Negative effects of CPAP Machine

I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea. i have about 60 episodes per hour and require a CPAP pressure of about 10 cm to stop them i have used a CPAP machine for several years. in the last couple of years, i have developed problems with dry mouth and sinus drainage that are the result of using the machine. Adding a humidifier did not help and in fact made the sinus problem worse. i know that the machine corrects the problem, but how does one evaluate the negative effects of waking four or five times a night with the nasal problems. Do not suggest discussing with the sleep doctor as I have done this repeatedly with no positive effects. His only answer is use a humidifier. Any ideas.

Do you clean/change your filters on a regular basis? What is the humidifier set on? Have you tried different settings?
Brenda

I have a similar problem. The only thing that actually helped me was sudafed. My sleep doctor told me I shouldn't keep taking it because it suppresses the deeper stages of sleep. Sinus rinses and nasal steroid sprays have been somewhat effective for me, but not to the extent sudafed was.

Jim Hyatt wrote:I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea. i have about 60 episodes per hour and require a CPAP pressure of about 10 cm to stop them i have used a CPAP machine for several years. in the last couple of years, i have developed problems with dry mouth and sinus drainage that are the result of using the machine. Adding a humidifier did not help and in fact made the sinus problem worse. i know that the machine corrects the problem, but how does one evaluate the negative effects of waking four or five times a night with the nasal problems. Do not suggest discussing with the sleep doctor as I have done this repeatedly with no positive effects. His only answer is use a humidifier. Any ideas.

Welcome to the forum, Jim.

That first statement I bolded suggests to me that you're using a nasal mask and are leaking air out your mouth during the night......which seriously detracts from the effectiveness of your therapy. (could also be an indicator of Diabetes)
You need to seal the mouth or get a full face mask......and breathe through your nose.

Too much humidity can have the effect of closing up your nasal airway. Try turning your humidifier way down or OFF. Also, doing nasal rinses/cleansing before bed can help open up your nasal passages.
I don not use heat in my humidifier and in fact use cold (distilled) water in my humidifier tank. The coolness helps open up my nasal passages and allows me to breathe better.

Den

Are you sure the machine is supplying the right pressure?
Some of us open our mouth to breathe through it in response to apneas - because the pressure isn't right.
Some of us open our mouth for other reasons - so a full face mask is a good idea.

About the humidifier: I too have discovered that too much humidity congests my nose, but, unlike Den, I do need humidity, and I need it warm which is why I use a heated house with hose covers in addition.

i know that the machine corrects the problem, but how does one evaluate the negative effects of waking four or five times a night with the nasal problems.

Look, a simple provocative answer (I'll be giving you another one in a minute) is : Easy, 4 to 5 divided by 60 is 7% to 8%, so I'd say you are about 15 time or so better off....

The serious answer: Your doc may know a lot about diagnosis and prescription, but his arsenal of tips for sleeping with the machine is limited. We on the other know very little about differential diagnosis - but we have thousands of hours of experience at sleeping with these rigs.

So, register as a member, edit your profile to show the type of equipment you have (machine, mask, in words please, not pictures), and tell us more about how you set it up, and what you have already tried.

And are you aware that the machine has two types of filters?
Welcome to the forum, Jim.

Jim,
Rested Gal, who has the patience of a... rested person, and then some, has just posted this:

It will help people make suggestions if you'll list your equipment.

To make your machine and mask info show up automatically each time you post:

Click the words User Control Panel (upper left of this page, just below the "Search" box.)

Click the Profile tab.

Click Edit Equipment (select at least the machine and the mask.)

If you're not sure of the name of your machine, look on the machine. Full name of machine is usually written on top. Name of mask is usually written on back of headgear or on the mask itself.

Allow other users to view your CPAP equipment: Yes

How would you like your equipment displayed: choose Text (not "Image")

Click Submit.

Jim Hyatt wrote:i know that the machine corrects the problem, but how does one evaluate the negative effects of waking four or five times a night with the nasal problems

Simple: you evaluate the symptoms - you wake up four or five times a night completely congested and are miserable as a result - and work a treatment plan.

My guess is that the problems you're having are highly correlated; it's very, very likely you're breathing through your mouth because you can't through your nose, which in turn limits the machine from correcting your other problems. I'll let others have a go about at getting a good combination of settings, mask, and accessories like the humidifier to work more effectively for you, since I'm a newbie at that.

What I can help you a little bit with is to try to figure out why your nose is congested in the first place and work that angle. Ever been tested for allergies? And have you ever been prescribed a steroidal nasal spray like Nasonex or Flonase that are safe for long-term use?

i have developed problems with dry mouth and sinus drainage that are the result of using the machine. Adding a humidifier did not help and in fact made the sinus problem worse. i know that the machine corrects the problem, but how does one evaluate the negative effects of waking four or five times a night with the nasal problems. Do not suggest discussing with the sleep doctor as I have done this repeatedly with no positive effects. His only answer is use a humidifier. Any ideas.

Yep go see an alergist, its very doubtfull the CPAP treatment has actually caused the problem. unless you never clean your equipment. Its most likely the normal aging/biological process that has broken down enough that you now have allergies or something in your environment changed. Or at least they have now become noticable enough to need attention.

In my younger years I never had any allergies, in my teens nothing either, in my 20's still nothing. In my thirties OMG WHY WONT M Y NOSE STOP RUNNING. I tried EVEYTHING the nasal saline rinsing, every brand of antihistimine on the market. Which would work the first 2-3 days then slowly I would need more and more(double. triple, quad doses) for the meds to continue to work. I stoped that when I could feel my heart racing and got super dizzy and saw a DR. Who started perscribing actual allergy meds. Now on lotradine once a day (perscription based claritin basicly) and flonase spray twice a day.

Only on rare occasions (sometimes in winter) do I need anything else then a over the counter can be used but I no longer need mega doses of them. they either dont work or do. Nyquil works best for me.

My poor son has been diagnosed to be alergic to almost everything!! poor kid, many polens, several local trees, grass, dustmites pets etc. But we had warning with him he has always needed something to stop the sniffles. And would rub his poor nose raw because nothing worked very well. Nothing till the right combo of perscription meds was found.

I'm beginning to have success with a neti pot, after a couple weeks of consistent, almost compulsive, use. Haven't tried pressurized irrigation, but may try that next....

But one item for my next PCP visit is to try and evaluate my sinuses: I've always had minor congestion, and have never known why. Time to find out, I think...