Nose congestion

[CzechCzar]

I have a Respironics system one set to a pressure of six. I have been using a humidity setting of three or four, and waking up congested. I usually take my Swift FX off during the night it's so bad.

After researching the forum, I know now to turn the humidifier lower, or off. I was curious whether anyone on the forum knows of a good nasal spray. I am currently using the NeilMed, which enables me to have a pressurized spray. Does anyone else have anything that works well for them?

[borgready]

Congestion is a big issue with using cpap therapy. It don't get addressed enough. It don't take much to make your sinuses swell up and clog up. Congestion can form and can change from position to position within minutes.

Cold air helps more than warm air in keeping my sinuses open. I try to keep it in the low 60's.

Hot peppers and hot sauce will usually open a stuffy nose temporarily. I don't know what it does when you put it up nose. I think there are nose sprays with pepper spray in them but I am not sure.

I am using over the counter congestion meds. The ones that say don't use for more than 3 days. They are supposed to give a rebound effect. I don't know how much use it takes to get that. One is phenylephrine HCl 1% and the other is Oxymetazoline HCl .05%. These are the Afrin type generics.

I was give a sample of Nasonex at the doctors office to use long term. This stuff take a while(1hr) to kick in. It is a corticosteroid and it says it inhibits the immune system. I think I was getting some weird reaction in the lungs that when you would breath in it seemed like the air passages would restrict/spasm to incoming air when the machine start and stops cycles of pressurizing. I am not sure that was the case. This stuff says it inhibits the immunes system and I would think getting flu viruses, and colds might be more likely.

[95C4]

I have a Respironics system one set to a pressure of six. I have been using a humidity setting of three or four, and waking up congested. I usually take my Swift FX off during the night it's so bad.

After researching the forum, I know now to turn the humidifier lower, or off. I was curious whether anyone on the forum knows of a good nasal spray. I am currently using the NeilMed, which enables me to have a pressurized spray. Does anyone else have anything that works well for them?

.............................................
I have started to use Ayr Saline Nasal Gel with Aloe.
I find it opens my sinuses up better than straight saline nasal spray.
Its not a long term solution, but if I have to get up at 3am I use this, it gives me enough relief to be able to get back to sleep on the mask.
Its available at local supermarket & online & no doubt there are other brands of the same stuff.

[Elle]

I find the nasal rinse works better for me than the spray. I use the bottle kind that you hold up to each nostril and squeeze. Mind you I don't need it very often since cpap seems to help me with keeping clear. I think the humidity helps me or maybe I am just not prone. I actually had the first cold in years recently and for the first time since starting cpap worried that I wouldn't be able to use it because I was so plugged up but a nasal rinse and one nyquil capsule had me breathing great and sleeping well. That couldn't be used for general congestion though so nevermind. Hope you find a solution. It is a terrible feeling.

[BlueSky72]

Oxymetazoline spray should not be used for more than 3 days because it can lead to permanent nasal congestion that can only be relieved by surgery. This is what happened to me. The surgery is risky and doesn't always work. So I would urge anyone not to use this drug on an ongoing basis.

The cause of my chronic congestion was structural. According to my ENT doctor, about 30% of people are born with a concha bullosa, which is an air pocket inside the tissues of the nose, which causes the tissue to bulge out and partially or fully block the nasal passages. It has to be surgically removed, there is no other way to address it.

In addition to the concha bullosa I had enlarged turbinates from using the oxymetazoline for years. These were also cut away in the surgery. Nowadays I am totally congestion free and can breathe easily for the first time in my life.

I suggest that if you are having chronic congestion and using any nasal spray, saline or otherwise, you consider seeing an ENT and getting a CT scan to find out whether you too have a structural issue. In the meantime use nasal irrigation or rinsing to manage the congestion as best you can and reduce sinus infections. Steroid sprays are ok if they help, but often they don;t help because the problem is structural, not functional (eg allergy).

Chronic congestion is uncomfortable, painful and tiring, and if it interferes with CPAP, it can be ultimately life threatening.

[borgready]

In addition to the concha bullosa I had enlarged turbinates from using the oxymetazoline for years. These were also cut away in the surgery. Nowadays I am totally congestion free and can breathe easily for the first time in my life.

Bluesky72, How was the surgery and how was the recovery from the surgery? Do they cut the nose open to get access or what? Was the swelling bad after surgery? Any recovery issues like bleeding nose or swallowing blood? How long was you in the hospital for that? How long did it take for everything to heal up? When was this done and what was the cost?

