newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

clogged · Post by **clogged** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 10:04 pm

Thanks for all suggestions since my last post. I have not been back here, got very busy, and I just finished reading all comments made. I hate to say this but I have not been successful-yet - weaning myself out of the nasal spray. I am not taking the steroid pills, I think I would itch all over. I tried to spray only one nostril but I am so aware now of having a congested nose that I just cannot sleep until my breathing is clear of the clogged feeling.

Tomorrow I will try a Claritin & see where that will take me though I cannot conceive how by popping one pill my nose will decongest within, say, 20-30 minutes of hitting the sac? Well, I will try and see what happens. All I know is that for now I am dreaming! I've dreamt for the last week, just about every day (I mean, dreams I remember the next morning). Also I am trying to use the neti pot but some nights my nose is so congested that no water goes through. The latest ENT/allergist I saw told me to go back to him in 3-4 weeks, presumably weaned out of Afrin-like spray but I will have to hold off the visit until I can do that. I still haven't bought the CPAP machine, this whole thing just seems so complicated from choosing the right machine to humidifiers and then the full face masks .....arghh. This is b/c the costs will come straight from my pocket since I discovered that my health ins. says I have a $1,000 deductible. Oy veh.

roster · Post by **roster** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 6:24 am

clogged wrote:.............

Tomorrow I will try a Claritin & see where that will take me though I cannot conceive how by popping one pill my nose will decongest within, say, 20-30 minutes of hitting the sac? .......

It will not work because you are dependent on Afrin. Without Afrin you get rebound congestion which Claritin will not address. You have to wean yourself off the Afrin.

desperate nose · Post by **desperate nose** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 4:38 pm

I've been using CPAP for 10 yrs & my problem continues to worsen year over year. I've used Afrin or an equivalent (Musinex & Vicks nose sprays) every night for a year except for one 8-day stretch early last summer that I managed to get by without them. If I go a couple of nights without sleep I'm liable to have a panic attack. I've tried most of the recommended prescription nose sprays but none have helped. My mind/body seems bent on sleeping (or, at least, falling asleep) with my mouth clamped tightly shut so I have not been able to switch over to my full-face or oral CPAP masks. Maybe after the holidays I'll try to forego the Afrin-type nose sprays again, but come 3 or 4 a.m. and no sleep or the hint of a panic attack developing, I'm quick to reach for the nose sprays. I always use the AYR saline gel in my nasal passages before I do the nose spray - that seems to get my nose running and cleared out a bit so that the nose sprays then finish the job of clearing open my nasal passages so that I can use the CPAP. However, the length of time and quality of the sleep has declined significantly the last few months. I'm not inclined to see yet another ENT unless I can find one that will analyze me about midnight or so when my problem is at its worst. As it is, I'm too tired every day, all day long, to be able to do much of anything.

Frimesili · Post by **Frimesili** » Wed May 20, 2009 3:07 am

Hi!
Help to find, where you can buy antiallergic drugs online.

Tom Holsinger · Post by **Tom Holsinger** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 10:36 pm

This thread needs a ping to bring it back to the top because the subject keeps coming up. The most recent new thread to ask the same question is lanndi's:

viewtopic/t43285/Need-help-for-stuffy-nose-nights.html

Need help for stuffy nose nights

roster · Post by **roster** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 12:33 pm

Dr. Falcon,

Do you have any comments on Steve's post from another thread ( viewtopic.php?f=1&t=47962&p=436037#p436037 )?

sagesteve wrote:When using any nasal mask that will touch the area of the nose, the columella, the columella-labial angle or junction and around alar-facial groove or junction, columellar artery...basically putting constant pressure on these areas during the night, you are signaling to the body that there is an invasion of some sort, especially in the respiratory system! The body fights back by releasing more histamines, an immune response. This is why many on this board suffer from constant sinus, mucus...hay fever type responses. Gerryk is the perfect example of this:
"I have been using the quattro full face mask and recently got a nasal mask to try. I go to bed and fall right to sleep. The first night I slept for about 4 and a half hours with the nasal mask until I woke up with a headache and my nose pretty much plugged up."
The full mask doesn't touch the nose areas we are talking about ( the bridge won't illicit an immune response). I started Cpap 2 years ago now. I started with the full face Quattro too. Got it working perfectly and very comfortably. Got tired of screwing up my face with the straps, gel pressure etc. There IS a definite reconfiguration going on when it comes to "beauty" with this mask I started looking into other alternatives and stumbled across the No Mask.

I immediatley noticed sinus problems, mucus build up, hay fever type reactions and snezzing after waking up...but hey, I looked purdy! So I started to really look into it because I NEVER have had sinus problems before (I'm 62) or such a reaction with the full face Quattro. Found out that over time the body CAN (not always) adjust to this histimine response from a nasal mask. I really like the No Mask but it requires a lot of maintenance. Again, looked into it and found the SleepWeaver cloth mask. LOVE it...BUT, there is still a response like we are talking about because there is real columella pressure with this particular mask. Looked into it again...found the answer. I trick my body by taking 1 Sudafed with 2 anti-histamines before bed. Have everyhting under control now. You can see the columella response by putting pressure on it with your finger for a good period of time!

roster · Post by **roster** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 10:11 am

There is now a followup post to sagesteve's post at viewtopic/t48267/Investigating-the-colu ... ponse.html

Java Time · Post by **Java Time** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:07 pm

Bump due to the upcoming cold/flu and ever-present allergy season. Lots of good responses to the Original Post including some very interesting posts from Falcon1 (https://www.cpaptalk.com:443/viewtopic. ... 26#p319026 and https://www.cpaptalk.com:443/viewtopic. ... 63#p319063 on the 2nd page), warnings about Afrin over-use, and other common stuffy nose questions!

