Is less humidity required for a nasal over full face mask

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Pugsy
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Re: Is less humidity required for a nasal over full face mask

Post by Pugsy » Mon Jun 27, 2022 3:15 pm

jlsmithseven wrote:
Mon Jun 27, 2022 3:10 pm
Hey, sorry to revive this 12 year old thread but I have been experiencing a lot of nasal congestion from switching over to the Bleep Dreamports and was wondering what was causing it. It makes sense that the body sees something invading. I am going to switch to my full face mask again I think, but it's pretty uncomfortable and I have a dry mouth, but at least the therapy should be working. Am I right in assuming that there is nothing can be done for a mouth breather? I know quite a few people who wake up with a very dry mouth after using a full face mask, but it's really the only solution we have right? I tried so many different masks and the fact that one will cause your body to create a lot of mucus doesn't sound great. I don't want to do a saline rinse and take 3 different pills every night just to sleep. Any advice would be helpful, thank you.
Have you tried simply more or less humidity with the Bleep mask to see if one way or the other affects the congestion or not?

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Julie
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Re: Is less humidity required for a nasal over full face mask

Post by Julie » Mon Jun 27, 2022 3:33 pm

And have you looked at the side FX of those 3 meds?

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ChicagoGranny
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Re: Is less humidity required for a nasal over full face mask

Post by ChicagoGranny » Mon Jun 27, 2022 4:12 pm

jlsmithseven wrote:
Mon Jun 27, 2022 3:10 pm
Am I right in assuming that there is nothing can be done for a mouth breather?
Your compliant is kind of a man-bites-dog story. Why do you mouth breath with a FFM but not a nasal mask? It's usually the other way around - FFMs are made for people who can't keep their mouth shut while sleeping.

Which FFM are you using? There are newer low-profile designs that actually help keep the mouth shut.

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jlsmithseven
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Re: Is less humidity required for a nasal over full face mask

Post by jlsmithseven » Mon Jun 27, 2022 6:11 pm

I have tried messing around with the humidity settings and it worked 1 night out of 7. That's been about my luck with cpap therapy since November. I get about 1 night good sleep a week on average, its so inconsistent. I usually kept everything on Auto with my heated hose and humidity but learned that it's better to set them manually because the humidity surrounding the machine can be detected. I still mouth breath with the nasal masks its not perfect. I've tried every dreamwear style and every half hybrid mask available pretty much from resmed and philips. What side effects?

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ChicagoGranny
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Re: Is less humidity required for a nasal over full face mask

Post by ChicagoGranny » Tue Jun 28, 2022 5:43 am

jlsmithseven wrote:
Mon Jun 27, 2022 6:11 pm
What side effects?
Which three drugs are you taking and at what dosage and at what time of day?

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jlsmithseven
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Re: Is less humidity required for a nasal over full face mask

Post by jlsmithseven » Tue Jun 28, 2022 6:22 am

Which three drugs are you taking and at what dosage and at what time of day?
[/quote]

I’m not sure if it’s 3, but it’s just a lot for a night time routine.
So I went to the ENT doctor a few weeks ago. They said there’s nothing really going on in my nasal cavities, but she thinks it might be anatomical. So they suggested some dissolvable implant to make my nose feel like it has a nasal strip on. I said every time I use a nasal strip at night I usually get pretty good sleep.
They put me on 40 mg of acid reflux meds, 1 pill in morning before breakfast. They thought the mucus might be from GERD pushing it up. I am also taking Flonase once at night. I usually like to do a nasal rinse before Flonase, but some nights I’m really clogged up that it doesn’t work well.
I’ve also been taking Claritin, which has helped in the past but I don’t know how much it’s helping now.
All that being said, I only started noticing my symptoms once the bleep dreamports were on. I had been using the Dreamwear nasal mask in the past as well. I open my mouth a few times a night so I think that has been compromising a lot of my issues. But I know how well the dreamports work, and how much pressure is applied directly to my nose. I’ve gotten better at breathing through my nose during the day but can’t help it at night. I’ve been taping a few nights which is a hit or miss too. Only when I’m not so clogged. It’s usually just one nostril also.
I’m just at a loss of what to really do. My APAP therapy is wonderful when it all works, but I can’t tolerate many masks. I don’t want to give up on it, but I feel like just putting nasal strips on at night give me a good enough sleep without all this frustration. I feel like my sinuses are causing a lot of my breathing issues to begin with and probably clogging up a lot of my airways and just a little collapse of them at night is enough to give me OSA. Thanks for your help. Hope I explained that all well.

