Severe Nasal Congestion

[Mazus]

Hi, I've been experiencing fairly severe nasal congestion, in kind of a strange way. When I put on my CPAP mask(Airfit F20 full face if it's relevant) and turn on the machine, VERY shortly afterwards, my nose becomes congested(both nostrils, when I get congested in other circumstances it's usually just one), and it dissipates in less than a minute after I take off the mask(I've never in any other situation had congestion go away at this kind of speed). I've heard on here multiple times it can cause flow limitations, and according to OSCAR, it is, all the way up to 0.77 as of last night, and often hovers around the 40-60 range. Also, it seems as if the machine is interpreting them in such a way that it always goes to the maximum. Additionally, the added pressure doesn't seem to be doing much to reduce my AHI for some reason.

What do I do to stop this congestion/reduce this flow limitation?

[Pugsy]

Do a little experiment.
Place your fingertips on the sides of your nose up by the nasal bridge area (where eyeglasses would rest) and press gently...not hard but approx as much pressure as the mask causes on that area and see if your nose gets congested.

Report back as to results.

Also...what is your humidifier setting?

[Mazus]

Tried pressing on the sides of my nose, doesn't really seem to do much, but when I let go, my nostrils weirdly got really clear for a while, so maybe this has something to do with it?

Also, my humidity is off, only because it seemingly increased the congestion at the start, but that may very well be correlation vs causation. I did try taking a nap a few hours ago with it turned up to 5(And I probably didn't have the tubing heated to the right level, as there some droplets of water in the tube) and looked at the data, and it seems as if the flow limitations kind of capped at 0.50 or so, compared to naps without the humidity, which went up to 0.70 as well.

As I've typed this, I've been wondering, could it be the pressure on my nose caused by the mask specifically when it's inflated? Like I'm wondering if the ideal situation is "Mask that doesn't touch upper nose, plus humidity", and that I only thought that the humidity was causing harm due to the congestion caused by the mask during the same time I tried the humidity at the start, and I just went with it from then on up until now, when I rethought it.

[Pugsy]

Some people need more humidity and some people need less or none humidity.
Usually the congestion isn't so immediate to come on and go away though when related to humidity...but again everyone is difference.
For some people the pressure of the mask on that part of the nose does cause congestion. I know it does for me and when I take the mask off...clears up immediately. This is why I have never used a mask that touches the sides of my nose in any way.

Google "cpap rhinitis" ...maybe you just need a little more humidity and if more humidity does causes some condensation to happen that is usually very easy to deal with. If using a heated hose just turn up the temperature. If not using a heated hose there are hose cozies to insulate the hose a bit and/or other options. Dealing with condensation is much better than dealing with congestion.

[CPAPinCAL]

So for the first 5 years of PAP therapy, like an idiot, I didn't use my humidifier. It took a few days to get used to, but it has made a real difference with congestion.

If you sit/stand up do your sinuses/nasal passages clear quickly? I can't speak to whether the mask itself may be causing problems as that's never been an issue for me, but within a week of adding humidity my congestion problem went away. Also of note, my nightly pressure number went from 10.5-11 to 9.5ish. I agree there is a frustrating aspect of "post hoc, ergo propter hoc" to all of this, just adding my experience. Hope it get resolved.