CPAP with a cold

[teleute]

I'd read about some people having full face masks to use for when they had a cold, and that seemed like a brilliant plan to me, so we got one for my husband to try (he's used both nasal masks and nasal pillows to good success, but he hasn't had a cold since getting CPAP). He finds that when he uses it, his cheeks just puff out and it's quite uncomfortable. All the searches I did on cheeks puffing out basically say the fix is not to breathe through your mouth. Except...if you have a cold and are super congested, maybe sometimes you have to. And aren't the FFMs made for people that breathe through their mouth? So I feel like we're missing something about how to get this to work.

Any thoughts/suggestions? We're going to try the other A-flex options tonight, but beyond that I got nothin. Thanks!

[chunkyfrog]

With practice, your muscles get used to a full face mask---Anyhow mine did.
It's kind of like learning how to talk with the air on.
You close off the appropriate passages with your muscles.
It is hard at first, you figure it out, and eventually it is automatic.
Learning can be messy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSF1FfQ4rRU

[teleute]

Right, but isn't "closing off the correct passages" essentially not breathing through your mouth?

[chunkyfrog]

Air follows a number of paths, and you can control it, but mostly when awake.
If your mouth drops open (and its connecting passages), then air can go in or out--
Your therapy air can make a U-turn straight out the mouth; and we wear a full face mask to prevent just that.
The FF mask also prevents "chipmunk cheeks" by equalizing the pressure between nose and mouth.

[teleute]

Sorry - I'm having a very bad brain day. So, to confirm - it's possible to breathe through your mouth with a FFM, but you have to train yourself in a certain way? Now, I've seen comments about forcing your tongue to the roof of your mouth, but I personally find that I can't really breathe well through my mouth if my tongue is in that position. So is there some other thing that he should be training to do instead? Or is that it? Breathe through the mouth but with the tongue up, and it just won't be as good as breathing normally?

[Wulfman...]

I'd read about some people having full face masks to use for when they had a cold, and that seemed like a brilliant plan to me, so we got one for my husband to try (he's used both nasal masks and nasal pillows to good success, but he hasn't had a cold since getting CPAP). He finds that when he uses it, his cheeks just puff out and it's quite uncomfortable. All the searches I did on cheeks puffing out basically say the fix is not to breathe through your mouth. Except...if you have a cold and are super congested, maybe sometimes you have to. And aren't the FFMs made for people that breathe through their mouth? So I feel like we're missing something about how to get this to work.

Any thoughts/suggestions? We're going to try the other C-Flex options tonight, but beyond that I got nothin. Thanks!

They're for people who are prone to have a problem with mouth-breathing......or mouth-leaking......or when nasal breathing is a problem, like with a cold or congestion. They're also for those of us who are just "comfortable" with having that type of mask.
For many of us, we were mouth-breathers before we started therapy and the full face mask converted us into nasal breathers. In short, a full face mask is pretty much a guarantee that the therapy will be successful since it covers both air intake orifices.

Too much heated humidity can cause nasal congestion and the result is mouth-breathing. So, if mouth-breathing is a problem, turn down the humidifier setting. Also, make sure to do nasal cleansing before bedtime.


Den

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[Wulfman...]

Sorry - I'm having a very bad brain day. So, to confirm - it's possible to breathe through your mouth with a FFM, but you have to train yourself in a certain way? Now, I've seen comments about forcing your tongue to the roof of your mouth, but I personally find that I can't really breathe well through my mouth if my tongue is in that position. So is there some other thing that he should be training to do instead? Or is that it? Breathe through the mouth but with the tongue up, and it just won't be as good as breathing normally?

The preferable breathing technique is through one's nose. The tongue to the roof of the mouth is to promote nasal breathing.


Den

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[teleute]

Right, but the idea is to find something that will work well when he has a cold and can't breathe through his nose (he's borderline on breathing well through his nose at the best of times - not due to his mouth opening, but just due to the fact he doesn't get a lot of air through his nose). The vast majority of the time he uses nasal pillows and they work fine, but we're trying to contingency plan.

So he'd like to figure out how to use this mask if he can't breathe through his nose, like when he has a cold, without his cheeks puffing out. There are mouth-only masks, so it seems like this should be doable; I'm just confused on how.

[Wulfman...]

Right, but the idea is to find something that will work well when he has a cold and can't breathe through his nose (he's borderline on breathing well through his nose at the best of times - not due to his mouth opening, but just due to the fact he doesn't get a lot of air through his nose). The vast majority of the time he uses nasal pillows and they work fine, but we're trying to contingency plan.

So he'd like to figure out how to use this mask if he can't breathe through his nose, like when he has a cold, without his cheeks puffing out. There are mouth-only masks, so it seems like this should be doable; I'm just confused on how.

I have no idea as to why his cheeks would be puffing out.
But, with a full face mask, if the nose is plugged/stuffed up, the mouth is available to breathe through.


Den

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[chunkyfrog]

Are his cheeks puffing out with a full face mask? This is really hard to imagine
because full face masks prevent that.
As for congestion, in nearly four years of therapy, it's been nearly 3 years since I have worn my full face mask.
Every time I've gone to bed with nasal congestion, the warm humidity has cleared my nose within minutes,
and I have slept with my usual nasal or nasal pillow mask.
It is good to have a full face back up, but I don't get much mileage on mine.

[teleute]

Yeah, they are. Maybe it's just something about the fit of this particular mask, though. If he doesn't see improvement with changing a-flex, we may just return it for now, and wait and see how it goes next time he gets a cold. Fingers crossed, I guess.

[Bama Rambler]

I use a FFM because I'm a mouth breather and if I open my mouth wide with it on, my cheeks puff out a little. However If I close my mouth to where it's just open enough to breathe comfortably, they don't puff out at all.

[CapnLoki]

I use a FFM because I'm a mouth breather and if I open my mouth wide with it on, my cheeks puff out a little. However If I close my mouth to where it's just open enough to breathe comfortably, they don't puff out at all.

Yes - my first instinct when the pump starts is to take a deep breath, which seems to encourage the pump to puff me up! By consciously reducing the air volume it quickly reaches a better equilibrium.

[Pugsy]

I coming on 5 years on cpap I have had 3 or 4 colds. What I do is just treat the cold symptoms like I would otherwise and pay special attention to the nasal congestion...do whatever it takes to get the nose opened.
I crank up the humidifier too. I find that the extra moisture helps once I get past a few minutes on the machine.
Think hot shower and how it helps when we have a cold...even though the amount of moisture is no where like a hot steamy shower.
I have never had it so that I couldn't get the nose opened up enough to get some sleep. It isn't great sleep but when we have a cold it isn't great sleep anyone.
So whatever oral meds help with congestion and crank up the humidifier.
I don't own a full face mask. Tried some early on in therapy but hated them and they caused problems with my neck due to that lower strap.
I survived having a cold using a nasal pillow mask just fine. Might not have been perfect but when we are ill all bets are off anyway. Actually I think that the moisturized air actually helps my nasal congestion. I always breathe better in the morning.

[teleute]

Interesting - thanks, everyone!