I Have Developed Incredible Sinus Dryness In The last Few Days

[MarylandCPAPer2]

I am experiencing dryness and congestion at the same time if that makes any sense at all. At the moment incredible dryness and partial blockage in both nostrils. I have try saline without much relief. I take no medications. The weather has change some here in San Diego lately. I set my furnace to 64 degrees at night and it's getting cool enough to kick on just a little, probably in the early morning hours. It's 64 degrees in the room when I get up. I am wondering if the coolness in the room is making it hard for the Climate Line to keep up the temperature. I read a little about "rain out" in my manual but doesn't explain much. What is that sensation of "rain out" What is the problem it causes?
i am going up the humidity tonight. I am not sure if I should use the Climate line or the standard hose.

I would not necessarily blame this problem on CPAP use.

I have used CPAP for 11 years and it has been a rare occurrence that mostly happened when I was sick with a sinus or bronchial infection. This year, I experienced a terrible combination of dryness and congestion when first using the heat this season. If you have a forced hot air furnace, the dryness may be related to lack of humidity in the air. Even though there is a humidifier on my furnace, it takes a few days of continuous furnace use for the humidity to kick in. If you have been using central A/C right before the furnace, your home air may be very dry. A portable humidifier may help.

I am using an unheated hose. I tried turning up the humiditiy level on the Airsense 10 from 5 to 8 (the highest level). That made things worse for me.

Two things that I found that helped with the symptoms were Flonase nasal spray and Vicks vapo rub on the nostrils. At the time I was experiencing this, I was feeling so bad that I canceled a follow-up appt. with my pulmonologist because I was too sick. Fortunately, she called back immediately for find out what was wrong. I told her I couldn't breathe due to the dryness and was having nasal congestion. She prescribed generic Flonase and a zithromax pack. I was having so much trouble breathing that I couldn't even go in the store. The pharmacy brought it out to me curbside. The medicine helped me immediately, but Vicks Vapo Rub really cleared things up enough to breathe.


With COVID, flu, and colds running rampant this time of year, I would consider talking to a dr., particularly if Vicks Vapo Rub and/or a nasal spray such as Flonase doesn't clear things up. You may be sicker than you think.

I hope this helps.

Maryland CPAPer

[Meditator]

Thanks Marylander, Did you ever used the heated hose? The weather changed but I live in San Diego and my furnance only kicks on in the early morning. As much as it kicks on I wouldn't think that should add add too much to my dryness. I have been running a portable humidifier but not in the bedroom which i will do tonight. I am becoming so frustrated. I was doing great for the first two weeks. The last nine days have been difficult and the last two days I am fine until about two in the afternoon and after that I can't drink enough water. It's seems it's not just my sinuses, I feel completely dried out and my sinuses always seem to be at least half stuffed up. I can handle the therapy for seven hours a night but I don't know how much more I can take of the dryness.

[Meditator]

Does anybody out there use the heat Climate Line hose for the AirSense 10? Should I go back to the regular hose? What humidity setting are you using this time of year?

[Pugsy]

Do you take any medications of any kind, even OTC? If so, what?

Do you have any other health issues that might be a factor in the dryness?

I use a heated hose year round. Warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer and never change the humidity level.
The heated hose is just for personal air comfort and to prevent condensation in the hose...it doesn't actually affect the moisture in the air itself coming from the machine.
So changing to a non heated hose isn't going to change the amount of moisture the humidifier is supposed to be cranking out.

You might want to have a chat with your doctor about the dryness issues especially since you say you can't get enough to drink in the afternoon. It wouldn't be impossible for something else to be going on.

[zonker]

Does anybody out there use the heat Climate Line hose for the AirSense 10? Should I go back to the regular hose? What humidity setting are you using this time of year?

<raises hand>

but MY humidity needs aren't yours.

given that, i'll reel off the numbers-

room humidity is 61 percent

current room temp is 68, but will fall to 64 overnight.

climate control is manual

tube temp is 79

humidity level is set at 3

BUT that is my body, my room temp, my humidity etc etc and endless etc..

i sleep fine with neither dry throat nor rain out.

good luck!

[Meditator]

Pugsy, What are you temp and humidity setting in Winter? I take no medications not even over the counter. I only take a probiotic and a multi-vitamin in the morning.

[Meditator]

Thanks Zonker for your settings!

[Pugsy]

I use the setting of 6 for humidity year round. The hose air temp is 86 degrees in the winter but you have to bear in mind that my bedroom might get down to the mid 50's depending on how cold it is outside. It's an old farmhouse with minimal insulation and windows facing north and I keep the furnace set to around 62 degrees. I am not crazy about the hose air temp but if I don't have it that high then with the cold bedroom I get tons of condensation in the mask and hose and I find that water more annoying than the warmer air.

What I might use is really irrelevant for you though. Heck, if my husband was on cpap he might prefer totally different settings.
I know of houses where husband and wife both use cpap and one might prefer maximum heat and humidity and the other prefer minimal to none added moisture and no heat to the hose at all.

All the humidity from the machine will help with is the nasal mucosa and your nasal mucosa might not have the same needs as mine.
And I for sure don't experience bad dryness and not being able to drink enough water in the middle of the afternoon.
You really need to be talking to your doctor because there are other potential health issues that involve serious dryness.
The dryness in the middle of the afternoon making you thirsty and not being able to satisfy it....it's not related to cpap or the settings.

[chunkyfrog]

As effective as VapoRub is for toenail fungus, sometimes I forget it helps the other end . . .

