Help required to reduce AHI and Aerophagia

Jude92 wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 06, 2024 3:44 pm

As a general rule, do you turn your humidity level up during the colder months?

Actually I don't play around with the humidity setting at all unless I am getting condensation in the mask or hose because I learned a long time ago that my nasal mucosa don't like changes. I pretty much run with same humidity setting all year long.
If I change it at all it's going to be a very minor change like when I went from a setting of 8 down to a setting of 7.

I pretty much max out the humidity all year long. My nasal mucosa don't like less humidity....I used to say that my nose would be happiest if I would just snort water.

I think I may be in your boat as my nose is always on the dry side.
I’ll give it another night or 2 at 4, and then try 5 if need be. That’s the maximum humidity setting on the dreamstation.

Adding a stand alone room humidifier might be something to think about if the problem continues.
Also frequent use of something like Simply Saline might be something to do during the day. I used to do that all the time when I lived in Las Vegas and it was so god awful dry there and I wasn't even on cpap when I lived there.
The dryness made my nasal mucosa miserable.

Thanks Pugsy, those are 2 solutions I will keep in mind if things don't get better.

I'm hoping someone will be able to help me with an issue I've been having with my humidifier. My nasal dryness has gotten worse over the past couple of weeks to the point where I'm getting about 3 hours of sleep before waking up and having to rinse my nose. I've noticed that each time I wake up the water in the tank is cold and the heating plate is also cold. It does heat up when I put it on preheat. Is it possible that the humidifier isn't working when the machine is on, and only heats when in preheat mode? Is the water supposed to be warm when you wake up? I had the humidity at the maximum level last night and it made no difference. The volume of water also isn't going down any more. Also to clarify, the humidity is on fixed mode and has been for months.

What is your ambient humidity in your bedroom?

It's around 50-55% at the moment.

Jude92 wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 06, 2024 4:55 pm

I think I may be in your boat as my nose is always on the dry side.
I’ll give it another night or 2 at 4, and then try 5 if need be. That’s the maximum humidity setting on the dreamstation.

Also worth looking at on a Dreamstation:

Is the humidifier set to "Fixed" mode or "Adaptive" mode? "Adaptive" takes into account the room's ambient relative humidity and is supposed to reduce the chances of rainout. "Fixed" mode doesn't take the room's ambient relative humidity into account.

Back when I was using a Dreamstation BiPAP Auto, I found that my moisture worshipping nose wanted the humidifier set to "Fixed" with a level of 5. That provided more added humidity than "Adaptive" with a level of 5, but it also would trigger rainout issues on some nights. For me, dealing with the rainout was easier than dealing with the dry nose.

Thanks for your message robysue1. It has been on 'fixed' for the past few months. I didn't notice any improvement when I had it on 'adaptive' at the start but felt the difference straight away when switching to 'fixed' and have had it on there ever since. My only conclusion is it's no longer working as I can't see how the water is always cold every time I wake up. Surely that's not normal?

What "fixed" humidity setting are you using?

Here's the deal.....if the preheat function warms things up then it is unlikely that the humidifier has crapped out on you.
The fact that things are cold when you wake up and touch them doesn't mean total death though. These humidifiers cycle on and off depending on how much heat it thinks it needs to attain the desired humidity setting. It wouldn't be impossible that you just happen to be touching it when it is in the "off" cycle.

Are you using the heated hose?

I've been using the humidity at 3 for the past couple of months and it has just recently stopped being effective for me. The heated hose has been at 1 during this time too, so the settings have been consistent. I turned the humidity up to 5 last night and it made no difference. Is there any way to figure out for definite if the humidifier is working as it should? Surely the amount of water should be slightly smaller after 7 hours of max humidity?

A thought from a different direction: on the advice of someone treating my nosebleeds, I've started using Ayr gel inside my nostrils to keep them from getting too dry. I put a dab on a Q-tip and gently pat it on the inside surfaces of my nostrils. This is working well for me.

Thanks for your suggestion. I’ve been using ayr gel for several months now and have recently added nasogel spray too. I was able to get 6 hours uninterrupted until this recent problem which has brought me back around to about 3 hours. A big shift recently and the humidifier is the only thing I can come up with which may have caused it.

Hi, I was hoping someone could help with my current cpap issue relating again to nasal dryness. I had been using the Phillips Nuance Pro mask with good success up until about 6 weeks ago when it was time to change my mask. I then found out that mask had been discontinued, so decided to opt for the Dreamwear Nasal Cushion Mask. I've had it for 3 weeks and getting the mask coincided with an increase in the temperature and humidity due to the summer weather (room temperature hovers around 24 degrees Celsius, and humidity between 55 and 60). The first few days led to me waking up after about 3 hours with a dry nose, but I was able to get back to sleep again using a spray of Sterimar Easy Breathe in each nostril, which then got me another couple of hours and then the same again for another couple of hours. My AHI score was the lowest it has ever been for a few days (around 2) but I felt really tired due to wakening up so many times. I have tweaked with the humidity and tube heat settings, but it has gradually gotten worse, and I'm now getting AHI scores around 6 or 7 and struggling to go back to sleep. I've opted to return the dreamwear as it's just within the return window and have ordered the Airfit N30 (I prefer the hose at the bottom).

Can anyone recommend any tips on how to beat this nasal dryness? I've been using Cann-Ease for quite a while (I find it better than Ayr Nasal Gel) and it worked well in the spring. I've also added sterimar easy breathe as well. My humidity is at 5 (max) and have tried hose heat at 5 and 1.

Any tips on how to adjust my heat settings or any other products to try would be appreciated.