terrible night.

shameless and pathetic whining ahead.

i haven't felt this bad since i started therapy.

if there's one thing that makes you appreciate what you may not have noticed (how much better you feel, slowly over time) i'ts a swift regression to how you felt before.

ive been sick, missed a lot of work. last night was particuarly bad. I'm trying not to use the Afrin too much, because the rebound? frankly just as bad as the reason i used it (in my opinion)

went to bed at my normal time, but couldn't stop coughing. the air from the cpap was scratching my throat so bad. then of course I couldn't blow my nose because of the mask. so that made it worse

I laid in bed until almost 2 am miserable. ended up pulling the mask off and going to sleep without it.

that. was. a. mistake. i feel like CRAP today and it's not because of my cold.

I don't know im pretty frustrated. cpap while sick makes being sick that much more miserable. yesterday was my best day since starting this cold. I could breathe all day....until i went to bed.

boo.

Are you trying to use the Swift during your bout with this cold? I'd suggest getting a full face mask.
If you're taking Lisinopril for blood pressure (or diabetes), that can cause/exacerbate the coughing.

Two weeks after I started my therapy, I came down with a horrible cough. Couldn't hardly sleep, couldn't keep the mask on and had to give up on therapy for about 10 nights till I could keep it on again. UGGHHH! I didn't realize how much of an improvement I had had in my therapy until I went off of it. Been there......


Den

"UGGHHH!" is right. Den. I keep intending to have a better backup plan (FFM), but till then, when I simply can't use the mask, the recliner is my friend. I get better sleep nearly upright than in bed without the machine.

Xiola, sure hope nights like that are few and far between.

Kathy

Wulfman wrote:Are you trying to use the Swift during your bout with this cold? I'd suggest getting a full face mask.

I can't afford one right now, unfortunately.

hopefully i can sleep tonight.

It does sound miserable. Hope tonight is better for you.

xiola wrote:... shameless and pathetic whining ahead. ...

And no need to apologize. We all have REALLY bad days. It HELPS to have some place to come where others understand how you feel. Though it does not change anything, the last thing I need is for someone else to say, "Oh, I get colds all the time. It's no big deal!" It's clear they do NOT know.

xiola wrote:... ive been sick, missed a lot of work. last night was particuarly bad. I'm trying not to use the Afrin too much, because the rebound? frankly just as bad as the reason i used it (in my opinion) ...

Yup. It can be bad. But I learned it is more important to get a good night of sleep than worry about the rebound. My pulmonologist taught me a way to help keep your airway open. Maybe it will help you.

First, blast the Afrin into each nostril. Let it sit for a bit, then blow your nose. In about 15 to 30 minutes, repeat it. But no more.

Second, until time for the next dosage, use saline nasal spray to help keep the nasal passages as moist / open as possible. The slight salinity also helps knock down the virus.

xiola wrote:... went to bed at my normal time, but couldn't stop coughing. the air from the cpap was scratching my throat so bad. then of course I couldn't blow my nose because of the mask. so that made it worse ...

Amen! It's horrible. I often would either sleep on top of a mound of pillows or just five up and sleep fairly upright in a recliner.

xiola wrote:... I laid in bed until almost 2 am miserable. ended up pulling the mask off and going to sleep without it. ... that. was. a. mistake. i feel like CRAP today and it's not because of my cold. ...

The silver lining? You can now seperate the lack of sleep vs. cold symptoms. Not fun to have both, but you can see a difference that CPAP is making.

xiola wrote:... I don't know im pretty frustrated. cpap while sick makes being sick that much more miserable. yesterday was my best day since starting this cold. I could breathe all day....until i went to bed. boo ...

And here's hoping it is downhill from here. Keep your head up. Plenty of fluids. As little Afrin as possible, but do the double squirt thing to REALLY clear your sinuses. And lots of saline spray to keep your nasal passages moist.

Oh, and don't forget the chicken broth. No, really. It really does help.

xiola wrote:shameless and pathetic whining ahead.

i haven't felt this bad since i started therapy.

if there's one thing that makes you appreciate what you may not have noticed (how much better you feel, slowly over time) i'ts a swift regression to how you felt before.

ive been sick, missed a lot of work. last night was particuarly bad. I'm trying not to use the Afrin too much, because the rebound? frankly just as bad as the reason i used it (in my opinion)

went to bed at my normal time, but couldn't stop coughing. the air from the cpap was scratching my throat so bad. then of course I couldn't blow my nose because of the mask. so that made it worse

I laid in bed until almost 2 am miserable. ended up pulling the mask off and going to sleep without it.

that. was. a. mistake. i feel like CRAP today and it's not because of my cold.

I don't know im pretty frustrated. cpap while sick makes being sick that much more miserable. yesterday was my best day since starting this cold. I could breathe all day....until i went to bed.

boo.

I suspect that all we can offer is a shoulder to cry on & the assurance that good times lie ahead as the cold passes.
Maybe last night was the worst of it & the corner has been turned.

Stay with it

DSM

Have you ever done nasal flushing? It sounds Caveman and even looks worst, but it is a good option to use occasionally.
Things will get better, keep your head up.
Gerry

Do you neti pot? I use it when I am really congested. I have never used Afrin so I am not sure about it causing a rebound effect.

The neti pot takes care of any congestion and I breath fine afterwards.

I am sorry you had a hard night. I had a sinus infection recently where even doing the neti pot several times that day did not help, so I could not sleep with the mask for half of the night. It was a miserable half of a night and I finally broke down and took a decongestant *not supposed to because I have high BP* just so I could sleep with the mask on and actually sleep.

you guys are more than awesome. it really helps to have people i can talk to about all of this.

I went to bed at 7 last night, i was so tired i shouldn't have been driving even. tried without the Afrin, but couldn't do it, I kept waking up coughing. I followed JohnBFisher's method, and that worked very well. i slept for 12 hours. WITH my machine.

i feel SO MUCH BETTER today. I'm working on a plan B for next time I can't use my nasal pillow mask, I don't want to have repeats of how i felt yesterday.

I haven't tried a netti pot, but I think i probably need to get one.

Please don't use Afrin. You will really regret it later. My doctor told me if I am really having a bad time that I can use Neosypherine for a couple days if need be, but only for a two or three days and not on a regular basis. Afrin will actually work great, then after a couple days you will have what is called rebound. You will be plugged up worst than before you used it.
Have you tried nasal flushing? I try flushing before I will us Neosypherine and it does what I need most of the time.

Gerry