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CPAP when sick with thick mucous? - Daisylouu - 12-02-2015
I am sick with chills, aches, and a very runny nose. Last night I slept with my cpap as usual and slept a good solid 6 hours. In the morning I had VERY THICK mucous in my chest and when coughing, my airway became blocked with a large mucous plug. I could not cough it up, could not breathe, could not talk, I called 911. Scary as hell. Did not go in ambulance as I managed somehow to dislodge mucous.
This has never happened to me before - but Im wondering if the cpap makes me sleep TOO soundly when sick allowing post-nasal drip mucous to accumulate?
RE: CPAP when sick with thick mucous? - Sleeprider - 12-02-2015
It is probably not related to CPAP other than you slept less disturbed. The added humidity should have helped relieve some congestion. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about getting an expectorant (not cough suppressant) to avoid recurrence.
RE: CPAP when sick with thick mucous? - Mosquitobait - 12-02-2015
(12-02-2015, 09:44 AM)Daisylouu Wrote: I am sick with chills, aches, and a very runny nose. Last night I slept with my cpap as usual and slept a good solid 6 hours. In the morning I had VERY THICK mucous in my chest and when coughing, my airway became blocked with a large mucous plug. I could not cough it up, could not breathe, could not talk, I called 911. Scary as hell. Did not go in ambulance as I managed somehow to dislodge mucous.
This has never happened to me before - but Im wondering if the cpap makes me sleep TOO soundly when sick allowing post-nasal drip mucous to accumulate?
My brother has chronic problems with mucous due to a specific illness. Bipap DID NOT make it worse (he got it after the mucous issue started). He uses Mucinex (brand name, not store brand) and it does the job without interfering with his other medications. It's just one of those things that happen some times. Glad you are ok!
RE: CPAP when sick with thick mucous? - zeemochan - 12-03-2015
I just got over some awful congestion, and found that I fared better when adjusting the humidity a little bit lower than normal while stuffed up. I know a lot of people find it helpful to raise the humidity, so not sure why doing the opposite worked for me (maybe because I live in an already-very-humid place?).
Definitely agree with the Mucinex suggestion, that stuff is great! Feel better soon.
RE: CPAP when sick with thick mucous? - Sleeprider - 12-04-2015
Mucinex is just one of many brands of Expectorant that contain the active ingredient Guaifenesin. Many over-the-counter private brands containing guaifenesin can be purchased for much less as well as other brand names:
Bronkaid
Mucinex
Robitussin DAC
Cheratussin DAC
Robitussin AC
Cheratussin AC
Benylin
Buckley's
DayQuil Mucus Control
Where's Daisylouu? Hope things are going better by now.
RE: CPAP when sick with thick mucous? - Mosquitobait - 12-04-2015
I agree that there are plenty of other brands. However, if you take many medications, you want one that contains ONLY guaifenesin since other ingredients can affect how your current meds work. For reasons unknown, the store brands do not work as well as the name brand Musinex; you'd think that they would work the same. Doc says sometimes, even though they have the same active ingredient, the base is different and how your body reacts to that base can change the effectiveness.
Same thing with Halls Eucalyptus cough drops. NONE of the store brands or other Halls brands work as well to suppress chronic coughing than that specific one (I had post nasal drip). Yet, if you have just an ordinary cough (cold, dust, whatever), store brand is good enough.
RE: CPAP when sick with thick mucous? - DariaVader - 12-05-2015
Mucinex is a single ingredient drug (Guaifenesin) that comes in a nice time released format. I really appreciate that about Mucinex in particular!
RE: CPAP when sick with thick mucous? - zeemochan - 12-07-2015
I usually reach for plain Mucinex (or the store brand equivalent) because I can't take the other ingredients that gets bundled with guaifenesin in so many OTC brands. I'm going to look up some of the less-familiar (to me) ones you mentioned, though!
(12-04-2015, 11:34 AM)Sleeprider Wrote: Mucinex is just one of many brands of Expectorant that contain the active ingredient Guaifenesin. Many over-the-counter private brands containing guaifenesin can be purchased for much less as well as other brand names:
Bronkaid
Mucinex
Robitussin DAC
Cheratussin DAC
Robitussin AC
Cheratussin AC
Benylin
Buckley's
DayQuil Mucus Control
Where's Daisylouu? Hope things are going better by now.
RE: CPAP when sick with thick mucous? - Sleeprider - 12-07-2015
It's all about reading labels once you know what you're looking for.