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I have had pretty good success adding Alkalol to my nightly sinus rinse. The Alkalol seems to increase the effectiveness of my nightly sinus rinse. I am also sensitive to meds and the sinus rinse with Alkalol doesn't negatively affect my sleep. You can buy Alkalol on Amazon or at many pharmacies. Sometimes you need to ask the pharmacist for it.

I'd initially try 1 tablespoon (0.5oz) in 8oz NeilMed Sinus Rinse squeeze bottle or neti-pot, 1/16 solution (or equivalent strength solution) the first time, just to make sure it isn't too strong your first time.

Every day I use 1 tablespoon (0.5oz) in 8oz NeilMed Sinus Rinse squeeze bottle, 1/16 solution in the morning and a stronger 2 tablespoons (1oz), 1/8 solution in the evening an hour or two before bed. I do this every day even when I am not congested to stay clear and to open my sinuses up prior to going on CPAP for the evening. (Remember to allow time for the solution to drain out before bed.) The menthol or something else in Alkalol helps keep my sinuses open MUCH longer than NeilMed sinus wash without the Alkalol.

If you have bad congestion, and it doesn't hurt or sting FOR YOU and you can take it without discomfort, I go 1/4 or even a 50% (1/2) solution in an 8oz NeilMed Sinus Rinse squeeze bottle or neti-pot to break up bad congestion. It says on the bottle you can go 100% (full strength), but in my opinion that would be REALLY strong. This stuff really does a good job dissolving the nasal gunk, but it is quite strong and most people will have to work their way up to the stronger solutions.

Make sure you warm the nasal solution to body temperature for comfort and because a warm solution will dissolve the gunk better.

Also, I try to put it through my sinuses as SLOWLY as I can. Alkalol seems to loosen and dissolve mucus and congestion ON CONTACT, so I think it works well to put it through nice and slow to loosen and dissolve the nasal yuck.

For me personally I am doing the twice a day sinus wash per specific instruction from my doctor. But no doubt, my situation may be different than other people. I started the nasal rinse per my Ear, Nose, Throat doctor after sinus surgery. I was specifically directed to the NeilMed sinus rinse morning and evening, twice per day. I even told my sinus surgeon I'd grown to like the clean feeling from the daily sinus wash and I planned to keep using it for the rest of my life and he said "Good, keep doing that". My ENT told me he uses the NeilMed sinus rinse every day for daily sinus cleansing. So at least in my situation, I think twice per day sinus wash is prescribed as the correct thing to do.

FYI: before dashing off to try this product, consider whether or not you may be sensitive to any of the ingredients:
"What’s in Alkalol? . . . Purified Water (USP); Menthol; Eucalyptol; Thymol; Camphor; Benzoin; Oils of Wintergreen, Spearmint, Pine, and Cinnamon; Potassium Alum; Potassium Chlorate; Sodium Bicarbonate; Sodium Chloride; Alcohol (2/100 of 1%); Caramel Color."
Just so you don't have to guess.

chunkyfrog,

Agreed. Always check for sensitivity to ingredients and watch for unexpected results when trying something new. Same would be true for Nasonex or anything else.

In regards to the Alkalol, it may also help to know that in addition to my ENT, I had a follow-on issue which led me to a otolaryngologist (a more specialized type of Ear, Nose Throat doctor). I discussed with him my daily usage of Alkalol in my daily NeilMed sinus rinse, and he also didn't have any concerns about it. I brought it up as I was concerned that it could actually dry my sinuses too much and cause potential drying and cracking of some of the soft sinus tissue. He said he was familiar with Alkalol and sinus rinses in general and told me in my situation not to be concerned.

Again, this was my ENT and otolaryngologist who were examining my sinuses, and I'm not trying to imply this should be used as a blanket statement or endorsement in all cases for everyone.

To the original poster, good luck - I understand how frustrating it can be when you don't have clear nasal passages.

"clogged' posted as a guest--four years ago.
Might still be lurking--you never know.
(Rod Serling theme music)

Thanks for the suggestions on alcalol. Unfortunately, it didn't work even when I used it almost at 100%.

As an FYI, one night, I tried Afrin just out of curiosity and it did nothing. At least I didn't have worry about getting addicted to it.

