Congestion

NeurosurgeryNP · Post by **NeurosurgeryNP** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 12:05 pm

Hi all - Had my CPAP titration last night. Went OK - except I didn't sleep all that well, even with Ambien. I did, however, tolerate the mask all night. One question, I woke up this morning with bad congestion. Is this from the CPAP (it was not on a humisifier)? I am still so congested. Is this what I have to look forward to? Thanks. Jen

chrisp · Post by **chrisp** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 12:17 pm

Hello and welcome aboard,
Heated humidification will probably help you .

"Heated Humidification
Up to 75% of patients treated with CPAP experience a dry and congested nose as a consequence of treatment.8,9 This is caused by the drying airflow supplied by CPAP. The dry airflow can exceed the natural ability of the nose to heat and humidify the incoming air. Congestion encourages oral breathing, which, in turn, allows the pressurized air supplied by CPAP to escape through the mouth. This phenomenon is known as mouth leak. It has been shown that patients receiving dry air from CPAP experience mouth leaks an average of 31% of their total sleep time.

Patients eventually exhibit symptoms such as dry nose and throat; headache; chest discomfort; breakdown of tissue around the nares; dry cracked lips; infections of the nose, throat and sinuses; and bleeding nose.

Read the article here. http://www.sleepreviewmag.com/Articles. ... d=S0501F02

Cheers,

Chris

NeurosurgeryNP · Post by **NeurosurgeryNP** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 12:26 pm

Thanks for the info. Jen