Chronic nasal congestion due to allergies etc.............

[JohnD]

I thought this might be helpful to any and all out there who use a cpap etc and have chronic nasal congestion. The ONLY reason I have been able to use a cpap, and now this auto cpap, is my use of a cortisone nasal spray with a little help from Afrin...let me explain. I have allergic rhinitis. At night, when I lie down, my nose plugs up, always has. I have always been a mouth breather as well, and when I first got the cpap some 13 years ago, I could not use it without using Afrin. After awhile on that, the rebound was terrible, and it's not good for you long term. I went through the normal litany of allergy tests etc, and even though I got the allergy shots, it did not help. One allergy doctor recommended this formula, and I have been using it for the last 7 or so years with great success.

I have a prescription for "Nasacourt"....any of the cortisone nasal sprays will do.... When I get a new bottle of that, I add about 3/4 to 1 tsp of AFRIN to that new bottle. The idea behind it is you do not get hooked on Afrin, because you are using such a small amount, and it's mixed in with the cortisone spray. I can sleep the whole night, and go most of the next day without any nasal congestion. Sometimes I can even use less than 3/4 tsp, say 1/2 tsp of Afrin.

[ColoZZZ]

Thanks for the scoop.

I have allergies also and have not yet been prescribed a xPAP machine (hopefully this week). Were your allergies a consideration in yoru Dr's prescription of the APAP rather than a plain CPAP?

Thanks,

-Andy

[Snoredog]

[quote="JohnD"]I thought this might be helpful to any and all out there who use a cpap etc and have chronic nasal congestion. The ONLY reason I have been able to use a cpap, and now this auto cpap, is my use of a cortisone nasal spray with a little help from Afrin...let me explain. I have allergic rhinitis. At night, when I lie down, my nose plugs up, always has. I have always been a mouth breather as well, and when I first got the cpap some 13 years ago, I could not use it without using Afrin. After awhile on that, the rebound was terrible, and it's not good for you long term. I went through the normal litany of allergy tests etc, and even though I got the allergy shots, it did not help. One allergy doctor recommended this formula, and I have been using it for the last 7 or so years with great success.

I have a prescription for "Nasacourt"....any of the cortisone nasal sprays will do.... When I get a new bottle of that, I add about 3/4 to 1 tsp of AFRIN to that new bottle. The idea behind it is you do not get hooked on Afrin, because you are using such a small amount, and it's mixed in with the cortisone spray. I can sleep the whole night, and go most of the next day without any nasal congestion. Sometimes I can even use less than 3/4 tsp, say 1/2 tsp of Afrin.

[curtcurt46]

You need to get off the Afrin. You will eventually cause such damage that surgery will be required to repair your nose.

I had the same problem (congestion when I laid down) and went to an ENT who looked me over and recommended I have a turbinate reduction and oh by the way he also repaired a deviated septum. I now can breath through my nose and the strongest stuff I use is saline spray. The surgery was done on a day basis and I rested for 1 day and then was back to work. I would have it done again if needed. I can know say it a breeze.

[Gerald]

John.....I've noticed that my nasal congestion has cleared up a lot since I began APAP. I'm using the foam and the fine filters in combination....and I think that is keeping most of the allergins away from me.

In addition to high filtration, you might want to try a salt water rinse with a neti-pot. Try to wean yourself from the chemicals. Using them for too long a time period may wreck you.

[Bookbear]

I also have chronic nasal congestion. I have been using a daily nasal wash called Breathe-ease. It really seems to help, I rarely need to use the decongestant nasal spray. I DID have a presecription for a steroid nasal spray (Nasonex). I used it for two months, and could see absolutely no improvement. The nasal wash took some getting used to, but it seems to be working for me. Here is a link:

http://www.alerg.com/page/A/PROD/FLU/SST2021


Good luck!

[JohnD]

All I know is that the minute amount of Afrin I am putting in the cortisone spray has not done any damage to my turbinets. I have my nose checked on a regular basis at least once a year, and there has been no detrimental effect noted. I have had my turbinets reduced, and I still had problems breathing. My nasal passages are not damaged.

The problem with Afrin is if you use it full strength every day, and for long periods of time. At the rate I use it, it takes about 7-9 months for me to go through 1 squeeze bottle of Afrin. That is not enough to cause my bp to go up or any of the other problems associated with full strengh Afrin use, as it is very diluted.

The original idea from the allergist who told me about this, was to eventually wean oneself off of Afrin, by slowly reducing the amount you would add....for me, with my chronic rhinitis, using just the cortisone spray alone did not work. As soon as I added this small amount of Afrin back into the cortisone spray, problem solved. So, it was either do that 7+ years ago and sleep with a cpap, or, go without a cpap machine...there was no question in my mind, which of the two ways I had to choose.

I have seen Astelin, and will have to check up on that. Also, will check out the breathe-easy, thanks.

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[MandoJohnny]

My doc prescribed Astelin nose spray. No rebound, no dependency. It does not work as well as Afrin, but if you use it right, it does work and it works without the side effects.

[Guest]

I started with a full face mask and after getting sick of the pooling drool and leakage, I switched to a nasal mask, a mirage activa. It was much better, but I had to use an Oxymetalizone spray to make it through the night without suffocating. I also got a steroid spray, Flonase, and that helped a lot.

Now that I could breathe better, I thought maybe a mirage swift would be more comfortable.

What I found is that the swift actually started to make my sinuses expand and stay that way throughout the day. I quit the steroid spray about a week into using the swift and haven't gone back. I think that since the swift is only putting pressure up your nose instead of putting pressure on the wider nose area is what works here.

For about a year now, I've had a better sense of smell too. That has both a good and bad side, of course.

I'm not advocating the particular product or anything, but I do advocate the general class of CPAP mask that puts air up the nose, not just on it.