49er

Wow, the "no affect from Afrin" is surprising. It works unbelievably well for me. I didn't even mention Afrin before as Afrin isn't supposed to be taken very often, although it is my emergency, one night backup plan for congestion.

You mentioned you have gone to an allergist, it may be that you need to re-look at anything that is causing you to have an allergic reaction and try to remove this root cause? Animals out of your bedroom, keep windows closed, wash bedding frequently, avoid smoke, etc.

It is harder since you are saying a doctor is not easy to see due to lack of insurance... that does make it more difficult to know if you actually need sinus surgery or something. Here are some other things you can try, I tried all of them and they were not my preferred solution long term, but maybe they will help you:
Mucinex (or generic Mucinex) and LOTS of water.

Increased salt in your saline rinse. In other words, instead of one salt pack use 2. For me this was too drying.

Increased volume of saline rinse (2 or 3 - 8oz bottles instead of 1) or increased frequency (2-3 times per day). Some people just need higher volume to flush out all the junk.

As others have mentioned, play with your humidity. It may sound counter-intuitive, but for me increasing my humidity seemed to decrease being clogged.

As I mentioned on a prior post, here are a couple of other links from Falcon1 that might help as well (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...

I struggled with congestion for MANY months when I went on CPAP. Eventually I found what worked for me, but it took a lot of trial and error. Make sure and try things for a period of time, like maybe a week, before you rule them out. Some things like allergy pills may take awhile to take affect or to adjust to. Best of luck and good health to you!

Thanks Java Time for great suggestions that I will review to see what I should focus on trying to implement.

49er

Java Time wrote:Wow, the "no affect from Afrin" is surprising. It works unbelievably well for me. I didn't even mention Afrin before as Afrin isn't supposed to be taken very often, although it is my emergency, one night backup plan for congestion.

You mentioned you have gone to an allergist, it may be that you need to re-look at anything that is causing you to have an allergic reaction and try to remove this root cause? Animals out of your bedroom, keep windows closed, wash bedding frequently, avoid smoke, etc.

It is harder since you are saying a doctor is not easy to see due to lack of insurance... that does make it more difficult to know if you actually need sinus surgery or something. Here are some other things you can try, I tried all of them and they were not my preferred solution long term, but maybe they will help you:
Mucinex (or generic Mucinex) and LOTS of water.

Increased salt in your saline rinse. In other words, instead of one salt pack use 2. For me this was too drying.

Increased volume of saline rinse (2 or 3 - 8oz bottles instead of 1) or increased frequency (2-3 times per day). Some people just need higher volume to flush out all the junk.

As others have mentioned, play with your humidity. It may sound counter-intuitive, but for me increasing my humidity seemed to decrease being clogged.

As I mentioned on a prior post, here are a couple of other links from Falcon1 that might help as well (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...

I struggled with congestion for MANY months when I went on CPAP. Eventually I found what worked for me, but it took a lot of trial and error. Make sure and try things for a period of time, like maybe a week, before you rule them out. Some things like allergy pills may take awhile to take affect or to adjust to. Best of luck and good health to you!

Has anyone thought of using eucalyptus oil or menthol drops in the humidifier? I am considering using it for mild stuffiness during the night.

Yamahoppie wrote:Has anyone thought of using eucalyptus oil or menthol drops in the humidifier? I am considering using it for mild stuffiness during the night.

Rather than putting it in your humidifier, you can put it on a cotton ball near the air inlet for your CPAP machine. I wouldn't put it in the water.

I use something kind of like that every night from CPAP.com called "CPAP Vapor Clear Sinus Blaster" (https://www.cpap.com/productpage/cpap-a ... aster.html). This pack comes with some wafers you place the drops on, but I think cotton balls would work as well. I've been using the same wafer that came in the pack for several months, and it came with a little wafer stand that works well for the height of the inlet on my CPAP machine. I use it more because I like the refreshing smell before I go to sleep, not so sure if it opens my sinuses or not but it smells nice!

If you do use the eucalyptus, menthol or other "pure" oils, a drop or two goes a LONG way. Also, the first couple of nights you may want to place the scent a little ways away from the CPAP air inlet, until you are used to it. Otherwise, I found it pretty strong at first.

Good luck!