Allergies

[rch9261]

I have just started using my CPAP machine this week and have woken to sever allergy-like sypmtoms. Somebody please tell me how to relieve these symptoms?

[robysue]

It would help if you first created an account, made sure you logged in, went to the User Control Panel in the upper left hand corner (which only shows up if you are properly logged in) and took the time to fill in your equipment. Text is better than pictures since all S9's look alike, but they don't all have the same capabilities. Same thing for System One's and any other "series" of CPAP machine.

As to your allergy symptoms:

• Do you have a humidifier for your CPAP machine? If you do, what's it set at?
  
  Did your nose clear up shortly after you took the mask off in the morning? Or did you stay stuffy all day long?
  
  Do you normally have allergies at this time of year? If so, do you normally take any medication?

Humidifier settings are quite personal and quirky. Some people find they get congested when the humidity is set too LOW. Others find they get congested when the humidity is set too HIGH. So play around with the humidifier setting in BOTH directions.

You might also try a saline nasal spray several times during the day to see if that helps the congestion. You might also consider taking an OTC antihistamine that you know works reasonably well for you maybe an hour or so before you go to bed.

[3dogstew]

I started using cpap in June 2010 pressure set to 8...I almost immediately started having severe allergy symptoms. My nose would not stop running and I was sneezing constantly and had severe headache. I did several things
1 I stopped using my cpap - because my new symptoms were much worse than not using the machine
2. I got a same day appointment with my primary care..She thought I had a sinus infection and put me on antibiotics.
3. I switched from cpap machine to an auto cpap

I don't like taking antibiotics, but in this case they really helped my symptoms.. the auto cpap also helped although it has taken adjusting the pressure quite a bit. I do think my pressure was set too high during titration study because I had a sinus infection and was breathing even more poorly than I normally do .It is 5 months later my avg pressure is 5.5 and I am just starting to see benefits...I switched from my primary care dr (whom I love) to a sleep Dr for my OSA and he is much more knowledgeable. My pressure is now set to 4-7. They had to limit the higher pressure to keep me from having central apneas which seems to be working. I did not have central apneas in my initial sleep study but they started after I started therapy...I think because my pressure was set too high initially and I live at a higher altitude in Colorado where they see more central apneas after starting therapy for some reason..

Some other things I do now.....
I could not survive without a humidifier...Use Nasal Rinses, stop eating several hours before bedtime, I try to only sleep in my side not on my back, If I do decide to have a glass of wine it is early in the evening between 5-6pm. I get detailed reports from my dme to compare stats with how I am feeling....and of course I read everything I can get my hands on related to OSA....

[Muse-Inc]

For the first several weeks, my nose would run like crazy for about 20 mins -- I was in the shower then so it wasn't a problem. I am one who needs lots of humidity with my pillow mask, now that I wear a FFM I need much less humidity..in fact, in summer when I have my worst allergy problems I have water my humidifier but no heat, i.e., passover mode. I use nasal steroids, saline sprays, take generic Claritin, drink a lot of water, avoid dust & pollens, irrigate my nose before maskup. And, if worst comes to worse, use generic Afrin for that night.