Problems with nasal congestion and full face mask...

[nlifesimage]

Ok well still staying positive...lol. First night with nasal pillows was a nightmare and at 3 hours switched over to the nasal mask. However, I have so many nasal allergies and congestion there were still times I woke up last night feeling like I couldnt really breathe. I'm also waking myself up by opening my mouth. The nasal mask is comfortable and I'm not really having a hard time adjusting to having it on, mainly fighting the congestion. Anyone have severe nasal allergies and switched over to full face mask? How was your experience? Is there any good nasal moisturizers that can be used? Thanks for any help. My AHI is 6.8 and my leak rate is 12 ( not sure if that is a bad leak rate number or not.)

[Julie]

Hi,

Your leak rate isn't bad, but your AHI is not great (should at least be below 5 if possible, and hopefully lower).

You definitely sound like a candidate for a FF mask so why not try out a few to find what's best in your size... lots of us use them (I have for years) and even if we only need them once in a while, they're 'there' so we don't have to worry about losing therapy air at any time.

[RandyJ]

I have congestion issues and alternate between a nasal and full face mask ... I use the nasal mask most of the time but some nights I just need the full face mask. I do nasal irrigation every night but sometimes it doesn't help.

You could try out full face masks through the mask trial program to find one you like, if you are thinking about buying one: http://www.cpaplibrary.com/mask-trials.html

I'm glad I have one... good luck!

[LSAT]

You are definitely a candidate for a FF Mask...That is what they are for.

[Randyp1234]

You might try one of the hybrid masks.

[archangle]

Neilmed Sinus rinse is cheap and safe. Find it at Walgreens or other drug stores. It's simply a saline rinse you use to rinse out your nose.

If you can't keep your nose open, a full face mask is definitely a good option.

[-tim]

I'm dealing with a cold. I bumped my starting/lower pressure up 1 and that has helped. I felt like I couldn't breath when I started out (so when the machine was on the lowest setting). I expect I'll bump it up another .5 tonight.

[robysue]

My advice?

Develop a no-tolerance attitude towards the nasal congestion. That means that you have to get serious about treating the nasal allergies instead of just suffering through them.

Lots of things that work for me can be found on my blog entry about nasal congestion

Two really good resources for dealing with nasal congestion and CPAP are:

Nasal Breathing Video Series, from Dr. Barry Krakow's web pages
Unstuff Your Stuffy Nose, from Dr. Steven Y. Park's web pages. Dr. Park is a forum member here who posts under the name sypark