stuffy always?

So i am wondering how you all seemto be able to use nasal pillows and masks. I seem to be stuffy or partially stuffy all the time. Not a cold, not allergies (at least I think not). I can use a neti pot just fine and if I squirt afrin up my nose, it's crystal clear for 12 hours. No tunny nose, nothing. Do I have a fat ... um ... inside of my nose??

Even when it seems relatively clear, when I lay down, ir gets immediately stuffed. I am wondering why my GP and sleep doc never considered this or asked me about this when diagnosing apnea. I can only imagine that a clear nose helps in avoiding a collapsed airway.

Does it make sense to get a referral to an ENT to talk about this?

you could try an over the counter anti histamine... one with a decongestant. See if that makes a difference. If it does... it could be an allergy.

I notice this too.. I ALWAYS have a stuffed nose when I lay down to sleep. One thing that I've found that helps is breathe right strips: ever tried them before? They really help to alleviate stuffiness. If you're interested, I've got some samples that a rep dropped off a few weeks ago.. I could slip some in an envelope and send it your way if you'd like!

Elader, here's my response to another post that touches on the problem: I find nothing surprising in the idea that xPAP therapy will trigger histamine release. Consider all that wind blowing directly into the sensitive tissues of your nasal passages nightly. This could easily trigger a tiny swelling that your immune system would interpret as a foreign body needing eviction, and thus the deluge -- or your immune system could even interpret the wind itself as a foreign body. And once you start sneezing, large-scale swelling inevitably sets in and the situation escalates. Even a runny nose, without a rhinovirus in sight, can be impressively self-perpetuating.

For me, the solution has proven to be twofold: I have to get my humidifier at exactly the right setting, which changes in inverse relationship to the outside humidity. And I also take a nightly dose (10mg) of the cheapest form of loratidine (the active ingredient in Claritin) that I can find.

Raj wrote:Elader, here's my response to another post that touches on the problem: I find nothing surprising in the idea that xPAP therapy will trigger histamine release. Consider all that wind blowing directly into the sensitive tissues of your nasal passages nightly. This could easily trigger a tiny swelling that your immune system would interpret as a foreign body needing eviction, and thus the deluge -- or your immune system could even interpret the wind itself as a foreign body. And once you start sneezing, large-scale swelling inevitably sets in and the situation escalates. Even a runny nose, without a rhinovirus in sight, can be impressively self-perpetuating.

For me, the solution has proven to be twofold: I have to get my humidifier at exactly the right setting, which changes in inverse relationship to the outside humidity. And I also take a nightly dose (10mg) of the cheapest form of loratidine (the active ingredient in Claritin) that I can find.

I've found that if I take Claritin (generic) at night I have trouble sleeping. I have assumed since it's "non drousy" there's something in it to that effect, but that is an assumption. But I guess it affects different people in different ways...

I am a huge fan of this Fluticasone spray that I've been using for the last couple of years. You use it daily and it actually helps with the triggers of hisamine release. I used to have tons of allergy problems and now while all my friends around me are suffering, I'm just fine. I still take loratidine on some mornings because while my nose is clear, my itching eyes still tell me that there's something in the air that is triggering allergic reactions.

SharkBait, I believe the "non-drowsy" simply means that it won't knock you out as so many other antihistamines tend to do (and even there the label warns that increasing the dosage may cause drowsiness). But that doesn't mean your personal reaction to it wouldn't keep you awake. People certainly have idiosyncratic responses to drugs. My wife, for example, has to take standard pain killers with coffee or they'll put her to sleep

elader wrote:So i am wondering how you all seemto be able to use nasal pillows and masks. I seem to be stuffy or partially stuffy all the time. Not a cold, not allergies (at least I think not). I can use a neti pot just fine and if I squirt afrin up my nose, it's crystal clear for 12 hours. No tunny nose, nothing. Do I have a fat ... um ... inside of my nose??

Even when it seems relatively clear, when I lay down, ir gets immediately stuffed. I am wondering why my GP and sleep doc never considered this or asked me about this when diagnosing apnea. I can only imagine that a clear nose helps in avoiding a collapsed airway.

Does it make sense to get a referral to an ENT to talk about this?

Some of this reminds me of.....ME. After being on the forum for about a year or so and reading about turbinates and deviated septums, I got mad about the fact that neither of my doctors (GP & sleep doc) asked me "Can you breathe?" before doing a sleep study. I've been a mouth-breather all of my life and didn't know why until I learned about it on this forum.
I've considered going to an ENT and seeing if there were options (turbinate reduction and septoplasty), but I've managed to get around this by doing nasal cleansing before bedtime and using cold distilled water in my humidifier and no heat.

By the way......I'd stay off the Afrin (totally), if I were you. Its rebound effects are as bad as the original problem (from what I've read).


Den

Wulfman wrote:

elader wrote:So i am wondering how you all seemto be able to use nasal pillows and masks. I seem to be stuffy or partially stuffy all the time. Not a cold, not allergies (at least I think not). I can use a neti pot just fine and if I squirt afrin up my nose, it's crystal clear for 12 hours. No tunny nose, nothing. Do I have a fat ... um ... inside of my nose??

Even when it seems relatively clear, when I lay down, ir gets immediately stuffed. I am wondering why my GP and sleep doc never considered this or asked me about this when diagnosing apnea. I can only imagine that a clear nose helps in avoiding a collapsed airway.

Does it make sense to get a referral to an ENT to talk about this?

Some of this reminds me of.....ME. After being on the forum for about a year or so and reading about turbinates and deviated septums, I got mad about the fact that neither of my doctors (GP & sleep doc) asked me "Can you breathe?" before doing a sleep study. I've been a mouth-breather all of my life and didn't know why until I learned about it on this forum.
I've considered going to an ENT and seeing if there were options (turbinate reduction and septoplasty), but I've managed to get around this by doing nasal cleansing before bedtime and using cold distilled water in my humidifier and no heat.

