Summer Cold & Sinus Infection

Help!!! I'm experiencing my first cold and sinus infection while on CPAP. When I went to bed last night my nose was clear and I had no problem. Sometime during the night I got all stuffy and I'm only clear in one. How does that affect using the machine and pillows??? This morning I feel like crap, headache,eyes hurt and very stuffy. Not making it to the office for sure!!

Any suggestions for a easy night tonigh would be much appreciated.

Laurie

If you have a full face mask...use it. Most of us have one in the drawer just for his purpose.

I should have said that: "I don't have a full face mask" Just into this since May. I live in the Pacific Northwest so the weather is nice than crappy and that could all be in one day. I think that is why I get colds and sinus infections easy.

I chose not to have or use or have available a full face mask.

When I get a cold I do as I would normally do..
but add
Oral meds to decrease congestion.. bit of nose spray at bedtime (yes afrin if needed but tiny amount) and I actually increase humidity to max.. remember steam showers or tents to help with congestion?

I have been able to use nasal pillows just fine and sleep about as well as one can expect with a crappy cold.
For me the added moisture actually seems to break through the congestion and I wake up with clear breathing through nose only to have the congestion from a cold set in..

I am also experiencing my first cold/sinus inflammation since starting CPAP in Feb. I have a back-up full-face mask but cannot use it because it leaks too bad. It was not fit to me, personally, as it was a gift from another hosehead, and I think the size is probably wrong for me. So I had to find some way to breathe thru my nose, so the first few nights after I got sick, I used Afrin nasal spray before donning my nasal pillows mask for the night. I also use Pur-Sleep's "Clear" essential oil behind the intake port on my machine. Then I went to my Dr on Tues afternoon, and he told me to use my Neti-pot with Saline washes at least twice a day, and take oral Sudafed 12 hour formula, every 12 hours. I did that starting Tuesday evening after I saw him, and the difference is amazing. The Sudafed makes it hard to sleep but at least I can breathe! The Sudafed keeps me dried up enough to keep my nose clear after I use the netiPet to wash all the viral gunk out of my nose. This has cut down on the amount of coughing I do in the morning. I got sick on Sunday AM and coughed my fool head off on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday in the mornings up till around 2 PM, then the cough slacked off pretty much till the next AM, but now it is only about an hour or two in the morning that I cough and it is not as productive now that my nose is not draining that crap down my throat all thru the night to lay in my lungs till morning. I am also taking 1000 mg Vit C 4 times a day since I got sick. Dr would not give me antibiotics since he believes this is a virus and there is no antiviral that helps colds yet. By the way, I don't smoke, but used to, & I do have COPD and asthma, so I am using two different inhalers right now, usually only need to use my maintenence asthma inhaler every 12 hours, but when I get a cold I have to add in the "rescue" inhaler at least twice a day, every 12 hours and as needed, and I was told to be sure I use it at least twice a day, by my Dr. If you have hypertension or other medical probalems, ask your Dr before you try this, since I am not a Dr.
I hope we both get well quick! I have been ablwe to use my CPAP since I got sick using these methods. You can buy a NetiPot at the drugstore or some grocery stores, and NeilMed is the best one out there, as well as NeilMed's Saline packets you add to warm tap water or warm distilled water...it is buffered so it doesn't burn your nose, & it probably costs about $20 now with a supply of the saline packets. Good luck!

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I do have a netipot (sp) but the thing freaks me out. I have never used it. Do you have a trick or any helpful hints to use it??? The doc gave me a new inhaler as I also have asthma beside some meds for the sinus infections. I have been able to clear my nose during the day so hope tonight will be better.

Pugsy....I don't think I could use a FFM even if I had it so using your ideas also.

Laurie

LaurieP wrote:Thanks everyone for the ideas. I do have a netipot (sp) but the thing freaks me out. I have never used it. Do you have a trick or any helpful hints to use it???

Laurie

Yes, use the pot at least one hour before bed, and take it SLOWLY. Lean over the sink, and as you pour, breathe slowly but deliberately through your mouth. It helps to lesson the panic because your body realizes you can still breathe easily while using the neti.

Remember, it's not a race, it takes some time to get used to pouring water through (and not up) your nose. If you don't get it on the first try, wait at least an hour, calm down a bit, and then try again.

Some folks take a few tries before they get it, so don't feel bad =)

LaurieP wrote:Pugsy....I don't think I could use a FFM even if I had it so using your ideas also.

