Still dealing with Sinus Congestion

Hey Guys, I've been taking an antihistamine before bed and Flonase for about a month and my sinus congestion is not getting any better. Im pretty good during the day but it gets progressively worse at night and half my nose is blocked by 2AM. Im almost sure it's causing respiratory arousals because I wakeup from a dream with heavy breathing and it's somewhat hard to breathe, even with CPAP and nasal pillows. Im frustrated and contemplating just breathing out of my mouth and getting a full face mask. Some nights are worse than others though, I sleep better when i have less congestion. I use the auto mode on the airsense 11 and have not noticed any dryness or anything like that. I tried the bad kind of decongestant (that causes rebound congestion) for a night. WOW it was amazing the whole night and cleared everything up, I just did it the one night because I got rebound congestion the next day which was arguably worse only after the one use.

I just bought some resemed hypoallergenic filters to try, I'll try it tonight to see if it makes a difference. Im also waiting on a Catscan from the doctor. Other than that im out of ideas, it's not even allergy season yet where I live, and yes I have seasonal allergies.

What humidity setting are you using?

Does a hot steamy shower help relieve the congestion some or make it worse?

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 26, 2024 1:27 pm

What humidity setting are you using?

Does a hot steamy shower help relieve the congestion some or make it worse?

Im honestly not sure about the shower, I think it generally helps but hard to say as I dont usually have sinus issues until I lay down. I've tried elevating the bed 6 inches but it doesnt seem to do anything so I put I back. I sleep on my stomach, if that matters. I have the settings on auto though when I plug this into Oscar is says 16 celsius and 1 for the humidity, not sure if that is accurate or not. I want to say that I had sinus issues before I started CPAP, so it's tough to say if it makes it worse or not. Are you thinking that the humidity might too much? Should I try level 1 and 16C manual settings tonight?

A setting of 1 for humidity is about as low as you can go....so I doubt it is too much.

Humidity (either too much or too little) can make nasal congestion worse and we don't know what your nasal mucosa wants or needs. I need a humidity setting of 8 (which is the max available) or I get some rather nasty allergy like symptoms.

Since you are using a really low humidity setting....I would suggest trying an increase in humidity and see what happens.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 26, 2024 2:13 pm

A setting of 1 for humidity is about as low as you can go....so I doubt it is too much.

Humidity (either too much or too little) can make nasal congestion worse and we don't know what your nasal mucosa wants or needs. I need a humidity setting of 8 (which is the max available) or I get some rather nasty allergy like symptoms.

Since you are using a really low humidity setting....I would suggest trying an increase in humidity and see what happens.

That makes sense, I can try that but with auto humidity and temperature enabled how do I actually know what the settings are? Does Oscar report the actual settings when auto is applied?

Trivium91 wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 26, 2024 2:42 pm

Does Oscar report the actual settings when auto is applied?

No I don't think so...."auto" for climate control should give you something around 4 for humidity but it should still say "auto".
If you are seeing a "1" for humidity then it's not set to auto....it should show "manual" for "climate control".

Do you have an OSCAR report posted I could look at that shows all the settings in one of your other posts?

Do you happen to own a hygrometer?

Where you live does it rain a lot or fairly dry most of the time?

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 26, 2024 3:18 pm

Do you happen to own a hygrometer?

Where you live does it rain a lot or fairly dry most of the time?

I do, we have very dry winters and humid summers though I have a humidifier hooked up to my furnace. Right now it's 46% in the house. I just read the tube temperature on auto is 27c in the resmed manual, no idea how humidity is in the hose but it feels pretty substantial. When I first started using it I was overwhelmed by the intense heat and humidity, it was like getting of the plane in Mexico. I hated it at first but I guess I got used to it. I wonder if I should try a hose temp of 18C, typically the room is 18.5C (65F) and a humidity level of 1. Maybe it's just too much humidity for my allergies?

Hose air temp is just for comfort (how it feels in general) and condensation prevention.
Humidity setting itself isn't varied with hose air temp. If you drop the hose air temp too much you will likely get water form in the mask and/or hose.

Google "cpap rhinitis".....I seriously doubt that the humidity setting of 1 is "too much".

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 26, 2024 3:34 pm

Hose air temp is just for comfort (how it feels in general) and condensation prevention.
Humidity setting itself isn't varied with hose air temp. If you drop the hose air temp too much you will likely get water form in the mask and/or hose.

Google "cpap rhinitis".....I seriously doubt that the humidity setting of 1 is "too much".

Yes but I always use auto, I dont know what humidity setting that is. Oscar says it's 1 but I doubt that because the tank is well below the MIN line in the morning and I fit it as much as possible. Oscar also reports that the tube temp is 16C when it on AUTO, the manual says auto is 27C tube temp. I guess im wondering if too much heat & humidity is my problem and making congestion worse. Though it's only in one nostril. I have gotten rainout on auto on some really cold nights, though this is because it was -40F outside not including wind chill, and the head of bed is against an exterior wall. I guess I should try with a humidity of 1 and see if I get a sore throat?

Some nights it's like literally breathing through a straw.

So I reduced the humidity to 1 and set the hose temp to 20. While noticeably drier, it was much better for congestion. I guess the high heat and humidity is irritating my mucous membranes. I suspect I also have a deviated septum causing the extra mucous to build up. At any rate the much lower humidity setting seemed to work last night.

Continue as is and see if you create a trend or if last night's results was a one off thing

We just want you sleeping well without congestion messing things up no matter how you accomplish it.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 27, 2024 7:37 am

Continue as is and see if you create a trend or if last night's results was a one off thing

We just want you sleeping well without congestion messing things up no matter how you accomplish it.

That’s fair, I’ll stick with the lower humidity and see what happens. I tested your theory during a hot shower and it in fact does cause congestion for me, so it’s possible that too much humidity irritates my mucous membranes.

It is entirely possible that you are one of the people who find that too much humidity is as bad as too little humidity.
It is just the way you are and that's all it means. Everybody has their own personal needs and nothing wrong with it.

Look on the bright side which is you may not need to refill the water chamber as often. I get to refill it nightly.
Been doing the nightly thing for almost 15 years now.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 27, 2024 12:03 pm

It is entirely possible that you are one of the people who find that too much humidity is as bad as too little humidity.
It is just the way you are and that's all it means. Everybody has their own personal needs and nothing wrong with it.

Look on the bright side which is you may not need to refill the water chamber as often. I get to refill it nightly.
Been doing the nightly thing for almost 15 years now.

Yeah lol that’s true, crossing my fingers for tonight. I think I do have a deviated septum but the sinus congestion just make it unbearable when it otherwise is manageable.