nasal congestion

[Hawk2]

I am a new cpap user. I tried for a week with just the cpap machine but had trouble with nasal congestion making breathing in nasal mask more difficult each night. Usually 2 hours and congested. Was advised humidifier would help. Have tried for four nights varying humidifier levels with some success. 5hrs first night, but only 3 hours next two nights. I seem to get more congested when laying down and a little relief when setting up. any suggestions to overcoming this congestion problem?

[Maryb]

clean out your nose and sinuses with a saline nasal wash about half an hour before bedtime. You can do this in a number of ways. Some people use irrigators. I just put a little salt in a cup of warm water and use a blue rubber squeeze bulb (can be found in drugstore, usually used to clean out baby's nose/ears). I tilt my head over the sink and snort some of this solution up my nose using the squeeze bulb. Then just blow it out and blow your nose. This helps with my congestion. Since I have allergies, I also use a prescription antihistamine and flonase (nasal inhaler). There have been alot of postings on this message board about this and many CPAPers do variations of what I describe. Try searching past messages.

Maryb

[Guest]

IMO some form of sinus irrigation is best for long term, I use a coffee pot of warm salty water, pour it in one nostril, it goes thru the sinuses and eventually out the other nostril, takes some patience, a netti pot is similar

tablets and sprays are OK for a while but eventually cause a rebound effect

[Vader]

I am a new cpap user. I tried for a week with just the cpap machine but had trouble with nasal congestion making breathing in nasal mask more difficult each night. Usually 2 hours and congested. Was advised humidifier would help. Have tried for four nights varying humidifier levels with some success. 5hrs first night, but only 3 hours next two nights. I seem to get more congested when laying down and a little relief when setting up. any suggestions to overcoming this congestion problem?

I have had this problem myself, and I have found that a product called "Simply Saline" does an excellent job when used an hour before you go to bed. I wish it came in a gel formulation, but I like it anyway because there is no preservative used.
Another great product is Zicam Seasonal Allergy Relief (gel spray)
But I would caution you that Zicam makes quite a few different nasal sprays, and some can be addicting. The formula I mentioned though is homeopathic and is supposedly free of harsh chemicals. I have had really good results with it.
Another good idea (that helps me) is wearing a Breathe Right nasal strip, and that has got to be the absolute safest remedy yet.

I hope you can get some relief because I know that can really be a major deterrent in CPAP compliance. Good luck!

[Jere]

Saline rinse? Absolutely works!

Nasacort. Also works.

Nasal pillow mask - the KEY (the air pressure is focused up the nasal passages and actually pushes open the congestion).

[NightHawkeye]

I use the Grossan nasal irrigation system. It's pretty easy to get used to and quite effective. The simple rinses and sprays didn't work for me, but this does. I use it every night just before bedtime.

Here's a link:
http://www.hydromedonline.com/hp.html?r ... HgodaBKuKQ

Good luck with your treatment.


Regards,
Bill

[Guest]

Hello Hawk, I have been using cpap for several years and have almost permanent congestion. I was told by my dr. to try nasal flush with a sinus rinse product where you inject solution up one nostril with a squeeze bottle until it flows out the other. I have found this works but their product was quite costly so have come up with a solution which works for ME. I boil a gallon of water and add three rounded tsp. of salt and a half tsp of baking soda. Do this at least an hour before bedtime. It works well for me but I am not a Dr. Please check with your Dr. if you have any doubts.

[quote="Hawk2"]I am a new cpap user. I tried for a week with just the cpap machine but had trouble with nasal congestion making breathing in nasal mask more difficult each night. Usually 2 hours and congested. Was advised humidifier would help. Have tried for four nights varying humidifier levels with some success. 5hrs first night, but only 3 hours next two nights. I seem to get more congested when laying down and a little relief when setting up. any suggestions to overcoming this congestion problem?

[racefan]

I just had a dr. appt. with my ent DR. & he said do not use afrin type sprays for any length of time as it will kill the receptors in your nose.
I have the same problem you are having & since I started nasal irrigation it has really helped. He also gave me a cortosteriod nasal spray. But to be honest the irrigation seems to work better.

