Nasal Congestion

I am a new CPAP user on a nasal mask. What do you guys do when you have a cold or allergies? Do you have a second full face mask to wear or do you stop using your CPAP until you're feeling better? I know I'm not suppose to stop using it, but I'm not sure that I want to invest in a second mask. Plus, my prescription says nasal...can I even get a full face? Thanks!

I had this same question a few days ago. You can find that thread here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=96517&p=893556#p893556

Hope those responses are helpful to you.

For me- I did CPAP therapy every night while sick, but I was unable to do therapy the entire night long. There were times I woke up in the middle of the night 100% stuffed up and NO AMOUNT of OTC drugs, nasal sprays, or any of the other tips ppl mentioned were able to get my nasal passages opened up. Being that I didn't have a full face mask as a back up, I had to take my mask off completely during those times. After all, a girl's gotta breathe! But then if I woke up at a separate time later in the night, and one of the my nasals were open at that time, then I would get back on the horse and re-start CPAP therapy again. This made for an intermittent therapy use, but I figure some was better than none. I felt a little guilty... but I gave it a good college try, and as long as I'm 100% compliant on my "well" days, I figure I'm OK.

I'm going to try to get a full-face mask as a backup for when I am sick. Not covered by my insurance, though, they will only cover one mask. So i will probably purchase that online. I'm absolutely not going to switch from my "normal" mask (nasal pillow) to FF mask just bc I can't use the pillows when I'm sick. I'm only ill a handful of times a year, so I'm not going to let a circumstance that occurs 1% of the time dictate how I sleep the other 99% of the time. Just my 2 cents.

Good luck! Wishes for wellness!

Thank you!! I read your thread and it was very helpful.

I was told by my Respitory Therapist not to use the machine while sick. To wait until you are better and then go back to it. His reasoning was if you are taking medicine to help unclog/drain your sinuses you don't want something in your nose preventing that. Personally, I don't like anything covering my face so a FF mask would probably keep me up more of the night than if I slept without it.

My nasal mask (Airfit P10 nasal pillows) actually helps hold my passages OPEN and makes my chronic congestion must easier to accommodate so I would use it even while sick if that were at all possible.

I arranged for my insurance company to purchase me an FFM for me -- the Innomed Hybrid which is really a hybrid of an "oral mask" combined with a nasal pillow mask. This is my back up for any night where my nose will not pass enough air to breath effectively. I used this mask only 2-3 nights to prove it could work for me and haven't need it in the two months of my therapy.

The Hybrid will work as a backup but it is no where near as comfortable as the P10.

At this point, I am completely off the decongestant nasal sprays, the Sudafed, and seldom if ever need the saline irrigation (which I highly recommend).

I am still using the Nasonex occasionally but could likely stop that without serious ill effects. It's difficult to tell with this type of spray since it doesn't offer 'immediate results' but is more of a preventative.


For irrigation, I have found nothing better than the NeilMed Sinugator device -- otherwise, I just use a plain cup of warm saline and 'drink' it through my nose, no fancy bottles nor netti pots required -- although the NeilMed squeeze bottle is marginally more convenient.

The SinuGator is the perfect compromise between pushing the water through and not pushing it excessively into the sinuses etc.

Remember if you use saline to make it "isotonic" and perhaps add baking soda to buffer the solution. Google for recipes on "isotonic saline".

Water with no salt burns; water with too much salt burns also. Saline matching body fluids (isotonic) is very much more comfortable.

I use these nasal dilators almost every night. My sinus obstruction tends to be around my septum and if I can get therapy air past that area then I'm good to go. They are called Snorepins. Sometimes I have to use a bit of 3M tape to secure the U shaped stem of the dilator to my nose. I also had to cut them down a bit as indicated by the red line... it's easy to do with a sharp Xacto or knife. PM me if you need details.

http://www.amazon.com/Snorepin-Smarter- ... l+dilators

HerbM is lucky. I use the Airfit P10 also and I'm so congested now. I'm assuming it's because I'm new to using my ASV so my nose just isn't used to it yet. I tried using a Saline solution last night before bed, but it didn't seem to help. Thinking I need to try something else. A few nights ago I was so congested that I could only take 30 minutes of barely being able to breathe before I took the mask off and slept the night without it. So far just about every night I've used my machine I've been partly stuffed up, but I've still been able to use the mask.

My doctor had written my script for a full face mask. I told her that wasn't going to happen so she wrote me a new script that said "CPAP mask and supplies" so it's very generic and would apply for all types.