Resmed Cpap Humidifier. Nasal Congestion

Hello

I struggle with nasal congestion at night when going to sleep. The congestion is fine when I am standing up, but when I lay down to sleep - one of my nostrils gets clogged up completely. It’s apparently harder for the body to get rid of mucus when lying down.

My Cpap machine comes with a humidifier which is supposed to help with nasal congestion, but I can’t seem to find the right settings to help myself. I keep my humidity level at 7 usually and the tube temperature at 85/86, I sleep in a room which is usually 68 degrees F.

I have tried several things to help, but they all fail:
- Nasal spray - it barely clears my nose and the mucus just comes back
- allergy medicine- just doesn’t work
- lining my nostrils with Vaseline- sometimes makes the mucus worse

If there are any tips on how to get my Cpap humidifier to help cure my nasal congestion I would appreciate it.

Have you tried turning the humidifier down, or even off, for a few days? If you're in an area that's already fairly humid either in general (Seattle, Fla.) or even temporarily due to passing storms, you could be congesting yourself by adding humidity when it's not needed.

Julie wrote: ↑

Tue May 12, 2020 4:07 am

Have you tried turning the humidifier down, or even off, for a few days? If you're in an area that's already fairly humid either in general (Seattle, Fla.) or even temporarily due to passing storms, you could be congesting yourself by adding humidity when it's not needed.

I live in Texas, so it’s not too humid here. I just don’t understand how the humidifier works. Can’t find an explanation of how to respond to nasal congestion. Finding where to set it seems impossible online

I hope you realize that the humidifier is not mandatory... it's for comfort, not 'therapy' and can be permanently turned off if it's not helping or causing congestion. Try lowering (7 is so high) the setting and/or turning it off for a couple of nights to give your nose time to adjust, and then decide whether you want to add a little back in - but not necessarily at 7, or not. You might be overthinking what it's about, trying to find some hidden meaning, which I doubt exists.

frustratedsleeper wrote: ↑

Tue May 12, 2020 4:25 am

I live in Texas, so it’s not too humid here. I just don’t understand how the humidifier works. Can’t find an explanation of how to respond to nasal congestion. Finding where to set it seems impossible online

There's no official guideline for settings for humidity because humidity needs vary so much between individuals.

It's all about whatever humidity your own nasal mucosa needs to be happy with. Some people need lots of added moisture and some people need minimal added moisture and some people do better with no added moisture.
Doesn't necessarily depend on where you live either because I know 2 cpap households where one user needs a lot of added moisture and the spouse needs minimally added moisture.....and they are living in the same ambient humidity. Go figure that one.

If you only get nasal congestion after starting your cpap machine...it might be related to your humidity setting. Maybe your nasal mucosa doesn't like your higher setting. Maybe it would like a bit drier air instead of moister. There's no way to know until a person tries changing the settings to see if humidity is a factor in the congestion or not. It's just a bit of trial and error where people have to try different settings to see if they can find a setting that reduces the congestion.

Also...what mask are you using? Sometimes for some people the pressure of the mask on the nasal turbinate area of the nose (where eyeglasses res) will cause nasal congestion.

Now if you normally get congested when laying down even without using cpap....obviously not humidity related but positional related and might be the normal nasal cycle congestion that people can get....google "nasal cycle" and read up on it.

When people tell me that they are experiencing nasal congestion which seems to be possibly related to the humidity setting I suggest trying a different setting. If they are using a higher setting....try a lower setting. If they are using a lower setting...try a higher setting.
There's no way to know without trying though. Nothing you can read online that would tell you what your own personal nasal mucosa might need or want.

frustratedsleeper wrote: ↑

Tue May 12, 2020 3:25 am

I have tried several things to help, but they all fail:
- Nasal spray - it barely clears my nose and the mucus just comes back
- allergy medicine- just doesn’t work
- lining my nostrils with Vaseline- sometimes makes the mucus worse

which nasal spray?