[MarylandCPAPer2]

Thanks Marylander, Did you ever used the heated hose? The weather changed but I live in San Diego and my furnance only kicks on in the early morning. As much as it kicks on I wouldn't think that should add add too much to my dryness. I have been running a portable humidifier but not in the bedroom which i will do tonight. I am becoming so frustrated. I was doing great for the first two weeks. The last nine days have been difficult and the last two days I am fine until about two in the afternoon and after that I can't drink enough water. It's seems it's not just my sinuses, I feel completely dried out and my sinuses always seem to be at least half stuffed up. I can handle the therapy for seven hours a night but I don't know how much more I can take of the dryness.

I have a heated hose but I have never used it. I also use home oxygen with a humidifier attached to a line on my CPAP, in addition to the humidity set at 5 on the Airsense 10. This is usually comfortable for me but I do have problems with occasional throat and nasal dryness that is tolerable after drinking lots of water. . I also use a nebulizer and an inhaler, which did not help with the dryness/congestion problem you described.

Have you tried Vicks Vapo Rub on your nostrils? That was what cleared mine up fastest. The Flonase (generic, by prescription) that you can get over the counter helped too. And the Zithromax pack prescribed by my dr. probably helped too. Without the Vicks/Flonase/ Zithromax, I would probably have suffocated by now. I was probably sick as a result of something that started due to total lack of humidity in the room air with the CAC/heat switchover in one day. This level of dryness/congestion that you describe, and which I experienced for the first time in 11 years about a month ago, is NOT a normal byproduct of CPAP. I would consult your doctor.

I have had a problem with the Airsense 10 not providing enough humidity for me for years, but not so dry and congested, just like you describe, until this year the first day we used central AC during the day and heat at night because of a 40 degree drop in temperature overnight. Central AC removes humidity from the air, so heat the same day makes the air VERY DRY. I think that is what started my dryness/congestion problem, and it was severe. Vicks Vapo Rub and the prescriptions from my pulmonologist were what finally chased the dryness and congestion away enough for me to be comfortable (and back to my level of normal dryness). I was feeling too sick to go to a dr., with the level of dryness/congestion I was experiencing.

I have always had a problem with the Airsense 10 not providing enough humidity for me and I have to refill the humidifier tank about every 4 hours. No one else on here seems to have that problems and I just live with it. The same humidifier capacity problem has occurred on two Airsense 10 machines wi9th identical settings. I just got a new one, after 5 years, in August. The DME said having to refill the humidifier tank every 4 hours is not abnormal at the top pressure level I use. I use a range of 11-20, mostly closer to 11 than to 20. I believe my humidifier water should not have to be refilled every 4 hours, but that seems to be "my" normal.

Are you using a fixed CPAP pressure or an adjustable pressure (APAP)? I had a fit on fixed pressure when I first started on CPAP 11 years ago. It started working for me me a lot better when I got it changed to a range (APAP), suggested after I asked my dr. after reading this forum way back then. The dr. and the sleep dr. agreed a range (APAP) was reasonable for me and that put my sleep apnea treatment on a successful track.

Adding a room humidifier should help the drynesss you are experiencing. On a non-related subject, a Harvard medical researcher announced recently that having humidity in the air reduces the lifespan of the COVID virus, as it can live better in dryness than in a more humid environment.

I hope you get some relief soon somehow. Please let us know what works for you.

Maryland CPAPer

[zonker]

Thanks Zonker for your settings!

[Meditator]

Marylander, The sleep clinic at my HMO told me not to use any product that have petroleum. I haven't asked why in detail but I have found a few warnings from medical write ups including Mayo Clinic. It appears you can put Vicks on a tissue outside of the input on the machine but you are never are suppose to put it inside your nostrils. Check out this website. https://www.hope2sleep.co.uk/blog/petro ... masks.html

[MarylandCPAPer2]

Marylander, The sleep clinic at my HMO told me not to use any product that have petroleum. I haven't asked why in detail but I have found a few warnings from medical write ups including Mayo Clinic. It appears you can put Vicks on a tissue outside of the input on the machine but you are never are suppose to put it inside your nostrils. Check out this website. https://www.hope2sleep.co.uk/blog/petro ... masks.html

I used the Vicks Vapo Rub below my nostrils and inhaled while sitting up, which helped clear the congestion enough to breathe. I did not use it at the same time as CPAP. I don't use any creams on or near my nostrils while I have a CPAP mask on. Sorry I didn't make that clear.

When I had the congestion/dryness episode, my pulmonologist also prescribed prednisone for a few days. I think she mentioned that I may have had inflammation in the sinuses. She didn't suggest Vicks. I remembered that on my own, as it has long been my "go to" remedy when I have had severe congestion due to cold or the flu, along with other OTC meds I try before going to a dr. if they don't work when I am sick.

Personally, I would not put Vicks near the CPAP machine. I would make sure your CPAP machine air filter is changed regularly, as well as your furnace filter. Is it possible you may be allergic to something that changed around the time you started CPAP? What mask are you using? Perhaps you are having a reaction to your mask. Are you allergic to any material such as latex or something that may be a material used on your mask? Just trying to think of what could be causing your dryness/congestion.

If you continue to have the problem, I would talk to a dr. It is not a normal result of CPAP use. The meds that were prescribed for me may not be what you need, either. I was just letting you know what helped me with an dryness/congestion episode that sounds similar to what you are describing. Other than room air dryness, we may have totally different situations and medical needs. I don't think I would have gotten better on my own but I was afraid to go out to the dr's. because I was having so much trouble breathing.

Please let us know what you find that helps you.

Maryland CPAPer