I could not use FFM either. Won't go into why not now as it is personal choice.

I also can't bring myself to do the netipot thing either, despite being directly dared by some friends here on the forum.

I have been suffering through my first summer sinus infection etc and I have been doing all that the others have stated already. I use the NeilMed bottle rather than the Netipot. The bottle works well for me and is basically the same concept. Another thing that I found that helps is NeilMed has a NasoGel spray that I use 2-3 times a day. My allergy/asthma doc said to try it after she added a nasal steroid to my Spring med regime.

I just had my titration with all this going on and the humidity level is what saved the day. The tech must have noticed I had some congestion issues and bumped it up.

Hope this helps

Yes me too. I blocked up last night also. I use Dimetapp to clear the nose and I also have Nasonex to clear the problem altogether.I dont like the full face mask. Too many leaks and too uncomfortable. Just me.

Get Neilmed Sinus Rinse. I have sinus problems and I find using the sinus rinse helps.

The blue NeilMed Neti Pot is easier for me than the bottle. I like gravity to work with me, and have no real "force" behind it, and I can fill the pot up with warm water and add the saline granules from the packet, stir, screw the lid on. Make sure you have some tissue already prepared about 6 ply, and close-by the sink where you will use the NetiPot. Lean over the sink, breathe thru your mouth, insert the spout of the pot into one nostril, and then lean your head over the sink so the water will flow from the pot into your nostril, and it will run out the nostril that is lower or closer to the sink. Keep breathing thru your mouth as you empty half of the pot into one nostril, then allow the liquid to finish running from one nostril into the sink, before you change the spout to the other nostril and repeat allowing solution to run into the other nostril. Stand over the sink for a few more minutes as all of the water runs out of the nose. When the flow stops, hold the Kleenex you have already prepared against your nose, and when your nose strops dripping, gently blow your nose. Clean the pot spout or the bottle spout well with soap and warm water to prevent further transfer of germs. Keep kleenex close as nose might run for the next 10-15 minutes, on and off, as you continue to use the rinses, you will eventually get to a place where you will see some discolored gunk come out of your nose with the saline, and then you will feel a LOT better. The saline goes up one nostril and comes out the other one, so just breathe thru your mouth and you will be fine. Do NOT sniff while pouring the saline thru your nose. The sooner you start using sinus rinse thru a neti-pot or the neilMed bottle, the faster you will feel better, believe me! As Nike says: JUST DO IT!

I can recommend the very easy to use, no hassle, Nasopure bottle system.

To be honest, I'm recently 'converted'. Was always a bit freaked out by the suggestion of 'sniffing' salt water (from the hand, spoon or something like that). I have had astma, clogged up nasal passages basically al my life (55 now ) ... the discovery of me doing apnea (last february) in combination with colds, nasal infection and lots, lots of nasal spray ... AND the suggestion of Throat-nose-ear medical specialist to try nasal rinse finally got me. Went on the internet, googled for half an hour and bought a Nasopure bottle plus sachets of salt. I've been using them since (4 months now). In the words of the Monkees: 'I'm a believer' ... big grin I haven't used any nasal spray since then and even with the best spring/summer combination since a 100 years over here (lots and lots of pollen) my nasal passages remain open ... yeah! By the way, recently I switched to ordinary kitchen salt instead of the sachets. The sachets are very very easy to use, but also expensive compared to kitchen salt.

Check this short youtube clip about the Nasopure system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOBQcLB ... re=related

swoko, do you put any baking soda in the kitchen salt to buffer it any? The saline rinse sachets from NeilMed are buffered somehow- I think they use baking soda, and so those don't burn my nose, so I wonder how much kitchen salt and how much baking soda does one use per 8 ounces in the neti-pot? I am about out of rinse packets and would love to make my own if it would not burn my nasal passageways. They are expensive, and money is really tight, but I will not sacrifice less expense for a burning nose while rinsing it. Thanks for any suggestions.

Maybe this is what I should be looking into. I got my CPAP May 17. This past weekend I had the scratchy throat and stuffy nose. By Tuesday, I was completely stopped up on the right side and I felt awful. I went to the doctor and got antibiotics for the sinus infection and it turns out ear infection. I was also given a decongestant. I feel better, just tired. I had heard that sinus infections were a possible side effect of the CPAP. The thought of the saline wash kind of creeps me out, but I don't want to continuously experience these infections. This was one of the worse infections I've ever had.