Well this week I picked up a head cold. Nothing too serious, just a runny/stuffy nose and scratchy throat...

It's the stuffy nose that bothers me. How can I deal with this and CPAP at the same time? I know my DME said I shouldn't use CPAP if I get sick, but that makes no sense - I mean how could I get better if I can't sleep? I've still got one good nostril, usually...

Maybe I should buy that FF mask, but in the meantime, suggestions?

I don't believe that the DME has the right to tell you not to use your cpap when you are ill. You are correct, how are you supposed to get better if you don't use your cpap. I have been on cpap now for 1 1/2 years and have had several colds. Here is what I do for the stuffy nose in order:

1. Saline rinse of nose and blow, also called nasal irrigation (there is an entire thread on this subject) sometimes this helps to open up the air ways and I need to go no further.
2. Over the counter decongestant only at bedtime--I can deal with stuffy at bedtime If that doesn work--
3. Over the counter nasal spray--the only downside to this is that you really shouldn't use it more than 3 days in a row as it can cause a rebound effect that can make the nose more stuffy than it was to start. And to me that is to be avoided at all costs.

I have found that if I can get at least one side of my nose so that I can breath out of it then the cpap pressure will keep it open all night. I know others who have a full face mask that they keep in reserve just for the purpose of sick days. You might want to call your regular doctor, they may have more ideas on how to deal with days when you just can breath out of your nose.

Good Luck
Madre

See my thread from last week in the CPAP forum :"To blow or not to blow". The answer was basically, "Don't use it".

SleeplessJ wrote:Well this week I picked up a head cold. Nothing too serious, just a runny/stuffy nose and scratchy throat...

It's the stuffy nose that bothers me. How can I deal with this and CPAP at the same time? I know my DME said I shouldn't use CPAP if I get sick, but that makes no sense - I mean how could I get better if I can't sleep? I've still got one good nostril, usually...

Maybe I should buy that FF mask, but in the meantime, suggestions?

The danger with using cpap while suffering from a cold..........particularly while using a nasal mask is that the 'gunge' will get blown back into the ear canal and start an ear infection. Whenever I have a cold I stop using cpap, which forces me to get it sorted quickly. Over the past 13 years I have suffered from a number of ear infections started by using cpap while suffering from a cold. The last few times (thankfully a few years back) I had to go to an ENT specialist to get sorted.

Another poster has mentioned the use of decongestants............maybe its just me but my pharmacist has advised me not to use them without specific instructions from my sleep specialist...........he believes that they may be harmful as they might effect my OSA.

I think you got good advice from your DME.

Daniel.

Another poster has mentioned the use of decongestants............maybe its just me but my pharmacist has advised me not to use them without specific instructions from my sleep specialist...........he believes that they may be harmful as they might effect my OSA.

Sorry if it is against what others have been told, the method that I put above is what my ENT told me to do. Again I think you should see what your doctor has to say.

Madre

I started using a CPAP a little over a year ago. It was determined I had sleep apnea after going into atrial fibrilation on three separate occasions. On each occasion I was asleep on my left side. I have not gone into Afib since using the CPAP. I wear a mask when using it. I contracted a 'bug' last Wednesday evening. It started with a sore throat and relentless cough. A low grade fever and achiness followed. I abstained from using my machine until Friday evening when I started feeling better. (I ALWAYS use my machine, even when camping, since I don't want my heart to go back into an irregular rhythm.) I used the CPAP that evening and woke up the following morning feeling MUCH worse. Headache, achy, sore throat and cough had returned. By Monday I felt so bad I went to my doctor. Apparently the CPAP had pushed a bacterial infection into my right ear and behind my right eye (it was red and watering considerably.) I've been on antibiotics since but frankly they haven't, as yet, had a positive effect. In my case, using the CPAP clearly exacerbated my condition and led to additional problems. I count on the CPAP machine but will refrain from using it in the future whenever I have upper respiratory issues.

I have a pretty severe upper respiratory infection right now ( started as a mild cold, now it's possibly "adult croup" , laryngitis, AND asthmatic bronchitis).

