Plugged Nose with Nasal Mask

I have a Full Face Mask and the last few evenings I went to bed with plugged nostrils and had to breathe through my mouth.

What happens in this situation to those users of nasal face masks?

I presume they must have to breathe through their mouth and do without the CPAP therapy.

Is that correct?

I find that my plugged nostrils usually open up with the machine’s air flow, presumably drying out the blockage.

AcedDublB wrote:I have a Full Face Mask and the last few evenings I went to bed with plugged nostrils and had to breathe through my mouth.

What happens in this situation to those users of nasal face masks?

I presume they must have to breathe through their mouth and do without the CPAP therapy.

Is that correct?

I find that my plugged nostrils usually open up with the machine’s air flow, presumably drying out the blockage.

The majority of their therapy goes in the nose and out the mouth. They need to figure out how to relieve the stuffyness before going to bed and they increase (usually) their humidity. Many people have a FF mask to use in these situations.

I use an Airfit P10 nasal pillow mask, and before that, I used a Resmed Swift II nasal pillow mask for like the last 10 years. I've never been able to tolerate a FFM.

When I have nasal congestion, I STILL use the nasal pillow mask, and it tends to open me up just fine. Even if it didn't, isn't cpap therapy while congested trying to inject air into your "plugged" nostrils BETTER than congested nostrils and trying to breathe without cpap therapy? I think it is...

Mikebear wrote:When I have nasal congestion, I STILL use the nasal pillow mask, and it tends to open me up just fine. Even if it didn't, isn't cpap therapy while congested trying to inject air into your "plugged" nostrils BETTER than congested nostrils and trying to breathe without cpap therapy? I think it is...

I think it is better too.

When given the choice of maybe less than optimal therapy with nasal interface due to maybe mouth breathing or no sleep with a full face mask or no therapy at all. I will take the less than optimal therapy any day of the week. Some therapy is better than no therapy.
Obviously not ideal but we pick the lessor of the evils we get to choose from.
Some people simply can't sleep with a full face mask for any number of reasons. I went over 6 years before I found one that I could actually fall asleep with and falling asleep is the first hurdle of a number of hurdles for some people when it comes to full face masks.

After over 8 years now I still haven't had a situation where I just HAD to use a full face mask. The one I have stuck in the drawer for that time (if it ever comes) I have had for over 2 years and the only time I have used it was the trial to see if I could even fall asleep with it.

And BTW I can mouth breathe with a nasal mask and not have the air gush out my mouth. I can also talk, yawn and even open my mouth wide and stick out my tongue without having the air gush out my mouth. Mouth breathing doesn't always equal a massive exodus of the air out the mouth and I have the leak graph to prove it from when I actually was awake and did some mouth breathing just to see how much leak it caused.

I use nasal pillows and occasionally have a stuffy nose due to allergies or colds.

I've found that if I can get my nose clear before I go to bed, using the neti pot, Breathe Right strips, or even Sudafed as a last resort,
then my nose will continue to stay clear as long as air is flowing through the pillows.

I also up the temperature and humidity a little bit during those times.

I've found that a traditional nasal mask fails me when I have a stuffy nose, but nasal pillows continue to work.

I was just in this situation. The night before last my nose was blocked, I have a backup ffm that I used. I really don't like ffm, feels like I'm suffocating and I get air in my stomach. But anyway, halfway through the night, my nose opened up enough that I switched to my nasal pillows, and was able to sleep much better. For some reason when I use a ffm, I get horrible ahi, and that night was no exception, it was at 13ahi, when my usual is around 2. Last month when I had the flu my nose was actually dripping all night long, so I wasn't able to use a ffm either. I tried, but I had to turn off the machine, and lift up the mask to blow my nose every few minutes. I'm still trying to figure out what people do when their nose actively drips all night. I ended up going without my pap therapy for a week, and had a heck of a time getting used to it again.

Wow, lots of Posters with their experiences makes for more knowledge being shared.

This forum is so extremely valuable for both newbies and experienced users to better understand the myriad of situations that users encounter.

I am now 3 years into therapy and I can guarantee that I would never have made it without the guidance and advice I have received here.

I feel truly blessed that knowledgeable Posters like Pugsy have taken the time to share their vast knowledge of CPAP to help the thousands of us who need advice and support.

i used res med mirage nasal mask for years as nasal mask of choice but I have been getting swollen passages for quite awhile. It took me awhile to get to the bottom of it. everyone said it was all about the humidifier. Not my case. If I sit up I clear up. If I lay down I get swollen, So I tried the FFM and never got the hang of it.

I would prop my head up with pillow plus we have adjustable bed to raise head. as wifey has bad acid reflux and we both need raised heads. I tried to do nasal wash before bed - tried sprays but you get rebound effect after 3 days - Flonase script.

Now I'm having good luck with nasal pillows as the direct flow must have just enough to keep at least one passage open. Resmed swift FX. I also have done adjustments to raise pressure and removed ramp as i don't need anymore. I have done my own data recording with the Cm50d to get my oxy levels.