Has this happened to anyone?

Brendar · Post by **Brendar** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 10:55 am

I have been using the cpap machine and my mask is the nasal pillows. Since I started with the machine (2 weeks) I have had a chronic case of a drippy nose and my nose is always tingling and I have to sneeze often. At first I thought I had a cold and I did get meds for a sinus infection but this seems different. I don't know what to do! I can't go around with kleenex sticking out of my nose (like I do at home). It's really bumming me out so if anyone has any tips...Thanks!

bdp522 · Post by **bdp522** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:19 am

Do you use a humidifier? What is it set on?

Brenda

Linda3032 · Post by **Linda3032** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:20 am

That's a common ailment to beginning cpap therapy. Are you using a heated humidifier? If yes, you can play with the settings on it. Some need less humidity and some need more. So based on your current settings, either go up or down.

Another option, if that doesn't work, is to switch to a nasal mask. Some people just can't tolerate nasal pillows.

tangents · Post by **tangents** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 12:21 pm

Welcome to CPAP-land, Brendar!

I had that sneezy runny thing for just a day (after night 2 of CPAP). However, I that day I started taking over the counter Loratadine (the ingredient in Claritin). I have also used the cortisone spray Nasacort for years. You might want to try the Loratadine and see if it helps, along with Brenda and Linda's advice on humidity. I turned mine up to 3.

telly · Post by **telly** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:25 pm

I put up with the nasal drip each morning too. After 3 months on the hose, it's annoying.

On the plus side, I'm sleeping soundly through the night with my Swift and Auto BiLevel.

MartiniLover · Post by **MartiniLover** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:52 pm

Try cutting out the heat.

krousseau · Post by **krousseau** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 3:29 pm

The nasal tissues don't always take kindly to having all that air rushing past. If the problem persists after you do all of the above....there is a rather annoying but relativly harmless condition called vasomotor rhinitis-could be that. Look it up online and see if you think the symptoms fit and if it is worth pursuing with a doc as the nasal spray for it requires a script.

Linda3032 · Post by **Linda3032** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 4:32 pm

krousseau, I had never heard of "vasomotor rhinitis" so I went and googled it. Boy, that sound exactly like what I have. I've joked for 40 years that I was allergic to temperature changes (not ever knowing that it was a legitimate cause). If I am outside and the evening temperatures drop down a couple of degrees, I will get a runny nose and start sneezing. And just getting out of my warm bed in the morning, activates my nose.

I'm not sure which prescription medicine you are referring to, but I had already determined that I was going to ask my doctor for Astelin. If that doesn't work, I will try Atrovent. So, I'm assuming you meant one of those.

Thanks for the info.

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 5:07 pm

Astelin is the ONLY nasal spray that has EVER worked for me!!! Good stuff!

JohnMudie · Post by **JohnMudie** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 8:23 pm

Yes it happened to me. See viewtopic.php?t=16669&highlight=

I got a prescription from my Dr. for Fluticosane, I got nasal sprays, I got Ayr Nasal Gel, I got a NeilMed Sinus Rinse and I still sniffled.

I bailed out of a shift I was working on because I was sniffling so hard that I thought I was infecting everyone with a bad disease.

But the best thing I got was advice from some one here to get a humidifier.

I got one, all sniffles gone!!

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John M

Inpjs · Post by **Inpjs** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 1:58 am

I am not sure which one i would rather have, the dripping or the dryness. Right now mine is the dryness, basically my lips and mouht. I am tired of it!

Inpjs · Post by **Inpjs** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 2:01 am

One more thing. I have alwasy had problems with dripping once I lied down for the night and worse in the morning. My doctor recommended Fluctunose once in each nostril every night before bed and I don't have the problem anymore. This was before my CPAP therapy started too. If I skip more than a night using it, I suffer.

DalmatianLover · Post by **DalmatianLover** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:22 am

You people are all wonderful. I am on my second night of CPAP therapy and I am miserable. I sneezed for 3 solid minutes last night when I took off my interface. Thanks to your words of wisdom and experience, I will try the nose piece instead of the pillows and I will use the humidifier. I fugured since I am in So. Fla. I wouldn't need extra humidity.

Machine	Mask	Humidifier

Additional Comments: Getting tired of feeling exhausted so often during the day and having to nap

Mask

Additional Comments: Always treasure the satisfaction of making music out of a hunk of metal, your lips, and some air

Has this happened to anyone?

Has this happened to anyone?

Sniffling happens to most of us, Welcome