[ekubaskie]

I use Afrin, but I dump it out into a bottle (surprise, it's a gel!) and water it down, then put it back in the pump bottle. Lately, I hit it about 20:1 with saline. I may use it 4 or 5 nights in a row, then go a week without with no rebound issues. Full strength, I can't even sleep after a snort - it wires me up like a Tesla Coil. This way, it just starts the process, and the PAP itself finishes the job. Plus, it ends up at about 10-15 cents a bottle.

[-tim]

Look at what the pump is sucking up? Is it near the floor or where a pet sleeps?

The next step is change the water in your tank daily and dump out the old water in the morning to give the tank time to try out. Try distilled water or a different brand. Rinse the hose daily in the morning and at night. That will reduce any chance of something in the water triggering allergies. That may work and is cheap. If it does work, figure out which steps are needed. Plenty of people never change their water or wash their hoses.

Try the hypoallergenic filters if you can get some.

You can try allergy pills or sprays but they won't work for long. They may work long enough to get used to things but they are not a long term solution. For nasal sprays, you can use the saline ones every day forever if you want. They aren't much more than a table spoon of salt in about a cup of water in a container useful to get in your nose so you can refill the containers. Home made solution needs to be made with pure water and it only lasts a few days before it should be discarded. The lack of a ph-buffer in the also can cause irritation.

I'm working on a way to hook a hepa h14 filter up to my resmed s9 but the 3d printing process is a bit delayed.

[mckooi]

Oxymetazoline spray should not be used for more than 3 days because it can lead to permanent nasal congestion that can only be relieved by surgery. This is what happened to me. The surgery is risky and doesn't always work. So I would urge anyone not to use this drug on an ongoing basis.

The cause of my chronic congestion was structural. According to my ENT doctor, about 30% of people are born with a concha bullosa, which is an air pocket inside the tissues of the nose, which causes the tissue to bulge out and partially or fully block the nasal passages. It has to be surgically removed, there is no other way to address it.

Question: may i know what is concha bullosa? What kind of surgery was performed?





In addition to the concha bullosa I had enlarged turbinates from using the oxymetazoline for years. These were also cut away in the surgery. Nowadays I am totally congestion free and can breathe easily for the first time in my life.

Question: cut away? May i know what it means?



I suggest that if you are having chronic congestion and using any nasal spray, saline or otherwise, you consider seeing an ENT and getting a CT scan to find out whether you too have a structural issue. In the meantime use nasal irrigation or rinsing to manage the congestion as best you can and reduce sinus infections. Steroid sprays are ok if they help, but often they don;t help because the problem is structural, not functional (eg allergy).

Chronic congestion is uncomfortable, painful and tiring, and if it interferes with CPAP, it can be ultimately life threatening.

[BlueSky72]

In addition to the concha bullosa I had enlarged turbinates from using the oxymetazoline for years. These were also cut away in the surgery. Nowadays I am totally congestion free and can breathe easily for the first time in my life.

Bluesky72, How was the surgery and how was the recovery from the surgery? Do they cut the nose open to get access or what? Was the swelling bad after surgery? Any recovery issues like bleeding nose or swallowing blood? How long was you in the hospital for that? How long did it take for everything to heal up? When was this done and what was the cost?

The surgery was very simple and the recovery was easy. It may be more complicated for people who have a more severe problem than I did though.

They enter through the nostrils - there is no cut to the skin of the nose. For me there was very little swelling or bleeding. My nose felt clear from the moment I woke up. I did not have any packing inside the nose. It was day surgery. All was healed within a week. It was done in 2012 and the cost was covered by the NZ NHS-style health system. Actual cost would be quite low because it was a 30 minute operation with day surgery only.

[onthefreeway]

Bluesky, just wondering why - now that your nose is clear - you haven't switched to nasal pillows or a nasal mask. Are you just used to a full face mask, or do you still breathe through your mouth while sleeping?

[BlueSky72]

Bluesky, just wondering why - now that your nose is clear - you haven't switched to nasal pillows or a nasal mask. Are you just used to a full face mask, or do you still breathe through your mouth while sleeping?

Good question, and one I asked my sleep doctor about... he said that since I have spent several years using a FFM, if I used a nasal mask, my mouth would fall open because my body is used to that now. I'm not willing to try taping and I've tried a chin strap and it didnt work for me.