Early Morning Train Wreck

[Reznik]

I have the same problem.  I get in bed and watch TV for a bit, and my nasal passages swell up while I'm laying there.  If I dust the nightstand and vacuum the floors, then that doesn't happen.

I almost hate to see an ENT and get into the whole allergy investigation...between getting to a sleep apnea diagnosis (almost a year and lots of time/money spent ruling out other potential reasons for memory loss) and treating it, plus a 10+ year journey figuring out an arthritis issue, I'm just not in the mood for that can of worms, which I've witnessed in my younger son and wife. 

I have long had a certain reaction to seasonal allergies, esp. spring-time pollen. Just started CPAP in early April, at exactly the time spring allergens literally started raining down on my house. Other times of the year I think I'm okay, but before CPAP, I never really had to think about how often I was breathing through my mouth because my nose was congested. 

I have also read that some nasal congestion is simply idiopathic and caused by things other than allergies. Oh joy, more variables!!

I strongly recommend AGAINST seeing an ENT for allergies.  Go see an allergist.

P.S.  I have a friend who is an allergist.  He tells me that, this season, he's been getting a lot of CPAP patients complaining about nasal congestion.  So, you're not alone.  And there are nasal spray medications that can help, both short term and long term.

[gregger]

I strongly recommend AGAINST seeing an ENT for allergies.  Go see an allergist.

P.S.  I have a friend who is an allergist.  He tells me that, this season, he's been getting a lot of CPAP patients complaining about nasal congestion.  So, you're not alone.  And there are nasal spray medications that can help, both short term and long term.

Agree, allergists are the right approach for allergies. My family has spent a lot of time with them. 

My sleep doctor said to take Flonase and if that didn't work, see an ENT, but I think her reasoning was that she wanted to rule out structural and other non-allergenic issues. 

On my own, for the past few weeks I've been taking a daily Allegra tablet (evening) along with the Flonase (morning). Finding no real relief with Flonase, I switched to an alternative steroid spray, Nasonex. Still not a solution. If I stopped the meds altogether I might determine whether these things are at least improving my condition.

All this said, I'm due for my "treat" (Afrin) tonight and you'd better believe I'm going to have a wonderful 8 hours with my Dreamwear nasal mask!!

[Reznik]

I strongly recommend AGAINST seeing an ENT for allergies.  Go see an allergist.

P.S.  I have a friend who is an allergist.  He tells me that, this season, he's been getting a lot of CPAP patients complaining about nasal congestion.  So, you're not alone.  And there are nasal spray medications that can help, both short term and long term.

Agree, allergists are the right approach for allergies. My family has spent a lot of time with them. 

My sleep doctor said to take Flonase and if that didn't work, see an ENT, but I think her reasoning was that she wanted to rule out structural and other non-allergenic issues. 

On my own, for the past few weeks I've been taking a daily Allegra tablet (evening) along with the Flonase (morning). Finding no real relief with Flonase, I switched to an alternative steroid spray, Nasonex. Still not a solution. If I stopped the meds altogether I might determine whether these things are at least improving my condition.

All this said, I'm due for my "treat" (Afrin) tonight and you'd better believe I'm going to have a wonderful 8 hours with my Dreamwear nasal mask!!

Flonase and other nasal steroids can take several days and even weeks to have full effect.  The same with Allegra.

Afrin (which works right away) is a good short-term choice to use while you're waiting, but is bad for long-term use.  If you're going to use Afrin, I recommend alternating nostrils, i.e. left nostril tonight, right nostril tomorrow.  That allows you to get away with a week's worth of use before you exceed the bottles recommendations.

[gregger]

Got my Gel Pillows yesterday and tried them out last night. The fit was fine but noise from the air vent (slot at front of mask) was very distracting. I don't mind the frame tube noise, but this ...  How to describe it... a Burble? Bubble? Crackle? Sputter? I thought since I had just washed it that maybe water droplets were causing noise.  Still, I drifted off and slept soundly for 2 hours at 0 AHI until my wife clubbed me awake and said "Roll over, that bubbling is keeping me awake!" I got up, fully awakened, to use hair dryer and Q tips to make sure the mask was in fact bone dry and that fit was good. When I put my finger over the vent, silence. I tried stretching open the vent slot slightly, and got whoosing air. Then tried compressing the slot over so slightly (by "pinching" the mask a bit, top to bottom at the center) to reduce volume; silence! 


I actually used a twist tie to maintain this "pinch" a bit while wearing the mask. Ended up with AHI of 2.5 for the night but think it might be because I shifted to side sleeping for quite a while, and I haven't gotten great numbers from side sleeping even though I enjoy it. Hopefully I can use a bit of tape to do the "pinch" job longer-term. 

I am wondering if my particular mask has a defect; the mask certainly "looks perfect" in the molding. Others on the Board have noted frustration with the vent design because of the airflow disturbing in a partner. In my case the problem is all about the crackling sound. Hope to resolve this on my own but I certainly hope Philips is working on this.  

I am posting these comments elsewhere in a thread specific to the Pillows to see if others have comments. Thanks.