bacterial sinus infection help

[mattm1]

First, contact your doctor tomorrow morning and let him/her know that you aren't showing improvement that you expected.

Second, chances are that this sinus infection is just coincidental with your having started cpap.

yah maybe.  its pretty brutal man, its not as bad as it was but its significantly impacted my quality of life for months.  makes me so tired sometimes.  i had a hard time just focusing on my computer screen to write anything.

[Koolbreeze]

what kind of symptoms do you get?

Swollen nasal passages, green mucus, post nasal drip (real bad), bad cough, a few headaches, stopped up ears/Eustachian tubes. Turned into Bronchitis and for weeks and weeks I coughed up green globs of stuff. Ended up seeing a Pulmonologist because it wasn't improving but by the time I got in to see him, it had improved a little and he said my lungs were fine. Worst sickness I've ever experienced mostly because of how long it lasted.

I was concerned it was fungal, but apparently it wasn't. I'm a lot better now, but still have a flare up now and then.

[mattm1]

what kind of symptoms do you get?

Swollen nasal passages, green mucus, post nasal drip (real bad), bad cough, a few headaches, stopped up ears/Eustachian tubes. Turned into Bronchitis and for weeks and weeks I coughed up green globs of stuff. Ended up seeing a Pulmonologist because it wasn't improving but by the time I got in to see him, it had improved a little and he said my lungs were fine. Worst sickness I've ever experienced mostly because of how long it lasted.

I was concerned it was fungal, but apparently it wasn't. I'm a lot better now, but still have a flare up now and then.

good to hear youre getting better.  i had the stopped up ears, its not as bad now though.  my nasal passages are pretty dried out.

was there something in particular that fixed it?

[stanleydean]

Conversely, I clean my parts maybe once per week. Have been using Dawn and very warm water only. Will be replacing Dawn with baby shampoo soon. No ill effects.

About 3 months ago I started using an alcohol free wipe for cleaning my mask daily, so far the results are good. I used baby shampoo for a long time with good results but the wipes are a lot less messy.

Just to cover all the bases, if the sinus infection thing persists in spite of all you are doing you might want to be checked for allergies. I do not know anything about what allergies if any are problematic where you live but, in our neck of the woods this has been a bad spring season for allergies. Hoping you do get it under control.

Stan

[eseedhouse]

I think its caused by the machine because i never had a sinus infection ever until i started using cpap! 

Ah, the old "after this, therefore because of this" fallacy. This is a logical fallacy so old that it has a fancy Latin name: "Post hoc, ergo propter hoc"

Just because event B happened after event A does not prove or even provide strong evidence that event A cause event B.

Your machine was delivered sterile if it was new when you bought it. How then can it cause a sinus infection? These machines are medical devices and must follow the rules for medical devices, including being sterile when delivered.

Most likely it was not caused by your machine, rather you most likely picked it up in your daily travels.

[Hellodare]

I use ivory dish soap. All hot water. Then the final rinse is hot water with some hydrogen peroxide sprayed into the water. If I were getting sick I would be changing the air filter more often and make sure all areas around the cpap are very clean. Again I'm no expert.

[Melman]

I use ivory dish soap. All hot water. Then the final rinse is hot water with some hydrogen peroxide sprayed into the water. If I were getting sick I would be changing the air filter more often and make sure all areas around the cpap are very clean. Again I'm no expert.

I frequently see the misconception that the purpose of the machine filter is to protect the user from infection. That is not the case. It is to protect the machine from dust build up. The air from your CPAP is the same air you breath in your home environment when not using CPAP, carrying the same particulate matter including bacteria. It is true that the air from the CPAP is compressed but only by 1-2% so the density of airborne bacteria is not increased significantly. Actually it is probably decreased because most airborne bacteria are carried on larger particles which are removed by the filter.  The air from your CPAP, therefore, is no more of an infection hazard than the air in your home.

Another misconception is that filters become less efficient at removing particulates as they become loaded (dirty). Actually, the reverse is true, as filters become loaded they actually remove more particulates. The reason dirty filters need to be changed is that airflow is restricted putting more strain on the machine. The filter is to protect the machine not the user.

The one exception may be the high efficiency filters that give allergy sufferers some relief at night.

Hydrogen peroxide is a good sanitizing agent but not if overly diluted. The 2-3% solution generally available at drugstores is reasonably effective but if further diluted by adding it to water it will be ineffective.  It is only effective if applied full strength to the surfaces. It can then be rinsed away if desired but that's not necessary since ir rapidly breaks down to water and oxygen.

[Hellodare]

The way I'm using hydrogen peroxide has to be better than none I would think.

[Melman]

The way I'm using hydrogen peroxide has to be better than none I would think.

My comments were not intended to be critical and I apologize if you were offended. My comments were based on 30 years of experience as a microbiologist in the sterile pharmaceutical industry. I worked extensively with air and water filtration systems and sanitizing agents including peroxide. Drugstore peroxide is only a mild sanitizer at full concentration and loses efficacy with dilution. It is not harmful to your equipment if used at full strength.

Personally, I don't use sanitizing agents on my CPAP equipment. Like you, I wash with mild dish washing detergent and find that to be sufficient. Some see evidence of microbial growth in their humidifiers (e.g. slime, pink residue). In such cases use of a sanitizer following cleaning with mild detergent is indicated. Undiluted peroxide would be a reasonable choice.

[SarcasticDave94]

I use ivory dish soap. All hot water. Then the final rinse is hot water with some hydrogen peroxide sprayed into the water. If I were getting sick I would be changing the air filter more often and make sure all areas around the cpap are very clean. Again I'm no expert.

I frequently see the misconception that the purpose of the machine filter is to protect the user from infection. That is not the case. It is to protect the machine from dust build up. The air from your CPAP is the same air you breath in your home environment when not using CPAP, carrying the same particulate matter including bacteria. It is true that the air from the CPAP is compressed but only by 1-2% so the density of airborne bacteria is not increased significantly. Actually it is probably decreased because most airborne bacteria are carried on larger particles which are removed by the filter.  The air from your CPAP, therefore, is no more of an infection hazard than the air in your home.

Another misconception is that filters become less efficient at removing particulates as they become loaded (dirty). Actually, the reverse is true, as filters become loaded they actually remove more particulates. The reason dirty filters need to be changed is that airflow is restricted putting more strain on the machine. The filter is to protect the machine not the user.

The one exception may be the high efficiency filters that give allergy sufferers some relief at night.

Hydrogen peroxide is a good sanitizing agent but not if overly diluted. The 2-3% solution generally available at drugstores is reasonably effective but if further diluted by adding it to water it will be ineffective.  It is only effective if applied full strength to the surfaces. It can then be rinsed away if desired but that's not necessary since ir rapidly breaks down to water and oxygen.

Good info Melman. Thanks for the lesson on filters. Sounds a lot like the air filter for a car then. It keeps dirty air out of the machine. Replace filter due to restricting intake of air.