chronic congestion

Does anyone have chronic congestion? I've been using my CPAP for 8 months and have noticed an increase in a "wet" cough and sore throat. I've been to an ENT and an allergist, the ENT told me that nothing was wrong with my sinuses after an MRI, and the allergist has me on Astelin currently which helps a little, he ran an allergy test on me and told me that I was not allergenic to anything that he tested so that means medications like Claritin and such will not work on me. I have had this problem my whole life "the chronic congestion in my sinuses" and have grown to live with it. But since starting the CPAP the cough and sore throat is becoming a problem. I've talked to my PCM and she told me to go back to the Allergist, the Allergist told me to go back to the ENT, the ENT said that there is nothing that he can do. Any suggestions from anyone will be greatly appreciated. Oh FYI, I have tried the heated humidifier on all settings, taken and am taking Sudafed, tried mucinex, tried Afrin and still flush my sinus cavities with a very salty mix that I make myself.

Thanks

Been there, am that. No sore throat, but everything else, I use OTC meds that I shouldn't be using 3 different ones at 1/2 hour timings as long as I get the mix right I make it through the night the clean air helps me, but in the morning it starts over again. I suffer all day and save the meds for night. I think the house and furnace A/c are mold generators. Jim

My previous house wasn't this bad.

I always have a 'stuffed' nose at night. I do not think it is allergies. Afrin relieves it completely, within seconds, and for 12 hours. I think it's just sinuses that get swollen with blood when I lay down. I won't get hooked on afrin and astelin and other antihistamines don't seem to help. I find that flonase (a steroid) does help a little and my nightly use of a nasal rinse (neti bottle) with warm saline also helps things. The humidified cpap air helps a touch as well.

It's quite a concern when using a nasal mask, but since I moved to a full face mask, I don't worry about it .

ghostrider wrote:Does anyone have chronic congestion? I've been using my CPAP for 8 months and have noticed an increase in a "wet" cough and sore throat. I've been to an ENT and an allergist, the ENT told me that nothing was wrong with my sinuses after an MRI, and the allergist has me on Astelin currently which helps a little, he ran an allergy test on me and told me that I was not allergenic to anything that he tested so that means medications like Claritin and such will not work on me. I have had this problem my whole life "the chronic congestion in my sinuses" and have grown to live with it. But since starting the CPAP the cough and sore throat is becoming a problem. I've talked to my PCM and she told me to go back to the Allergist, the Allergist told me to go back to the ENT, the ENT said that there is nothing that he can do. Any suggestions from anyone will be greatly appreciated. Oh FYI, I have tried the heated humidifier on all settings, taken and am taking Sudafed, tried mucinex, tried Afrin and still flush my sinus cavities with a very salty mix that I make myself.

Thanks

How much (heated) humidity are you using with your machine? If you're using quite a bit, I'd recommend turning it way down or OFF. Too much humidity can have the effect of closing up your nasal passages. I've been using cold water in my humidifier tank and no heat (passover) since I started therapy......it opens up my nasal passages (shrinks the tissues in there) and I can breathe.

And, stay away from Afrin!

Den

Wulfman wrote:

ghostrider wrote:Does anyone have chronic congestion? I've been using my CPAP for 8 months and have noticed an increase in a "wet" cough and sore throat. I've been to an ENT and an allergist, the ENT told me that nothing was wrong with my sinuses after an MRI, and the allergist has me on Astelin currently which helps a little, he ran an allergy test on me and told me that I was not allergenic to anything that he tested so that means medications like Claritin and such will not work on me. I have had this problem my whole life "the chronic congestion in my sinuses" and have grown to live with it. But since starting the CPAP the cough and sore throat is becoming a problem. I've talked to my PCM and she told me to go back to the Allergist, the Allergist told me to go back to the ENT, the ENT said that there is nothing that he can do. Any suggestions from anyone will be greatly appreciated. Oh FYI, I have tried the heated humidifier on all settings, taken and am taking Sudafed, tried mucinex, tried Afrin and still flush my sinus cavities with a very salty mix that I make myself.

Thanks

How much (heated) humidity are you using with your machine? If you're using quite a bit, I'd recommend turning it way down or OFF. Too much humidity can have the effect of closing up your nasal passages. I've been using cold water in my humidifier tank and no heat (passover) since I started therapy......it opens up my nasal passages (shrinks the tissues in there) and I can breathe.

And, stay away from Afrin!

Den

i've tried the heated humidity on every setting, one thing that I've noticed is that alot of times it feels almost just like when you get pure oxygen "if anyone has experenced this", the burning feeling from the air itself. I've asked my sleep doctor nurse and she said that it is a comon complaint so I guess i'm not alone on this one either. I wonder if it would help if there was a way to just heat the air without the humidity?

Wulfman wrote:
How much (heated) humidity are you using with your machine? If you're using quite a bit, I'd recommend turning it way down or OFF. Too much humidity can have the effect of closing up your nasal passages. I've been using cold water in my humidifier tank and no heat (passover) since I started therapy......it opens up my nasal passages (shrinks the tissues in there) and I can breathe.

And, stay away from Afrin!

Den

Ditto to what Wulman said! Turn off the heat! I had the same issues, turned off the heat, and the congestion cleared. Been using no heat/passive humidifier for a long time now, works great for me!

Yeah it's a huge issue with me. I get it whether I use the humidifier or not ... or in fact whether I use the CPAP or not. I've always got congestion worsening at night, dunno why. I do have a lot of allergies tho. It's been better since my doctor gave me some samples of nose steroid spray.