Itchy nose, driving me mad! Any solution?

I'm sure I didn't have this with APAP (which I was on for 2 months) but since changing to CPAP I wake up 5 or more times every night because of an itchy nose. Switch off, scratch, refit mask, restart CPAP. Repeat every 1.5 hours, all night.

Is it the CPAP? Is it the full face mask? Is there a solution?

I have it and I use nasal pillows...but have also had it with my nasal mask. Not sure why exactly or why some nights it's worse than others or some nights I don't have it at all, but I tend to just scratch the itch and go on!

Me too, on my nasal mask. I can slip a finger under the edge of the mask and scratch though.

It feels sort of like there's hair flapping in the breeze tickling my nose, but it must be the air flow.

I discovered if I wipe down (mask, then face) with an unscented baby wipe
(and rub really good where the itch usually occurs),
it tends to desensitize the itchy place.

I know these were a while ago, but I have not been able to sleep with my mask on for 3 days. And for 2 days before that I kept waking to find my ask pulled off. But, I've been feeling the "hair not there" for well over a week. I've even switched to a new mask. (Same brand!!) I'm going totally crazy. I actually cried myself to sleep one night. And still found myself awake with out my mask. I can't keep the mask on and rest with the tickling sensation!! Has anyone got a solution!?!

Sometimes I get the nose itch if the humidity is too low or I am dehydrated. I change the humidity or put some lotion on my nose before I go to bed.

Another option is taking a benedryl. It helps with itching and it also makes most people drowsy.

I do. I think it is psychological, because the minute I can't scratch my nose, I need to. LOL.

Here's something to try: before you put your mask on, scratch and scratch your nose. Really go to town, Ben if it doesn't itch. Then put your mask on. This often helps.

This one is a little harder, but I figured this out when I had a broken leg,
and the cast made the itch inaccessible.
Concentrate on the itch. Give it your full attention.
Do not try to ignore it. Oddly, it fades as you do this.

DynoDad wrote:Itchy nose, driving me mad! Any solution?

You are talking about the skin of the nose and not the nasal passages?

Just before you put on the mask, take a clean, dry wash cloth and rub the skin of your nose thoroughly. This helps desensitize the nerve endings near the skin surface.

I would not scratch the nose with the fingers or fingernails. This could add body oil or dirt to the skin of the nose, or the fingernails could damage the skin.

It is a hair. It's moving when I breath. But there is nothing there! When I take it off I feel hair in my throat too. It's driving me crazy :/ I have the issue with the itchy nose too, that was an issue before the hair thing that is going on now, and it wakes me up several times a night. I am seeing a build of condensation in my mask, so I dropped my humidity down to 1 now, and my hose is still on max. I feel aslee without it, but had my husband wake me up when he came to bed at 2:00am and I hoped if I was sleepy enough I wouldn't notice it enough, and that seemed to work this time! I take Benadryl every night so I can sleep with the mask on, or I just lay there :/ it's part of my sleep meds every night with 10mg melatonin and 300mg gabapentin. I have use my husband's nose hair thing to burn out every hair I can get in my nose, still no good :/ it had to be something! I read a lot of posts about this and things online!

I had a little bit of itchy nose when I first started out. I had some of this aloe vera gel and found that it formed a sort of flexible yet firm dried gel layer over the area on my nose that seemed to have the most itching. Worked for me. Eventually I stopped using it... I guess I just got over the itching thing. Maybe it was just some nervous reactions, but I can't say for sure.

http://www.amazon.com/Fruit-Earth-Aloe- ... B000ALDK1A

Oh yeah, I forgot to add, it works great for mosquito bites too.

FairwayGirl wrote:10mg melatonin

Ouch. That is about 33 times the amount of melatonin that the average human body produces in a day.

the amount that our bodies normally produce (< 0.3 mg per day).

http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/su ... melatonin/

Melatonin supplements have not been studied enough to know what the possible side effects are. Given that melatonin is a powerful hormone, I recommend against taking it on a regular basis.

There are no studies on withdrawal from large doses of melatonin, so be careful if you decide to quit using it. A good way to experiment is to discontinue usage the first night of a weekend when you don't have a lot of "required" activities planned.

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FairwayGirl wrote:300mg gabapentin

For what condition was the gabapentin prescribed?

chunkyfrog wrote:This one is a little harder, but I figured this out when I had a broken leg,
and the cast made the itch inaccessible.
Concentrate on the itch. Give it your full attention.
Do not try to ignore it. Oddly, it fades as you do this.

LOL, I can relate to this. When I was learning mindfulness meditation, I got what I call "meditation fleas". They are little itches that develop here, there, everywhere, just to distract you from focusing on the breath. And that's exactly the advice for dealing with meditation fleas--pay attention, acknowledge them, become fully aware. And they just fade away . . . (they really do).

Only to be replaced a few minutes later by a new one somewhere else--AAARRRGGHHH!!!!

I raised the humidity a bit, perhaps the air is too dry for you