breathe-rite strip and cpap...

[chdurie2]

someone here posted a description of their nightly cpap preparation that included two nose-blowings and breathe-rite installation. gotta say, there was an inadvertent, perhaps, flash of genius there.

after an initial burst of cpap success followed by moderate struggles that then increased to major struggles, i was ready to say cpap will not work for me until i read that description. as some of you may remember, i have a deviated septum and seem not to be able to keep a mask on all night because i get stuffed up a second time even after i have de-stuffed before bed. of course, it took a bit of figuring to realize that that was the reason rather than an aversion to sleeping with mask, since i just wake up with the mask off, a lot of water having gone through the humidifier and no clue as to what really happened.

last nite i woke up after about three hours of good but incomplete sleep, ripping the mask off in a claustrophobic panic, only to realize that my panic was caused by not being able to breathe because i was stuffed up again.

i remembered the addition of breathe-rite to the double de-stuffing ritual, put on a breathe rite and kept the mask on for the rest of the nite, and i was okay and now am my hyper post-cpap self again. over the last week or so, i have been de-stuffing twice before going to bed but can't seem to stay unstuffed. so this really helped. even with a full-face fask, i was ripping off the mask because it's hard for me to breathe through my mouth with the full face mask on, since my nose is sooooo stuffed up. if that makes any sense. i tried it before i went to bed.

so whoever it was who posted his cpap ritual facetiously, i gotta tell you it really helped me. was that you, goofproof?

so now add the breathe rite strip to my ritual. but it's such a pain to de-stuff twice before going to bed and add breath-rite, then add the mask. may i whine? the only good thing is, which i'll try out tonite, is with that ritual, i may not need full-face and could actually use activa or swift.

anyway, thanks.

caroline

[Goofproof]

No, I can't take credit for it, but I also am going to try it. Jim

[krousseau]

Caroline, what are you using to "destuff" your congestion? If it is any nasal decongestant spray-you may be getting rebound congestion. Have you tried a nasal steroid spray? They can take up to 2 weeks to be really effective.

[Bellcrest]

I am another one who must use a breathe rite strip when using a Full Face mask. If I don't I end up all stuffed up and can't sleep.

I don't need breathe rite when I use the pillow interface masks.....but I do neet to tape my mouth.

I breath better the next day with pillow interface than I do with Full Face mask. Just my experiences to date.

[NightHawkeye]

You guys might consider trying nightly sinus irrigation.

It took me a little while to work up to doing it, but it truly is effective. (I use the Grossan irrigator.) After irrigation, the Swift does a pretty good job of keeping the sinuses clear through the night.

I'm also beginning to wonder if several months of nightly sinus irrigations has actually improved my sinuses. It used to be that I'd get stuffed up again in the middle of the night, but even that hasn't happened for a while.

Oh, yeah, the nightly sinus irrigation is a PITB too, but then what isn't about xPAP. I figure five or ten minutes for sinus irrigation is not a bad price to pay for a good night's sleep.

Regards,
Bill

[Linda3032]

I don't need breathe-rites with cpap therapy, but used them prior to cpap. They really do open up the nasal passages - it's amazing.

But, watch out for adhesive irritation. After using the strips for a few nights, I ended up with two red patches on my nose. ........

[chdurie2]

night hawkeye--

how do you do a sinus irrigation? what is a grossan irrigator? thanks.

caroline

[Gidgie]

Ah....ha! Caroline.......now we know what's kept you away....and what's brought you back. Glad you found a solution........Of course it's me, the lazy one......all I use is a steroid spray.....(how 'bout that? Nose on 'roids..) to combat the sinus burn I was having so much of........At 18 now, and believe me, I have the clearest sinuses in the land!

[chdurie2]

gidgie--

if i have been away, it's because i've been possessed by a paper i've been working on for law school. handed it in this evening under threat of death or losing two credits i can't afford to lose. and now i'm feeling some form of postpartum depression. pretty weird. tomorrow i get to start studying for finals. it's weird. it feels like yesterday the semester just started and now it's virtually over. then i get to look for a summer job. fun, fun, fun.

caroline

[Guest]

Good luck on the summer job, and don't have too much fun.......you never know what'll happen when you start feeling this good......it's dangerous......aughtta be a law........! Yeah.....too lazy to log in......
Gidgie. Hmmm.......(I'm too lazy for my mask.....too lazy for my mask.....can't you tell it's a blast!....)

[NightHawkeye]

how do you do a sinus irrigation? what is a grossan irrigator?

You perform a sinus irrigation by running slightly salty water through your sinuses. The water goes in one nostril and out the other. It's one of those simple things that is actually much easier to do than it sounds. The only real obstacle to doing it is psychological. It takes little training to accomplish, but you have to want to do it.

It took me about a month of frustration trying simple things before I got serious about irrigating my sinuses. I started out following snork1's advice spritzing a little water up my nose, but found that not very effective, even when using a larger quantity of water. That technique is kind of like using a neti pot which is described in detail a few places on the internet. I searched around on the internet a little and stumbled upon the Grossan irrigator which has worked effectively for me.
Here's a link for it: http://www.grossan.com/#nasal_irr

I recall the cost was a little over $100, although for $20 you can get just the Grossan irrigator tip attachment for a Waterpik. Add in the cost of a Waterpik and you're still less than half the cost of the Grossan and have a setup which accomplishes the same thing. I was in such a hurry at the time that I ordered both. I've never used the tip for the Waterpik, even though I've got a Waterpik. It looks to me like the tip would be just as effective though and just as easy as using the full Grossan setup.

Regards,
Bill

[IzzyB]

You can get a much cheaper nasal irrigating system here. I use it and it works very well. Even my doctor was interested in this one. Price less than $20.

http://www.sinucleanse.com

[Maryb]

even cheaper is to use one of those little blue rubber bulbs that you use to suck mucous out of babies' noses and make your own saline mixture with some table salt and warm water. Just fill up the bulb, tilt your head sideways and squirt away. Be careful not to squirt with too much pressure.

works for me,

Maryb

[CPAPjerryCPAP]

That was me that posted my routine, here it is again:

The only thing I really miss is the spontaneity of going to sleep. Here's my routine
1. Take medication (Lipitor)
2. Wash face with soap and water
3. Blow nose
4. Saline solution spay into nostrils
5. Wait.....blow nose again.
6. Apply Breathe Right strip
7. Sit on side of bed put mask on
8. Say a cuss word
9. Ramp button
10. Hopefully sleep in less than 20 minutes..

It may be the rote processs also that helps to bring sleep on, but hey!, whatever works is what I say. The saline works for me and it's cheap, the only thing I hate is pulling the breathe strip off in the morning, but it does wake you up!

Sleep well.

[NightHawkeye]

even cheaper is to use one of those little blue rubber bulbs that you use to suck mucous out of babies' noses and make your own saline mixture with some table salt and warm water.

Absolutely right, Maryb. That's the first thing I tried. It accomplishes about the same thing as the neti pot or the sinucleanse "guest" recommended. For some folks that may be enough. I certainly recommend trying that first. It also gets you used to squirting a stream of liquid up your nose.

Unfortunately, just squirting liquid from the bulb up my nose and using breathe-rite strips wasn't getting the job done for me. I wasn't ready to see an ENT and have surgery yet, so when I found the Grossan irrigator which can squirt a lot more water through the nose than you'd ever do with the bulb, I decided to try it. I haven't regretted my decision one bit.

Just my experience, of course. Some folks won't need as much help as the Grossan provides, while for some folks, nothing less than surgery will provide the needed relief.

Regards,
Bill