[byront]

I also nasal rinse about 1 hour before bed time - it really does work. I'm using the NeilMed Nasal Rinse Kit, you can get it for around $14.00 at Walgreens. It comes with the irrigation bottle and 50 pre-measured salt packets - just empty in a packet and fill to the line with distilled water. It's a fairly cheap and convenient way to get started. I just ordered the Grossan irrigation tip that is made to fit our WaterPik, about $18.00 each from Hydromed.com. Had I not already owned the WaterPik I would probably have purchased the Grossan irrigator instead as I have read that it may have a bit stronger motor and that the seals are not as prone to damage from the salt in the solution. The advantage of this method is that it pulsates during irrigation which helps loosen mucus and also keeps the cilia healthy. Here are a couple of links to interesting articles on that - http://www.ent-consult.com/news/allergysubiza.html & http://allergy-sinusrelief.com/hp.htm. I also add Alkalol to my nasal rinse every once in a while. It has menthol, camphor, thymol, eucalyptol, and oils of wintergreen, spearmint, pine, and cinnamon in a saline solution - all natural. It seems to help a bit more if I feel a little more stuffed up than usual. It says on the bottle that you can use it straight - that's WAY stronger than I can handle, and don't recommend trying it. I tried it at 50%, with the other 50% as saline solution, and could barely handle it - I now use about two table spoons in the large NeilMed bottle. I got it at Walgreens - it was very inexpensive for a fairly large bottle. The pharmacy ordered it for me and had it by noon the next day, there is no prescription required. Here's the link if you want to check it out - http://www.alkalolcompany.com/index.html . Hopefully something here will help you get on with your cpap therapy because that's where the real help is going to most likely be felt. -- BT

[Snoredog]

The saline nasal rinse seems to work the best as Mary mentioned. You can make the solution yourself at home:

8oz. glass of RO or distilled warm water.
1/4 teaspoon tablesalt.
pinch of Arm & Hammer baking soda.

Bend your head back over a sink, use half on one side, the rest in the other holding your head over the sink. You'll get the idea. You can use a clean squirt bottle or a baby ear aspirator. you can also get uniodized salt at the grocery store or use sea salt (some people develop an irritation to the iodized type salt). The pinch of baking soda breaks up dried mucosa in a hurry.

The purpose of the rinse is to flush out all the allergens that cause you to become congested in the first place. Use nightly for first week then you will only need to use it 1-2 week thereafter.

You can also use a WaterPik if you have the nasal attachment (same solution). Simply Saline spray works great right before bed, has a long nozzle to get it up deep. Bottle lasts a long time. Use BreatheRight strips, they also work great.

[redring]

Just a question. ok how dose this work ? I cant seem to get anything out my other nosteral...... it just starts running down my throat. one side is always blocked. I did manage to clean out enough to help my currant sinus infection though . thanks & Thanks Hawk2 for asking, I have benifited from the answers. Also what about the machine posted for nasal irragation how effective is it?? Thanks all.

[Pirate]

Also what about the machine posted for nasal irragation how effective is it?? Thanks all.

I have used nasal irrigation off and on for over 6 years or so. I use a water pick with a nasal irrigation tip. This was suggested to me by my ENT doc who gave me the nasal irrigation tip. I use non-iodized salt and warm tap water. I do not measure the salt. I just dump it in the container until it looks like it's enough. Saline nasal irrigation is one of the most effective congestion clearing techniques around and its healthy and healing for the sinuses. While I can't comment on the effectiveness of the bottle products, I can state with much experience that the water pick with nasal irrigation tip and most likely the Grosson Hydro Pulse machine from Hydro Med work great. I do have to be careful with the pressure setting on the water pick, though. I have to make sure it's set real low as the water pick is capable of putting out too much pressure which can cause the sinuses to bleed.

[Vader]

Here's a link:
http://www.hydromedonline.com/hp.html?r ... HgodaBKuKQ

That looks promising, thanks for the link!