Deviated septum, trouble finding perfect humidity and tube temp.

[Herman1969]

Hello,
I live in PA, I have a deviated septum and I am having a very difficult time finding the perfect settings. My room temp is 71 degrees Fahrenheit with 30 percent humidity. I have a resmed airsense 10 with climate control heated tube. I seem to be congested when I wake up, but it goes away when I start moving about. I have tried several settings including Auto climate control and auto tube temp, but I still wake up stuffy. The only time I don't wake up stuffy is when I get rainout in the tube, which is not good. I have tried several settings starting at 4 and going to 6. It seems the auto/auto works the best for rainout, but I wake up with the one side of my nose very congested. This could be deviated septum issues though. I have not found that perfect setting as of yet, anyone out there with a deviated septum and room temp 71??

[Pugsy]

I wake up with the one side of my nose very congested.

One side of the nose being congested makes me wonder if a person is just experiencing the normal nasal cycle thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_cycle

But this makes me wonder if you just need higher humidity to keep the nasal mucosa happy but with your room temps the air coming from the humidifier just needs to be warmer. Your nose likes more moisture but condensation occurs with the higher humidity settings.

The only time I don't wake up stuffy is when I get rainout in the tube, which is not good.

There is an easy experiment to try....simply take your hose air temp off auto and change it to manual and use a higher hose air temp setting. Warmer air will hold on to more moisture and make condensation less likely to occur.
Sometimes that auto hose air temp which is promoted to stop condensation simply doesn't work so great. I have experienced this myself.
Now I don't know how much warmer it needs to be because there's a lot involved like which mask and potential other non heated hoses with the mask along with that ambient bedroom temp but I suggest starting with 80 degrees F and see if that helps or not.
I use a setting of 6 with my machine for humidity but I need 86 degrees to prevent condensation but my bedroom is always at least 65 degrees or less. Maybe with 71 degrees you won't need quite so much.
It's a trial and error guessing game and sometimes one degree is all that is needed to change to fix the problem.

[Herman1969]

Thank you so much! The mask that I am using is dreamwear nasal cusion, not pillows, as I cannot stand anything inside my nose like that and I have tried the full face mask and cannot do that either. From what I have read in the manual for the climatelineair heated tube the auto setting for tube is set to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Its strange, it seems it starts out like that but then after a few hours the heated tube is much cooler than 80 even though its set to auto. I am not a fan of breathing in hot moist air as well, and the cooler air that I like to breathe in really stuffs me up so it's a no win situation all the way around for me. I can try leaving climate control in auto and changing the tube settings starting with 80, if that's too hot, lower to 79 and so forth. I just wish I was like most and enjoy the sleep, but I really don't seem to have that luck because I don't like to breathe in hot air, it seems as if I am gasping for air rather than breathing and with the cooler air that I breathe easier, I end up stuffed up or rainout.....no win situation!

[Pugsy]

I don't particularly like the hot moist air either but I like the noise from water in the hose or mask or giving me a cold shower even less. I had to get used to the hot moist air or try to get by with less humidity in the air and the side effects from the lower humidity setting were horrible as well and more of a problem than the hot air was.

It is truly damned if you do and damned if you don't sometimes. Try to find a happy medium.
If the auto temp is 80 degrees...try 81...might get lucky and that will work.

[Herman1969]

Thank you! It does seem that auto climate and auto tube works the best, rather than me playing with the humidity settings, it's just a matter of trying to find the right tube temperature and auto climate control. At first it starts out very hot and humid, almost can't breathe really, but a few hours into it, seems that the tube cooled down, like you said the tube temp in auto doesn't work so great. I am going to try auto climate and changing tube temp as you suggested. I truly appreciate your advice
Trying to find that happy medium lol.

