Any hints for dealing with a cold?

[Carmen]

Today I've come down with a full-blown head cold--sneezing, snuffling, coughing, runny nose, the works. I napped this afternoon with my machine and it wasn't pretty. The big problems seem to sneezing into the nasal pillow and that the inside of my nose feels sore with air going across it. Any hints for dealing with this?

[Pugsy]

Treat the symptoms as best you can. For sneezing, congestion and runny nose...some sort of antihistamine or decongestant. For cough...a cough suppressant. Just treat the symptoms as best you can.
I have been lucky and had maybe 3 colds in the time I have been on the machine. I crank up the humidifier full blast (think hot steamy shower and how it feels and helps congestion) and I add lots of extra moisture to the nasal mucosa with something like Simple Saline spray. I use nasal pillow mask and I did about as well as anyone does with a cold. If congestion won't clear up enough with these normal remedies...I will use a tiny bit of Afrin to get me through the night.

Some people have good results using a nasal rinse with something like Neti Pot irrigation. I am chicken and just haven't been able to try it. I haven't had a cold I could not manage with my own usual remedies.
Some people prefer to use a full face mask when they have a cold. I elected not to because for me a full face mask creates more problems than it fixes. YMMV and you may wish to find a full face mask for these times.

[refchef]

I just had a cold and a couple of benadryl dried me up enough to get through the night. Fortunately, my pressure is fairly high, so eventually the machine helped out the benadryl.

[Carmen]

Turned out to be fine. I rinsed the nose with saline, added a spritz of Afrin, turned up my humidifier and got a decent night's sleep until a sneezing fit woke me up at 4:30.

[cpaptex]

I've only had to deal with a little nasal drip and alot of chest congestion. I take a Bendryl about 45 minutes before I need to go to sleep and the coughing usually goes away long enough for me to fall asleep.

I've had a few incidents with sneezes and I pull the mask away from my face. But I don't have head cold, just chest congestion. So it's hasn't been a big issues. A facial tissue can handle it.