Hayfever, pressure levels, and AHI?

Since the beginning of hayfever, I've noticed two things:

1) My 90% IPAP/EPAP levels have been steadily increasing, much to my stomach's discontent. Does this happen to anybody else when their seasonal allergies are acting up?

2) Even with the increased IPAP/EPAP levels, my AHI has also been creeping upwards. Does this happen to anybody else when their seasonal allergies are acting up?

Other than the obvious suggestion of increase the MAX IPAP pressure a bit to allow more pressure, any other ideas on what I can do to get the AHI back down without increasing pressure too much? I'm already taking Allegra daily as well as doing the nasal/sinus rinse nightly. Pollen filter is changed weekly on the machine.

And perhaps a silly question, but I'll ask it anyway: We all know about positional apnea where the AHI is much greater on your back and the pressure needed to control the supine events may also be significantly higher than that needed to control non-supine events. My question: Is it possible to have seasonal apnea? What I mean is this: Is it possible that one's OSA can be substantially worse (in terms of AHI) in the summer due to allergies than it is in the winter? And if so, is it possible that the pressure needed to control the summer apnea may need to be (significantly) greater than that needed to control the winter apnea?

robysue wrote:Since the beginning of hayfever, I've noticed two things:

1) My 90% IPAP/EPAP levels have been steadily increasing, much to my stomach's discontent. Does this happen to anybody else when their seasonal allergies are acting up?

2) Even with the increased IPAP/EPAP levels, my AHI has also been creeping upwards. Does this happen to anybody else when their seasonal allergies are acting up?

Other than the obvious suggestion of increase the MAX IPAP pressure a bit to allow more pressure, any other ideas on what I can do to get the AHI back down without increasing pressure too much? I'm already taking Allegra daily as well as doing the nasal/sinus rinse nightly. Pollen filter is changed weekly on the machine.

And perhaps a silly question, but I'll ask it anyway: We all know about positional apnea where the AHI is much greater on your back and the pressure needed to control the supine events may also be significantly higher than that needed to control non-supine events. My question: Is it possible to have seasonal apnea? What I mean is this: Is it possible that one's OSA can be substantially worse (in terms of AHI) in the summer due to allergies than it is in the winter? And if so, is it possible that the pressure needed to control the summer apnea may need to be (significantly) greater than that needed to control the winter apnea?

You didn't mention what humidifier setting you're using. If you're using lots of humidity, I'd suggest turning it down or off (passover mode).

"Seasonal" differences........."Yes". From my own data and observations for nearly six years of using fixed pressure......the earlier months of the year are somewhat higher in recorded events than at other times of the year. However, it could also indicate that I'm sleeping "deeper" than other months, too. It all depends on how you look at your data. Typically, I have an extremely low number of apneas......I can go weeks without having one or have one or two per night for a few nights......pretty sporadic.


Den

Anything that can make your nose more clogged can make your pressure needs higher. What about a nasal steroid like Nasonex?

Wulfman, the humidifier is set at either 0 (passover) or 1 depending on how cold it is at night and how humid it is. I'm having dry nose, but congested sinus problems (typical for me). Sometimes the nose needs that bit of extra humidity. But if I set the humidity at 2, the congestion definitely gets far worse. So I know about overdoing the humidity.

SU, I think I may call the PCP about Nasonex. The thing is, however, that my nose itself is not what gets clogged up with my allergies. It's my cheekbone sinuses and my forehead sinuses that get congested, and that irritates the back of my throat and upper airway (post nasal drip). Moreover the post nasal drip aggravates everything in the digestive system as well: To the point (pardon the grossness) of affecting my bowel movements. When my allergies are at their worst, my bowel movements are frequently covered in a mucous of the same consistency as the snotty mucous which comes out of my nose during sneezing fits and nasal rinses. But I can always breathe through my nose just fine regardless of the pollen count. *sigh*