[Jlfinkels]

Like you I have a deviated septum, but have used my temp and humidity settings on 81F temp and 4 humidity through all seasons with no rainout issues. My room temp has ranged from 64F to 78F with an average room humidity of 50%. Of course I do live in the South so it is fairly humid year-round. I find >= 82F to high a temp and humidity <> 4 too little or too much humidity, so I just leave it where it is set by the machine. You may consider getting a hose cover from Padacheek to help with the temp.

Best of luck finding what works best for you. It is a delicate balance.

[edbrownewellsr]

Have you considered a septoplasty and turbineoplasty?

The procedure

Septoplasty (straightening of the nasal septum) and turbinoplasty (reduction of the inferior turbinate bone) is the most common procedure for nasal obstruction. Septoplasty requires carefully lifting up the inner lining of the nose and removing or straightening the bent cartilage.

I had this done in 2010 and fixed my congestion that I had in my left nostril due to a deviated septum...now I'm considering having tonsils removed since I'm a 3 out of 4.

[Herman1969]

Yes, have considered surgery however my Doctor does not recommend it. She basically let me know that it is a last resort because the nose eventually goes back to the same shape it had been. Those are her words, as she does not recommend the surgery, which I find to be strange, but....I'm not a doctor so I have to trust my family doc in what she is telling me.
I did try 4, 81, seems a bit too hot for me where I can't catch my breath it seems. Had climate on auto with tube temp on 80, woke up with machine blowing very hard and more apneas, when I was playing around with settings had little to no apneas, I just have to keep playing around with it to find that right balance.

[Pugsy]

You might try adding a short hose cozy to your mask to insulate the hose from the end of the heated hose to where it attaches to the frame in an effort to keep the air in the mask warmer and not cool down to the point of the air releasing the moisture in the form of condensation. This might enable you to get by with a lower incoming air temps.
Also there are side fleece covers available for the DreamWear nasal mask...use those also to maybe help keep the air warmer in the frame.

There are store bought short hose cozies available but you can also simply make your own by wrapping some fleece around that short hose and taping it on or my favorite was just an old sock. Cut a hole in the toe and slide it over the short hose and secure with tape or bread ties or rubber band. Really anything that would help insulate the short hose from the cooler air in the bedroom and maybe keep the air in the short hose a little warmer.

Rain out is physics in action and you just have to try different things to deal with it.
Your own personal dislike for warmer air is something you just have to work through along with your humidity preference.
Unfortunately it is what it is. You have to decide which is most important to you and what it is that you can handle the best or compromise on.

[Herman1969]

Good morning,
I am not sure what you mean by "short hose". I just have the ResMed ClimateLine Air Heated CPAP Tubing Airsense10, attached to the machine, I think it's like 6 foot. I can certainly try a sock or something like that but it would not cover the whole hose itself? So I'm guessing by what you are saying is just put a sock on the hose at the end where it's closest to the mask?

[Pugsy]

Short hose....where the heated hose ends and changes to the hose that goes to the mask and attaches to the top of the head/frame.
That hose isn't heated so when the warm air leaves the heated hose it starts the cooling down process just from exposure to room air.
Sometimes just insulation that short hose keeps the air warm enough to not condense.

[Herman1969]

I don't have another hose that goes to the mask? I just attached the mask to the end of the heated hose? Am I missing a part?

[Pugsy]

No. You aren't missing a part.
You have to unhook the mask at the long hose/hose to mask connection and slide the sock or cozy or whatever up over that shorter hose up to where it attaches at the top of your head and secure it because it will want to slide down...then you reattach the mask short hose to the long heated hose.
So then you have the heated hose...then you have a little coat on the short hose.
Might be enough to prevent the condensation at the lower temp you prefer.

[Herman1969]

Oh, you mean that little hard clear plastic tube that is attached to the mask at the top of the head that has little holes in it, shaped kind of like a number 7? It's about an inch and a half?

[Herman1969]

I tried 5, 79 seems to be ok. Had it on about 2 hours with no rainout, but that shorthose at the top of the head was foggy.