Nosey

[NyNurse33]

Just a quick question: B/C of my rain out problem, last night in the middle of the night after waking up with a wet face, I turned the humidifier off. Now today, I have a stuffy/runny nose. Related? Can no humidifier cause nasal problems? I would of thought that my nose would of been dry, not like this.

[smockb]

Hi, Just for your info, I fill mine every night but never turn it on, I hate the warm air, I feel like I am suffocating. Some summer nights I actually drop some small ice into the humidifier. Btw, I live in ohio, starting to get cold, first night with the furnace on and this morning I had little droplets of water in my mask-Take care, Blair

[snoozie_suzy]

Melissa,

Do you have any other type of nasal mask to try and use, to see if it is indeed that particular mask which is aggrevating the rainout?

I saw that you have a Swift that you were selling. Do you have any other nasal mask you can use for a night to experiment with and see if it reduces the rainout any?

Sorry you haven't been able to tackle this issue yet.

Suzy

[Bookbear]

Yes, lack of humidification CAN cause congestion....a sort of rebound congestion, similar to what happens with overuse of nasal decongestant sprays. Essentially what happens is that the flow of cpap air acts as a drying agent (in the same way that blowing on wet skin dries it). since one of the purposes of nasal membranes is to moisten incoming air to the lungs, those tissues go into overdrive to humidify the cpap air, and in the process, they tend to swell. When you turn off or remove a humidifier completely, you are increasing the dryness of th eincoming cpap air, hence the nasal tissue swelling and congestion.

You might try using the humidifier at the lowest setting, or turning it off but leaving it connected and filled (functioning as a passover humidifier). The rainout must be a real bother. On the other hand, nasal congestion almost guarantees mouth breathing, and the subsequent need for full face masks. . I know others have suggested the Aussie heated hose, but really, that might be thing that solves your problem...or at least makes it bearable.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): humidifier, hose, rainout, CPAP

[rested gal]

Everyone is different. Quite a few do fine with no humidification at all, or just passover (not heated) humidification.

But yes, Melissa...many people on the message boards report getting congestion or stuffy nose if they don't use at least some heated humidification.

From a chat with Fisher&Paykel on talkaboutsleep :

11. Stuart asks: I am never congested during the day, but within minutes of using CPAP at night, my nose clogs up. Why does this happen and can humidification help solve this?

Fisher&Paykel Healthcare answers: Most likely the CPAP flow is overwhelming your nose's ability to do what it is supposed to do: Humidify your airway. Often times an inflammatory response occurs in which the body sends more blood flow to the nose in an attempt to hydrate the nasal mucosa. Instead, the excess blood flow will inflame the passage causing greater resistance to breathing through your nose. To minimize this, the use of a heated humidifier will augment the body's humidification process.

More about humidification on the Fisher & Paykel website:
http://www.fphcare.com/osa/summaries.asp

[Vader]

...many people on the message boards report getting congestion or stuffy nose if they don't use at least some heated humidification.

I use *medium* humidification myself (3 on my RemStar Plus M), but I was told by one RT that high humidification can also cause stuffiness.
Anybody else ever hear of that?

[NyNurse33]

I'm so much better today, completely recovered from my nasal congestion all thanks to my sinus rinsing yesterday. I can't believe how it actually worked. That leads me to believe that my problems were caused by the lack of humidifier and not a common cold. With the saline rinse, it shrunk my nasal passages. Rain out wasn't too bad last night, mostly just in the one part of the mask, the nasal pillow section. I think I may be making strides in the right direction, I'm so excited!!