CPAP causing clogged up nose?

I'm a new CPAP user with a Mirage nose mask. I find that about half way through the night, my nose gets so clogged up that I hardly get any air. Has anyone had this problem?

I've tried breath-right strips and Flonase. Didn't help.

Does anyone know how to cure it?

My CPAP has a humidifier which I have set on low.

Please help if you can.

Irv

snorenomore, it sounds like you might need to consult with a good ENT about the condition of your sinuses and turbinates. Run from any ENT who suggests UPPP surgery...don't let them do that. However, some judicious roto-rootering of the nasal turbinates and the sinuses might make cpap treatment a whole lot easier and much more effective for you.

Check out the topics below. In the meantime, you might need to go to a full face mask and mouth breathing to get you yourself treatment through the night...ResMed Ultra Mirage FF is a good one for most FF mask users.

Nasal turbinate and Sinus surgery experiences: Note especially the posts by snork1 - he had extensive nasal/sinus surgery to make breathing through his nose much easier while using CPAP.

Jul 01 2005 subject: Septoplasty and Turbinoplasty - 1 week later

Jun 26 2005 subject: Sinuses

Jun 21 2005 subject: Turbinate reduction options

Jun 21 2005 subject: Seeking Septoplasty support

Jun 08 2005 subject: Surgery Questions, esp. Picking a Doc

Jun 04 2005 subject: sleep apnea surgery

May 27 2005 subject: Update on septoplasty and turbinate reduction and tips

May 27 2005 subject: Nasal somnoplasty and Radio Frequency Ablation Differences

May 25 2005 subject: Goodby Afrin, hello life

May 23 2005 subject: Septoplasty and Turbinate Reduction

May 12 2005 subject: Operation over - phase one begins

May 07 2005 subject: Surgery coming up Wednesday

May 11 2005 subject: Relief for chronic stuffed nose-Goodby flonase

Apr 27 2005 subject: Nasal Surgery coming up. Question

Mar 01 2005 subject: Turbinate Cautery

Feb 28 2005 subject: Need "roter rooter" on nose, $$ extra for reducing

Feb 27 2005 subject: Maxillary Sinus Surgery

Feb 05 2005 subject: Help please, first few days, Sinus issues

Feb 04 2005 subject: Surgery scheduled for Thursday

Jan 14 2005 subject: new apnea patient

Jan 10 2005 subject: how to decide

Dec 18 2004 subject: sinus headaches

Dec 15 2004 subject: Full face mask for colds- bad for AHI

Nov 20 2004 subject: Nose Sprays or Nasal Surgery to help CPAP ?

Nov 22 2004 subject: Surgery Pros & Cons

Most likely, you are drying out your sinus. With CPAP, any mouth leak during the night causes large volumes of air to travel thru the humidifier and the sinus. Neither the humidifier or the sinus can warn and humidify so much air. The sinus engorges with blood and mucus as it tries and fails to deal with so much cool dry air.

CRANK UP THE HUMIDIFIER till you have it set as high as possible without waking with water in the cpap hose. Us a high quality chinstrap.

Read the articles on the right side of this link for support of what I suggest. http://www.fphcare.com/osa/summaries.asp

I had the same problem when I first tried cpap. My sinuses would get so congested and irritaed that I would sneeze and blow my nose continuously for 2 days.

The solution was the heated humidifier and a good prescription sinus spray. Crank your humidifier up first and see if that helps. If you are still congested talk to your doc about getting the nasal spray.


Ron

Cranking up your humidifier is a good first step. You might want to consider getting a heated humidifier hose (Aussie hose) and/or buying (or making) an insulating sleeve that goes over your hose.

The purpose of the heated hose, or having an insulating sleeve over your hose, is to prevent the rainout that you can get from higher humidity. You can make a sleeve by getting some polar fleece and having it sewn into a long sleeve that is of a diameter that will go around the hose. Don't forget that the couplers on the ends of the hose are BIGGER than the hose -->the sleeve needs to be of a large enough diameter to get over the couplers on the end.

Some people (I'm one of them) don't do as well with a mask as they do with nasal pillows. There is something about the nasal pillows (Breeze, Swift, Comfort-Lite, Aura) and nasal cannula (NasalAire II, Tiara Snapp, Spiritus Elite, ViaSys Lyra) that helps with keeping nasal passages open as these systems "inject" the pressurized air into your nose whereas a traditional mask system (such as Activa, Flexi-Fit, full-face masks) does not. With systems OTHER than pillows or cannula, you can get some collapse of the nostrils/nares which can impede airflow somewhat.

Purchasing the disposable air inlet filter (hopefully it is a hepa filter) can also help as it will filter out some of the allergens that you would otherwise be breathing in. Make sure that the area around the air inlet of your CPAP device is very clean and dust-free.

I suffered with a very stuffy nose every night for years. I tried every spray invented with limited success. When I started on CPAP I was going to buy a full-face mask because I'm such a huge mouth-breather. My RT person persuaded me to try nasal pillows in concert with an allergan-blocking filter on the CPAP air inlet and Nasonex spray. I've had great success and, after a few months of this regime, don't even need to use the Nasonex any more. No more decongestant sprays either. Also, no more use of decongestant tablets, although I do have to use Aerius or Claritan when the seasonal allergy crap is in the air.

Have patience and, consider trying one, or more, of the nasal pillow systems. If you are a side sleeper, Breeze and Comfort-Lite are, for me, remarkably stable and comfortable. If you are a back sleeper, try the Swift or Comfort-Lite.

Good luck!

I'll definitely try cranking up the humidifier for a start.

My DME recommended Ocean Saline Nose spray. I wonder has anyone had any success with that? I tried it last night and it didn't do anything except make my nose run a little bit.

SnoreNoMore2005 wrote:...My DME recommended Ocean Saline Nose spray. I wonder has anyone had any success with that? I tried it last night and it didn't do anything except make my nose run a little bit.
...

It seems all the "experts" are always recommending Saline Nasal Sprays, but my experience has been similar to Snore's in that I don't see much benefit from it. I even decided well maybe it's because I need to Use it frequently over a period of time. I switched brands. In the end I only seem to get a wet nose.


Ron

Hello

CPAP in the past has caused clogging up my nose.......Mainly mine was because I need a operation to open my airways as I had swollen tubinates and it made breathing impossible!!!

Clogging noses could be because the dry air irritates the nose inside and could be the frist sign of cold as well, winter down here.....cold and dry air messes up my nose something chronic!!! I use nesonex to keep my nose open.

Two years ago I had a major operation my nose and had to use saline washes to clear out all of the blood and clots out my still healing nose. Saline washes is not very effective on certin nose conditons, Pefer use Nesonex to keep my airways open. More effective to keep sinuses open!!