things feel inflamed. I'm also using larger pillows because I feel like I can breathe easier. The DME rep told me that I needed to use an XS pillow due to my "very small nostrils." Ha! The small pillows work much better for me, and maybe I'll try the medium as well.

You will like the Waterpik/ adapter setup. Easy to set desired pressure with a larger volume when needed.

I'm thinking of dropping the last rinse at night as it seems to make me "wetter". I have to use the steroid in the am or it keeps me awake. Veramyst is much more effective than Flonase but very expensive. I need humidity but not much or I mouth breathe all the time. The alum in the Alkolol may help dry me up and I like the smell of it but again it's pricey ( a bottle every 10 days). I am 61 and over weight but dieting BTW.

How about Rhinocort Aqua instead of Veramyst? It's out in generic form now.

I'm lucky, my insurance covers Veramyst 100% but I'll check it out...

englandsf,

I have used Quansyl two days in a row since that if what i have samples of and will keep using it thanks to your post. Because I was in a hurry this morning, I didn't do the nasal rinsing but tomorrow, I will start by doing it in the morning and then using the Quansyl to see what type of improvement i can get. The plan is to start slowly and go from there.

I am curious, do you have a deviated septum, narrow nasal passages, or swollen turbinates? Those are my issues.

Much continued success with your regime. You have definitely given me hope.

49er

Last night I went without nasal irrigation and paid for it by having a completely blocked right nostril most of the night. Egads! I'm less than 14 days into treatment; 3 days into using my own machine (details in sig line area). I'm wearing the P10 (small) pillows, which had worked brilliantly the night before.

I do wonder about some of my settings and how they might affect things.
AHI: 1.1
90% Pressure: 6.5
A-flex: 3
Humidity level: 2
Tube temp: 5

By the way, every day I use Rhinocort Aqua nasal steroid spray and also take Singulair and Zyrtec. I have mild asthma and seasonal allergies.

49er - just narrow passages with some allergies as far as I know. I try to minimize Zyrtec use and I get fuzzy next day on it...

Buddha Cat - I started with small pillows then went to medium then large . The pillows actually now wedge my nostrils open (better than the strips) and work even better if I gently push them towards the tip of my nose so they wedge even more - and induce just a small leak (cooling and refreshing if done right).

49er - definitely try new light nasal pillows (P10 or maybe Nuance Pro). AI always rinse and apply steroids in the am and do one or more rinses later (never less than 2 hours before bed). Blow your nose gently a lot before and during night. Alkolol seems to help (alum is drying).

englandsf wrote:49er - just narrow passages with some allergies as far as I know. I try to minimize Zyrtec use and I get fuzzy next day on it...

Buddha Cat - I started with small pillows then went to medium then large . The pillows actually now wedge my nostrils open (better than the strips) and work even better if I gently push them towards the tip of my nose so they wedge even more - and induce just a small leak (cooling and refreshing if done right).

Curious, do you think that the pillows somehow help to keep congestion down, as opposed to a Nasal mask which i use or a FF mask?
If so, any idea why?

TIA

englandsf wrote:49er - definitely try new light nasal pillows (P10 or maybe Nuance Pro). AI always rinse and apply steroids in the am and do one or more rinses later (never less than 2 hours before bed). Blow your nose gently a lot before and during night. Alkolol seems to help (alum is drying).

Thanks, I will give that shot and thanks for responding to my other questions. I do have some alkolol so I will definitely give that a try.

49er

Shelagh, the pillows (if large enough, I use large size after starting with small) tend to wedge my nostrils open. More so if I position them at the tip of my nose manually as I drift off.

Even my first, very light FF mask applied enough pressure to the bridge of my nose to almost close my very narrow nasal passages... The p10 pillows wedge much better than the flat gel pillows of the Nuance mask. Breathe right strips help a bit but I sweat too much and they fall off after 2-3 hours...

49er, I use one NeilMed or other saline packets and one tablespoon of Alkolol in 8 ozs distilled water at room temp, half up each nostril. Now down to twice a day - morning and early evening (at least 2 hours before sleep). Just waiting for a Waterpik with Sinus adapter to replace my Sinugator (which will become my travel irrigation tool). But the basic Neilmed squeeze bottle is pretty good and blows neti pots away for ease and effectiveness.

I've since cut humidifier heating and topped humidity to 3.0 and getting even better results. 8 hours, one potty break, AHIs below 5 and very acceptable leaks. Seven nights in a row...