HavokX · Post by **HavokX** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 8:12 pm

I also have a problem of my nose staying clogged. I have tried Xlear which is a nasal spray made from xylitol (never really heard of it) that A friend in church gave me and it works decently but not perfectly. Does your nose stayed clogged even after blowing your nose? Mine for the most part does. I just recently was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea (hasn't even been a month) and i use the Swift FX nose pillows cause I wasn't that comfortable with the masks. At first it wasn't so bad but here the past week it's been harder and harder to unclog it. Have you ever tried a neti pot? My wife wants me to try one but I dunno, just is kinda weird to me.

Java Time · Post by **Java Time** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 10:56 am

HavokX wrote:Have you ever tried a neti pot? My wife wants me to try one but I dunno, just is kinda weird to me.

HavokX,
I see you are brand new to this forum. Welcome!

I use the NeilMed 8oz Rinse bottle twice every day. Many of us on this forum use either the squeeze bottle or the neti-pot. My Ear, Nose, Throat doctor says he uses it every day as well and recommends it for general nasal health. Very weird the first couple of times you use it, but it does keep the sinuses clear most of the time.

macfish · Post by **macfish** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 10:51 am

I am having severe sinus congestion day & night. My husband recently told me that it started when I began biCPAP 3 years ago and that he noted the same problem occurred for a friend of ours. The allergist/ENT told me I could take a second antihistamine a day (one morning, one night) but I should use a different one each time. I'm going to try that. I've been on sinus rinse, Nasonex, and citirizine for a long time with little relief. I may try using the Nasonex at night or stop using it altogether.

growing · Post by **growing** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 8:13 pm

Hi, I have a story that relates with you. Suddenly, since the last over 2 months, my nose is stuffy to the extent that I have difficulty in drinking, eating and even talking. I used Oxymetazoline (0.05%) 3 times and after a gap of 4/5 days I again used Xylometazoline hydrochloride (0.1%) twice. Yes, I also experienced definite rebound effect of these which were quite effective and worked within minutes and the effect remained for the whole night. I have used saline spray and found it almost ineffective. Yesterday, I tried the ordinary antihistamine, cetrizine. I could sleep for exactly 8 h today with my AHI reading at 4.0 ( at a pressure of 7.5 min and 10.5 max). On 4th August (at 13/16), this was 12 and on 3rd it was 15. While typing this stuff, I am drinking my flavory Darjeeling tea without problem. I am going to take this tablet in the evening, again, today and will share my experience in due course. Good luck.

Julie · Post by **Julie** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 8:30 pm

Have any or all of you considered turning down or off the humidifier (if you're using it)? That can easily cause congestion and it's not as if you 'need' it as part of Cpap therapy until you really do as you could in winter, in a very dry location.

growing · Post by **growing** » Sun Aug 05, 2012 10:04 pm

Hi clogged frenz, I took cetrizine and acted upon Julie's latest suggestion last 2 nights and clocked 8 h of nice sleep (only 1 break in the night for p...) with AHI reading at 4.0 and 4.5. I had lowered the humidifier number to 4 from the previous 8. Let me tell you that my nose is still clogged and people are noticing my cloggy voice, still. However, since yesterday, there is no difficulty in talking, drinking or eating. Thanks Julie for that useful input.(Machine: Devilbiss Intellipap Auto with humidifier; Mask: Probasics, nasal)

49er · Post by **49er** » Mon Aug 06, 2012 3:45 am

I have been following this thread intently as someone who feels that chronic nasal congestion may be interfering with my being able to stay asleep on the cpap machine. Last night, I unintentionally took off my mask after not even an hour on the machine and woke up with very stuffy nasal passages.

Unfortunately, alot of remedies I have tried haven't worked. Sinus rinsing will help for about 30 minutes and then my nasal passages will close back up again. Interestingly, my former allergist, has said that happens with many people.

Nasonex unfortunately causes insomnia and I have tried many non prescription sprays to no avail. I think my next step is to try Nasolcrom since Dr. Krakow seems to like that as an option.

And if that doesn't help, I would give claritan a shot at night even though I am concerned it might cause insomnia due to my sensitivity to meds.

Unfortunately, seeing an ENT to review surgery options is not possible since I don't have health insurance.

It is extremely frustrating and exhausting to deal with.

49er

newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Re: newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Re: newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Re: newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Help to find...

Re: newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Re: newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Re: newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Re: newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Re: newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Re: newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Re: newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Re: newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Re: newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Re: newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Re: newbie: clogged nose ergo apnea?

Mask	Humidifier