RE: Bad Cold Tips?!
You know, I'll give it a try. This is the first (and I say that with cautious optimism) nasal pillows that really don't feel completely uncomfortable, and I feel like trying them over and over. MY AHI has decreased since trying them (only about 5 days of trying though) and I am somewhat happy with them. I'm completely afraid to even admit that though because I'm scared of being disappointed again. I know, sounds crazy, but I've been through so many masks in the last year since I've started this journey that I am afraid of being too excited about anything. But...I've found this forum and I've downloaded the Sleepyhead software and I am firmly taking control of my own journey here. I need sleep...and it's my job to find how to get it!!! Thanks everyone!
RE: Bad Cold Tips?!
I've just gone through a couple of weeks of a (winter) cold with APAP - initially it was good as I think the better quality sleep helped me feel more alive than might have otherwise been the case. After a few days I gave up on the nettipot that I've been using daily for months. It started causing grief with my inner ear, and I was finding that it wasn't draining as well as usual, so I ran into issues not hearing properly through one ear (this lasted days), and all kinds of unpleasant popping, etc., in my ears every time I blew my nose. Once my nose became unreliable, I switched to my full face mask which I initally managed an entire nights sleep with, followed by a couple of hours, then couldn't cope with it at all.......
Eventually the coughing started - which is really quite rare for me - and it was time to get off the machine as all that crap that had made its way into my chest needed to come out. I had to have a chest xray on Friday as I'd been coughing up green crap for a week.
I finally started my pre-cold procedure of netipot then back on with the nasal mask again last night as the coughing/gross green stuff has passed. I managed 7 hours with the mask on before I woke up struggling a little.
My only underlying concern is whether or not the therapy contributed to the chest issue in some way or if its just merely circumstancial.
RE: Bad Cold Tips?!
When I get a cold it invariably fires up my asthma causing lots of coughing.
I find that makes me a little bit less than welcome in the bedroom and plays plays heck with the machine.
I end up spending a night or two in the lounge sitting more or less upright without the CPAP. I don't get a lot of sleep but its only a couple of night at the worst.
On the up side - in the years before CPAP I would get 2 or 3 colds a year and they would last for many days.
Since CPAP I get way less colds and those I get last for less time.
Of course the connection might be that I got CPAP at the same time I got my Asthma properly sorted.
Disclaimer: The 'Advisory Member' title is a Forum thing that I cannot change. I am not a doctor and my comments are purely my opinion or quote my personal experience. Regardless of my experience other readers mileage may vary.
RE: Bad Cold Tips?!
I have no advise on cpap use, but I can't take most cold remedies because they make me jittery. I found drinking hot liquids useful. Putting you face over a steaming bowl of water with a towel over your head helps get your head draining. A hot shower works but is wasteful if water if you are doing it several times a day. Halls menthol cough drops also work (brand name works better than off brands). I get sinus pain and swelling and use cold gel packs for that. None of th u s cures you, but does make things easier to stand.
RE: Bad Cold Tips?!
I'm a Neti Pot Believer, but don't use tap water!
You're supposed to use distilled water so that the salt balance is right and to make sure there's nothing living in it that can kill you.
I do a lot of woodworking/remodeling type stuff, so lots of times I should be wearing a dust mask and am not. Neti pots clear that crap out of my sinuses.
RE: Bad Cold Tips?!
I had a bad cold about a month ago, and had no problem using my nasal pillow mask. Was able to breath just fine.
I don't use a net pot, but use a nasal rinse...the squeeze bottle. I use distilled water and the premixed packets of saline rinse. Work wonders for clearing out sinuses.
RE: Bad Cold Tips?!
I was thinking at my 6 month new mask of picking up a full face one for if I have a cold (so I'd have nasal pillows and full face). Most of what people are saying is it's really not necessary and my P10 should be fine as the machine will "blow away" my nasal congestion: Is this accurate?
RE: Bad Cold Tips?!
That's sort of what I found also.
I don't want to bash neti users. Really I don't. But if I were considering it, I would get the advice of my ENT first, before I got the advice from an internet forum or from my brother-in-law. I could be completely wrong, but my best guess would be that you might have to search far and wide before you found a licensed, level-headed GP or ENT who might endorse that.
If it works for you, then vaya con Dios.
I'll just be over here.