Coughing a lot

[ka-ann]

I have been on cpap for a year and I had been doing well on it and feeling good. On Jan. 1 I came down with the flu. I was sick over a week and I am still left with a lot of post nasal drainage and a cough that comes and goes but is not too bad during the day. I just finished a round of Augmentin for a sinus infection I developed with the flu. The problem is that when I put on the mask now after about an hour I start having uncontrollable coughing. It will actually blow the mask away from my face! I get up, drink water, blow my nose, etc. get back to bed with the mask and it will start all over again. I am not sleeping much at all due to this. I stop coughing if I don't wear the mask but I NEED to wear my mask. I took it off last night at 2:30 just to try to sleep and I have a bad headache this morning that is reminiscent of my days pre-cpap. I started back trying to wear the mask once my flu was over which was over a week ago and this has happened every single night. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!
Karen

[snnnark]

Is it a dry or wet cough? I'm purely speculating that, if it is a wet cough, maybe CPAP is blowing postnasal drip into your lungs (Yech!) If it is a dry cough then perhaps your inflamed tissues are being irritated by dry air and you can turn up your humidification a bit.

Hope you sort it out soon

[Kiralynx]

I've had a couple of major respiratory infections since being on CPAP. I have to switch from my usual nasal pillows to a full face mask for the duration. I also have to jack the humidity up 2-3 notches, because for me, the full face requires more humidity, especially since my nose is usually so plugged I have to breathe through my mouth.

I find I have to "key" myself into waking just enough to put a hand over the mask and holding it in place while coughing, and then I drop back into a doze. Needless to say, I wash to mask carefully every morning!

[zebrajeb]

Higher humidity has helped me as well. Also saline nasal lavage helped too. Along with that my doctor gave me an RX for a cough med that helped as well.

John

[newname]

My ent told me that its common to cough while on cpap. for me the air seems to move around the tonsiliths in my throat. he also told me I have a very narrow throat.