Congestion Thank You, Pugsy

Hi Pugsy - thank you so much for your guidance on congestion problems.

Having had frequent congestion problems since beginning PAP therapy 6 months ago, it occurred to me to search the forum for potential solutions -- DUH!! I read your guidance that, although conventional wisdom suggests most users would need to increase the humidity, there is a minority of users that need to decrease the humidity or turn the humidifier off completely.

Since I had been up to level seven (on ResMed AirSense 10), I decided to try lowering the humidity to 3 and see what happens. Lo and Behold, the congestion almost went away completely, just a small amount remaining. I will stay at 3 for a couple more nights and then try 2 if congestion is not totally gone. It just goes to show that there are always a few people to whom the conventional wisdom does not apply.

Had you not written about the minority users, I would never have guessed this approach. Again, thank you so much for this info and for your steadfast dedication to improving the lives of PAP users.

So glad you were finally able to sort out your issue (hopefully it holds).
Most people here tend to offer ideas that work for them and they don't always offer alternative ideas because they don't have good experience with the alternatives.
No problem with that and it's human nature and to be expected.

I try to offer both sides of the coin advice because I know that pretty much everything related to sleep apnea or cpap...comes with a huge YMMV sticker and what works well for one person could be a total disaster for the next person and both are normal.

My own personal experience with humidity experiments taught me very quickly that if I could snort water then my nasal mucosa would the the happiest. So I share my experience but I also know that my experience is not the whole world's experience and others can and will differ from mine.

Most people do seem to need more (or at least some) humidity....that's why these machines are supplied with heated humidifiers on a fairly regular basis...but there are enough people who either need minimal or even no added humidity that we have to at least offer that side of the coin for consideration.

Hopefully this new adjustment holds and you find continued relief from the nasal congestion. I know it is miserable and when I do get nasal congestion I simply don't sleep so great if I can't breathe through my nose. Wouldn't matter if I used a full face mask or not either...just because I could breathe through my mouth doesn't mean that I would be doing it and sleeping great. I need a clear nose all the time.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:18 am

When I do get nasal congestion I simply don't sleep so great if I can't breathe through my nose. Wouldn't matter if I used a full face mask or not either... I need a clear nose all the time.

This is exactly how I feel.

Thanks again, Pugsy.