By the way......I'd stay off the Afrin (totally), if I were you. Its rebound effects are as bad as the original problem (from what I've read).


Den

Den, I only used afrin for the first couple of days, 6 months ago. My solution was not to worry too much about it and use a full face mask. during the night, my nose sort of equalizes and I can breath through it somewhat. i tried a couple of 'safe' nasal steroids and other 'safe' sprays. i figured i would be better served with a more holistic outlook and a full face mask.

But the turbinate thing - I need to look into that.

Raj wrote:Elader, here's my response to another post that touches on the problem: I find nothing surprising in the idea that xPAP therapy will trigger histamine release. Consider all that wind blowing directly into the sensitive tissues of your nasal passages nightly. This could easily trigger a tiny swelling that your immune system would interpret as a foreign body needing eviction, and thus the deluge -- or your immune system could even interpret the wind itself as a foreign body. And once you start sneezing, large-scale swelling inevitably sets in and the situation escalates. Even a runny nose, without a rhinovirus in sight, can be impressively self-perpetuating.

For me, the solution has proven to be twofold: I have to get my humidifier at exactly the right setting, which changes in inverse relationship to the outside humidity. And I also take a nightly dose (10mg) of the cheapest form of loratidine (the active ingredient in Claritin) that I can find.

I agree with Raj. I always take a nightly dose (10mg) loratidine. It was recommended by my doctor as part of the treatment. Stick with the cheaper straight claritin (generic is loratidine.) Avoid the "Claritin-D" or generic equivalents if you can because of relationship between decongestants and high blood pressure. If possible check with your doctor (or at least your Pharmacist) before changing any medication (always a prudent thing to to).

I have always been stuffy, especially when lying down. Gravity seems to help when sitting or standing, but lying down causes problems. I have been a mouth breather for this reason most of my life. I mentioned this to my sleep doc on my first visit, then to the technician on my sleep study, but they did not provide any help. This made breathing through the ComfortGel nasal mask difficult. I found that ultra clean air helps. Adding the fine white filter behind the sponge filter helped. Adding about 4 oz. of distilled water to the humidifier helped. I use passover mode and the water probably traps small particulataes. This water is dumped every morning, then the chamber is rinsed before fresh distilled water is added before going to bed. I also use a saline spray, starting about an hour before lying down. If it is allergy season, or I am extra stuffy, I repeat the saline spray several times. My sleep doc prescribed Nasonex, and this seems to help also. Once I relieve the stuffiness, and ensure the air is clean blowing through the machine, I seem to be ok. Taking the mask off in the morning starts the stuffiness again, probably because I am breathing normal room air.

I agree with Den ... avoid the drugs!

I too have always been stuffy most of my life. My hypothesis is that I think I have abnormal density of blood vessels in my sinus membranes. I notice the the stuffiness increases when I lay down and it also varies with minor changes in elevation like when I'm driving in the hills or climbing stairs. Even when I stand up from a chair the stuffiness will temporarily go away. When I lay face down on one of those massage tables, the pressure of the padding around my nose will cut off some circulation and I will get extra stuffy. For the same reason. I am unable to use FF or nasal cushion masks ... the pressure around my nose by the mask seal causes my sinus membranes to swell up and shut off air flow.

I disagree with Raj ... pressure and air flow are not the same thing. CPAP when done correctly only increases pressure, NOT air flow. The only way for air flow to "significantly" increase due to use of CPAP therapy is if you have massive (mouth or seal) leaks. In other words, if air flow increases, your lungs would have to expand continuously to accommodate increasing volumes of air or you would have to breathe faster ... neither happens. Increase in pressure will slightly expand your lungs but only in a very minor way and not continuously at an increasing rate. Your lungs under CPAP therapy breathe pretty much the same volume of air in and out as when not using CPAP ... therefore air flow is the same too ... only pressure changes.

Anyway, I do the nasal saline rinse on a regular basis and my stuffiness has been at an all time minimum since starting about 2.5 years ago.

I use a mirage liberty and the nasal pillows only feel stuffy to me when i first put on the mask and lie down . After about 5 minutes of starting cpap therapy my nose clears up and feels great. I do use humidifier set on low setting.

I think there's some factors you haven't taken into consideration, Dreamstalker. Dependent on the settings for your machine, especially exhalation relief settings, in the moment you shift from exhalation to inhalation, there's a subtle but definite acceleration in the air entering your nose, or at least that's my nightly experience. After that moment, everything normalizes, but I do feel that slight puff as long as I'm awake enough to notice it. And I do think the pressure has a tendency to speed up my breathing, particularly in that same moment. Of course, the nasal pillow themselves could be interpreted as foreign bodies.

I use a saline spray right before bed, and during allergy season (11.5 months of the year in Florida) will often take a zyrtec in the afternoon. I found the CPAP actually has helped clear my sinuses up, they were much worse before I started treatment. Hubby has a bit more of a problem, in addtion to "narrow sinuses", his turbinates are swollen. The doc has him on rhinocort for a few months, told him to spray at an angle to the outside and NOT sniff back....he said sniffing it back will miss the turbinates completely (the source of the problem for most), and go back directly to the back of the sinuses and back of the throat causing other irritations. He said that for many folks, using the corticosteroids this way for a few months shrinks the turbinates and helps avoid surgery.

We have our humidifiers set between 1 and 2, more towards 1....

Sounds like your turbinates swell up when you lady down. You know they are an erectile tissue that is capable of swelling a lot. I got my shrunk and no more afrin for me. I used it for five years. Now i don't use it anymore.A good ent can see it and repair it.