Congestion - possible humidity issue?

[sleepyruss]

I have been good with my CPAP compliance, but I struggle anytime I end up with nasal congestion - feels like I breathing through a straw after running a marathon.

Here lately, I have been going to bed breathing just fine but wake up in the middle of the night with stifling congestion that causes me to take the mask off--and we all know where that leads.

Here's the thing, I don't have a cold! I am fine during the day. It's only when I lay down to go to bed at night.

I do not use the humidifier as I never felt the need. I live in the Boston area and the air is very dry here in the winter. Could the humidity be the source of my congestion? I did try it one night, but I don't recall it helping too much. I don't typically suffer from allergies either...

Any thoughts?

Russ

[Pugsy]

What mask are your using?....I don't see it in your equipment profile.

Humidity needs or preferences are highly individualized and it's impossible to know what you might need.
I need a LOT of added moisture or my nasal passages get horribly congested but another person might be the opposite and find that added moisture makes their congestion worse....we are both normal.

All we can tell you is since you aren't using a humidifier now....is try it and be willing to try different humidity settings.

The reason I ask about which mask you are using....is it possible that pressure from the mask itself on areas of your nose is maybe contributing to the congestion?

[sleepyruss]

Thanks.

I am using a Wisp nasal mask with head gear.

Is it possible to "pre-heat" the humidifier that you know of?

[Pugsy]

Humidifier pre heating is available on the 60 series equipment.

I wasn't able to successfully use the Wisp...it caused nasal congestion after a short while that was so bad it woke me up multiple times.
Breathed just fine with it for a while but ended up going to sleep and waking shortly later with nose totally blocked...relieved simply by pulling the mask away from the nose...so it for sure was the mask.

Have you tried any other masks?

[sleepyruss]

I have tried a couple of other masks before I was finally able to get comfortable with the Wisp.

How does a mask cause congestion? Is is from the external fit pressure pushing on your nose?

[Pugsy]

For some people the pressure of any part of the mask pushing on the sides of the nose (up around the turbinates area) will cause congestion.
Some people it may not matter much but some people will find that the least little pressure causes congestion.
It doesn't happen to everyone.

I happen to be one of those people who experience fairly severe congestion with just the least little pressure.
Even the weight of my sunglasses on my nose will do it sometimes and I often have to move my glasses around on my nose.

If you wonder about if this might be going on with you...just take your fingertips and gently place them on the sides of your nose up by where the turbinates are and apply some pressure to see if congestion occurs...then remove the pressure and see how long it takes for the congestion to go away.
I can't use most nasal masks because of the congestion so I don't even try. I thought the Wisp might work okay because the congestion wasn't immediate like with other masks but I was wrong...the congestion still happened and still woke me up.
I woke up probably a couple dozen or so times because of congestion and finally decided to remove the Wisp and go back to my other mask...I thought maybe I had used the Wisp half the night or so because of the number of wake ups.
I only lasted 90 minutes.

Now I was able to successfully use the Resmed Swift Nano cushion all night...and it is similar to the Wisp. For whatever reason it didn't cause me to have any congestion issues. So far it is the only over the nose mask I have ever been able to use.

I don't know if your nose is reacting like my nose to the pressure (even if it is tiny pressure) but my experience isn't all that rare. I know lots of people who say "that happens to me too".

[TheDuke]

My own experience has been that running my machine at a rather high humidity setting has really reduced my nasal congestion problems. I used a machine for many years without having a humidifier and during that period there were a lot of nights when I couldn't breathe well enough to use my machine. Since I was equipped with a machine with humidifier about 8 years ago, I don't recall a single night of being unable to keep my machine all night.

As a consequence, I have become a fanatic supporter of humidifiers, and of setting the level quite high. I have never had a heated hose, but I keep an insulated hose sleeve on year round, and sleep in a rather cool room ( about 65 degrees)

TheDuke