I am SO grateful for the CPAP. I had to switch from nasal pillows to a FF mask for this because of coughing and mild nasal congestion, but with the FF mask I'm able to sleep comfortably 8 hours at a time and I don't cough much during the night. My sinus congestion is much less than it ordinarily would be under the circumstances.

Before CPAP, I'd have to sleep sitting up in a chair when I had URI's like this. The most I could expect to sleep was 1 - 2 hours. My sleep would be disturbed by uncontrolled coughing, nasal congestion, sinus pressure, etc. With CPAP, all of those symptoms are controlled and I'm actually getting good quality rest.

I didn't use CPAP for a night or two when I was sneezy and my nose was constantly running, and that was very miserable. I got no sleep at all.

I also use a FF mask (Quatro) when I have congestion. My situation with the FF is that my AHI's go up into the 7-9 range instead of being in the .2-1.0 range with the nasal mask (Activa). There is a marked difference between them, even after I reset the S8 mask choice. The FF shows I have many small apnes instead of the 0 apneas and a few hypopnias with the nasal mask. BUT, even with the FF and it's faults, it is better than no mask at all!
So, until I can risk working with the FF mask to see what I can do to solve the situation, or have a sleep titration using that mask, it will stay in it's bag and hang there until I need it again.

You all have a blessed day and a good nights sleep,

Looks like rbury found an old thread via search, and the topic is getting a second life. Good idea.

After a dx of OSA with AHI 55, I started CPAP ... but am fighting cumulative nasal congestion, even without a cold. To the point of not being able to use CPAP beyond 2-3 hours per night. My post is intended as a logical thinker's comments, not expert advice.

- I agree with Rycharde that one should NOT force CPAP to blow against a plugged nasal passage; my doctor said if you wake up and can't fall asleep for 1/2 hour, give up trying. I read about the mucus and tissue in the nose forming a very delicate filtering system, which also processes the external air's velocity, humidity, and temperature before letting it into the lungs

- one needs to look at the entire flow system: what the room air contains, the HEPA filter at the flow generator inlet, whatever the CPAP machine does to this air before it gets into the mask (temperature, humidity, possibly irritating plastic smells, velocity and turbulence) ... like trying to drive my fuel-injected and carefully tuned car engine through a dust storm in Death Valley

- the pressure and flow velocity are measured by a sensor at the mask entrance; which is not the same thing as the pressure and flow velocity in the nasal passage; it depends on mask type, leakage, etc.

- like Rycharde, I have experienced a doubling in AHI (10 to 20) when going from nasal pillows to full face mask ... for the same constant CPAP pressure setting of 9 cmH2O, for breathing only through my nose, sleeping on my back, etc... repeatable several nights in a row. The differences: the smaller nasal orifice through pillows, the more turbulent flow irritating the nasal tissue, the different sleep quality. If the CPAP objective is to keep the "pipe" open, and once the nasal passage is no longer a problem, then I still suspect that a full face mask would require a different pressure setting for the same AHI count

- who said that the total A+H events should be assumed to be evenly space through the night, so that a nightly AHI is a good measure? on the ResScan graphs I see event bunching up as I go to sleep, then as the nasal congestion builds up, peaking to wake me up

In my case nasal sprays, saline washes, warm and humid airflow, HEPA filters haven't helped yet. I've raised the mattress head 8 inches ... no effect; may have to try Janknitz' trick of sleeping in an easy chair... doesn't work for me on an airplane flight. When CPAP sleep shuts the nose, I remove it and have to get up for a while; feels like my sinuses drain and the nasal passage opens up more, then I have no trouble falling asleep without CPAP. So I have to assume that the CPAP's airflow does it to me: content, speed. I could lower the pressure, but it wouldn't help me to raise it.

I am currently trying out various masks, concerned that pressure on the sinuses or on the nose may be a cause for flow restriction.

This has been going on for a month now ... doesn't look like forcing or habituation are the solution.