What about colds?

From Mayo Clinic staff:

There's no cure for the common cold. But if you're sick, chicken soup may help you feel better. Researchers say that chicken soup acts as an anti-inflammatory and temporarily speeds up the movement of mucus through the nose. This relieves congestion and limits the amount of time viruses are in contact with the lining of your nose. Plus, soup and other liquids help loosen congestion and prevent dehydration.

avi123 wrote:From Mayo Clinic staff:

There's no cure for the common cold. But if you're sick, chicken soup may help you feel better. Researchers say that chicken soup acts as an anti-inflammatory and temporarily speeds up the movement of mucus through the nose. This relieves congestion and limits the amount of time viruses are in contact with the lining of your nose. Plus, soup and other liquids help loosen congestion and prevent dehydration.

I don't think it is a good idea to put chicken soup in the humidifier tank.

This was a discussion of using a cpap while having a cold.

I have no experience with having a nose mask and a cold, but I would suggest buying a bag of Hall's menthol drops (no substitute!). This does wonders to clear the nose. Use one say 20 minutes before bedtime and you should be fine (don't use them laying down - they are a choking hazard).

Note: using a bunch of these a day has a laxative effect.

robysue wrote:

Gasper62 wrote:Go to the pharmacy window and ask for some old-school Sudafed.

I'll agree that Sudafed will dry the congestion right up. But at the recommended dose, it overdries my sinuses and that triggers it's own problems. But the biggest problem for me is that even a minimal dose of Sudafed keeps me wide awake all night long. Regardless of how early in the day I take it.

Yeah, I've had overdrying on occasion too, never kept me from sleeping, though. That would suck ! I can get so congested that I can't get any air through my nose and it feels like it's permanently plugged up with plaster. I'll take too dry over that sensation any day ! Deep breathing over a pot of boiling water usually does the trick for me.

Anyone try to use the mask that allows one to breathe through the mouth, and/or nose?

purple wrote:Anyone try to use the mask that allows one to breathe through the mouth, and/or nose?

Yup, I use a full face mask every night. I can't seem to stop myself from mouth breathing, no matter how hard I try.

[/quote]
You might be surprised to find that sometimes the machine can be helpful -- some of us have found that turning up heat and humidification on the machine during a cold helps relieve nasal symptoms. With the worst colds I've had since starting cpap there are usually one or two nights where the cold is so bad that a mask -- any kind of mask -- just doesn't work (mask would be "slimed" within moments of putting it in ) . On those few nights I've slept in my recliner. But early and late in the cold, the machine is not only tolerable but actually helpful.[/quote]

I've been on CPAP since 2009, and that's been my experience. I can breathe more easily on CPAP than without it. The CPAP pressure (upper teens) often seems to force open my nasal passages. Also the air tends to dry things out. Even for a short while after taking off the mask in the morning, my congestion will seem much better. Of course, it always comes back after I've been off for a while.

HairyReasoner wrote:

You might be surprised to find that sometimes the machine can be helpful -- some of us have found that turning up heat and humidification on the machine during a cold helps relieve nasal symptoms. With the worst colds I've had since starting cpap there are usually one or two nights where the cold is so bad that a mask -- any kind of mask -- just doesn't work (mask would be "slimed" within moments of putting it in ) . On those few nights I've slept in my recliner. But early and late in the cold, the machine is not only tolerable but actually helpful.[/quote]

I've been on CPAP since 2009, and that's been my experience. I can breathe more easily on CPAP than without it. The CPAP pressure (upper teens) often seems to force open my nasal passages. Also the air tends to dry things out. Even for a short while after taking off the mask in the morning, my congestion will seem much better. Of course, it always comes back after I've been off for a while.[/quote]

+1

My best solution is a snort or two of nasonex and a Breathe Right strip, then mask up as usual.
If my nares are sore; I may smear just a tad of Lansinoh on the tender parts.

When I was still using full face masks and came down with a cold, I found my mask nearly impossible to use since I am a horrible mouth breather and felt intense pressure on my sinuses. When I came down with one using my current elan mask, I actually found the pressure very soothing. Obviously, your mileage will vary.

49er

At a year in, I find that where I normally would have been sick and not able to breathe through my nose AT ALL at night has been massively improved. I bought two FFMs for the times I figured I wouldn't be able to use my nasal pillow...it's been a non issue. Sure, I've still been sick...but CPAP has allowed me to keep breathing through my nose, and that annoying tickle that usually keeps me from a good sleep at night for weeks on end? No problemo. The air pressure coupled with variable humidity is WONDERFUL.

I recently had a really bad cough. While a few single coughs aren't bad with a full face mask, the coughing spasm that keeps going would be so bad that I would rip off my mask. I felt like there wasn't enough air. Knowing that I really needed the humidifier to help my cough, I had to figure a way to get past the initial coughing spasms. I raised my pressure from 11 to 13 (14 was comfortable, but had more leaking issues). Simply raising my pressure helped me feel like there was enough air during the coughing spasms, and once I was asleep, the cough was gone for hours. It was wonderful to finally sleep again, despite the horrible cough. I am just now ready to try lowering it back to 11 starting pressure.

Aren't there cpap filters that supposedly filter out some bacteria? Turn that machine into an air cleaner!