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Pugsy
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Re: Is less humidity required for a nasal over full face mask

Post by Pugsy » Tue Jun 28, 2022 6:28 am

jlsmithseven wrote:
Tue Jun 28, 2022 6:22 am
I’ve been taping a few nights which is a hit or miss too. Only when I’m not so clogged. It’s usually just one nostril also.
Not quite sure if you meant "just one nostril" at night or all the time but if at night you might google "nasal cycle" and read up on it. Anytime I see someone mention "one nostril clogs up at night" I think about the normal nasal cycle thing.
I have this happen to me sometimes as well. Not every night but maybe once a week or so.
If the clogging is at night and on the side that is "down" then you might be experiencing the nasal cycle thing.

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Re: Is less humidity required for a nasal over full face mask

Post by jlsmithseven » Tue Jun 28, 2022 6:45 am

My nasal congestion only happens at night. I start to notice it almost as soon as I’m ready for bed or lie down. So this is just normal? The fact that it is every night doesn’t seem normal but I could deal with just one day a week.

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Pugsy
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Re: Is less humidity required for a nasal over full face mask

Post by Pugsy » Tue Jun 28, 2022 6:55 am

jlsmithseven wrote:
Tue Jun 28, 2022 6:45 am
My nasal congestion only happens at night. I start to notice it almost as soon as I’m ready for bed or lie down. So this is just normal? The fact that it is every night doesn’t seem normal but I could deal with just one day a week.
If you get nasal congestion prior to laying down then that is probably not the nasal cycle thing because the nasal cycle thing seems to be more gravity related...the congestion in the side down thing that gets pretty much immediately relieved when someone turns over and the other side goes down and the previous congestion in the other side clears up.

I suppose it is also possible that something else is triggering the initial congestion and a person might also have the nasal cycle thing going on.

And yes...apparently the nasal cycle thing is considered "normal" though no one ever said it wasn't highly annoying.
That is of course assuming what you are experience WHEN LAYING DOWN is the nasal cycle thing.
I don't know that is what you are experiencing or not but just thought I would throw it out there that there is a normal (but highly annoying) condition out there that might explain some of your symptoms.
To the best of my knowledge I don't know of the nasal cycle thing happening while upright. Everything I have read points to laying down only. I could be wrong but that's where my reading has lead me to think.

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jlsmithseven
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Re: Is less humidity required for a nasal over full face mask

Post by jlsmithseven » Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:02 am

Well, yes it is mostly when I’m laying down. But it happens every evening. Usually when I lay on my other side it clears up but not always, and this doesn’t allow me to lay on my back. I usually switch from my back to my sides during the night.

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Pugsy
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Re: Is less humidity required for a nasal over full face mask

Post by Pugsy » Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:15 am

jlsmithseven wrote:
Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:02 am
Well, yes it is mostly when I’m laying down. But it happens every evening. Usually when I lay on my other side it clears up but not always, and this doesn’t allow me to lay on my back. I usually switch from my back to my sides during the night.
Well it does sound like nasal cycle might be playing a part here. Maybe not the whole part but a part.
I can only offer my own personal experience with it and I do know that sometimes when I do have it and I change sides that sometimes "relief" (the previous clogged nostril side clears up) sometimes takes quite a while....and sometimes relief comes in like maybe 30 seconds. I don't know why the difference anymore than I know why I have it happen sometimes but not all the time.

I am sorry but my bag of tricks for maybe fixing this problem is pretty much empty. Since it doesn't happen to me every night I haven't had a chance to go into detective mode to try to figure out the best solution and so much of my own advice here I have to draw upon personal experience. From what I have read about nasal cycle....no one else seems to offer much either.
Just because something is "normal" doesn't mean it doesn't/can't be causing problems and it's tough when "normal" can't be easily fixed. The nasal mucosa are funny little things...the least little thing can greatly upset the balance and when that happens they respond by swelling and causing all sorts of misery.
Only thing I might mention is that I have that cycle thing happen less frequently the more humidity I use with the cpap.
Doesn't mean that the next person will have similar findings though. Everyone's nasal mucosa is very individualized in its response to anything.

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Julie
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Re: Is less humidity required for a nasal over full face mask

Post by Julie » Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:20 pm

Antihistamines can definitely mess with your sleep and you should take your meds more seriously.

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Re: Is less humidity required for a nasal over full face mask

Post by chunkyfrog » Wed Jun 29, 2022 9:41 pm

The bullfrog swears by chin up strips.
No drugs--just spreads the nostrils.

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