CPAP causing cough in the morning?M

[hailstop]

Three weeks in now, but twice in the past two weeks I've woken up with a cough that lingered well into the next day.

I'm wondering what about the CPAP machine might be causing this? I don't have a cold, since it cleared up in a day, but I do have allergies. I'm wondering if my lack of proper cleaning might be allowing some mold or mildew to form either in the tube or the chamber?

Could humidity be an issue? I've had it pretty low since almost day 1 since I did have issues with condensation in the mask waking me up. I haven't had any of that problem, but wonder if it's too dry now. I currently have it set at 1.5.

[Boston Guy]

Three weeks in now, but twice in the past two weeks I've woken up with a cough that lingered well into the next day.

I'm wondering what about the CPAP machine might be causing this? I don't have a cold, since it cleared up in a day, but I do have allergies. I'm wondering if my lack of proper cleaning might be allowing some mold or mildew to form either in the tube or the chamber?

Could humidity be an issue? I've had it pretty low since almost day 1 since I did have issues with condensation in the mask waking me up. I haven't had any of that problem, but wonder if it's too dry now. I currently have it set at 1.5.

How intense is the cough? Like a quick clearing of the throat? Or
a 5-10 second intense hack session? I get the slight cough in the morning right when I take off my mask. It's more of a adjusting to no presure on my lungs cough.

I don't think the air pressure itself would cause you to have a cough. I would definitely try cleaning the most thoroughly with soft soap (dish soap, bar of soap) and then I usually take one squirt of hand sanitizer gel and run that around every inner park of the mask (soft gel part, hard plastic inner part etc..)

For the tube, hold it in a "U" shape and get some hot water in it. Then pour a little soft soap once again in there once again. Swish it around up and down every which way. rinse thoroughly.

[Wulfman]

Are you taking blood pressure medication?
Lisinopril will do that, but it would probably be more of a regular occurrence as opposed to a periodic thing.


Den

[BlackSpinner]

Coughing in the morning happened to me BEFORE I got a cpap. I now know it was caused by GERD - acid reflux.

Try elevating your head of the bed and see if it makes a difference.

[hailstop]

I've had two issues, but not at the same time.

1. The tickle-at-the-back-of-the-throat cough.

2. A congesty almost asthma-like cough that slowly goes away during the day. That's the one I had this morning.

[hailstop]

Hmmm, this cough didn't go away and the phegm is colored greenish grey, so I probably picked up an infection from not cleaning the machine properly.

[sleepycarol]

Make sure you regularly clean your filters. I sometimes forget, and a cough reminds me.

[Wulfman]

Hmmm, this cough didn't go away and the phegm is colored greenish grey, so I probably picked up an infection from not cleaning the machine properly.

With only three weeks of therapy with your machine, I hardly think that's the case. You're breathing UN-filtered air for a higher percentage of the day than when you're breathing filtered air from your CPAP. If you work in an office or go shopping, you're touching things that others have touched and germs are far more easily transmitted in those environments. People seem to blame their CPAP therapy for EVERY little thing they come down with after they start.
Germs cannot be carried through your machine to you by water vapor. On the other hand, if you wash your hose and hang it in the bathroom to "dry".........all bets are off.

Here's a visual reference.

http://www.talkaboutsleep.com/sleep-dis ... humid9.htm


Den

[hailstop]

Well, all I know is that I've suddenly aquired a nagging cough that has lasted at least two days, twice in the past three weeks.

No runny nose, no stuffed up nose. Just a cough. And it never developed during the day, both times I went to bed fine and woke up in the morning coughing.

I wasn't cleaning my humidifier tank, mask or tube daily and I hadn't disinfected the humidifier tank at all, and I wasn't dumping the left-over water overnight.

Basically I wasn't doing anything the instructions said.

I've had asthma issues from being in Vegas (all the smoking) before, which was similar, but this is acute and the timing is suspect.

[AndrewB]

You might also want to bump up your humidity. I know that I did and I'm pretty good about keeping the machine clean. When my pressure prescription increased I had to bump it up again to get rid of the cough.

My own theory is that since the air is being forced into you that your body doesn't get an adequate chance to pre-humidify it before it ends up in your lungs.

[hailstop]

Well, I've been coughing up disgusting greenish grey phlegm now for a week so I went to the doctor.

Turns out my lungs are clear, so I'm likely actually having sinius issues causing post nasal drip which is causing the coughing.

[chunkyfrog]

If you smell chlorine when you blow your nose, there's infection present.