Written by
What can my 65 yr. old husband do? He complains that his nose is too dry, too stuffy to sleep with the CPAP -- he has the best one from 2010, soft mask, etc.
He puts it on and finds it unbearable.
He is a pretty physically active farmer and there are seasonal fumes and dusts - he uses dust masks for the very occasional dirty tasks - that probably irritate the skin more than city folks. He has sores from the mucus sometimes.
He has just started, at my encouragement, to wash is face with a hot steamy washcloth before bedtime, letting the steam soften any hard muscus on his nasal tip walls. But still won't used the CPAP any more, at least not now. Snoring and sleep apnea have slowly made him sleepier during the daytime, and he is annoyed with a middle bulge that has crept up.
His blood pressure has gone up in the past 10 years but he takes natural medicines to combat this and has had good results; even so, it's like a vicious circle, because he's often sleepy in the daytime-- nevermind the overweight around the middle that is probably worsened by sleep apnea -- but I worry, and he probably would too, if he weren't so busy. .
Every night, his apnea is in bouts maybe only a few times a night (?) - I sleep with earplugs -- and a sleep study from a couple years showed ago that he was bordering 'maybe not needing the mask, since there was only about only about (?) 9 seconds between breaths' sometimes. In other words the sleep study interpreter compared him with others with worse conditions.
We live in Denmark, a health-subsidized country, so I suspect that our health clinics are encouraged to keep costs down. Yet he was given a pretty good machine according to a few CPAP users who have seen his CPAP. We went back once but we don't know anything about adjusting anything--
I am intruigued about the reader's comment above this one: talking about something we have no understanding of. (?) changing some kind of settings??
Any suggestions for a stuffy nose? He does NOT used nasal sprays and never has. Do you think that these primitive steam treatments should be done more than once a day? Should he diet / Will losing weight help?
Featuring Content From:
By using this service, you accept our Terms of Use. Please read them. The consumer health information on is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions. You should promptly seek professional medical care if you have any concern about your health, and you should always consult your physician before starting a fitness regimen. Copyright © 2012 Remedy Health Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
I'm amazed at the number of people who are NOT helped by CPAP - there are many in this forum and on others. Many who are not helped are trying religously to use their machines. I too am in this group.
I knew within a month that I wan't being helped by CPAP. I had a data card that my homecare provider would download for me. It showed my AHI to be in the 70s. However, my sleep doctor didn't believe the results, thought my fatigue was from another cause and that the sleep study results were golden.
I had to fight like crazy to get an overnight pulse O2 test and a two week auto-pap study done. These also showed that CPAP was not effective. It took six months of bombarding the doctor, a visit from the home care company to my doctor and a visit from a representative of my CPAP manufactorer before the sleep doc relented and tried a new machine.
I finally have a new machine and my AHI averages around 6. So many others have had this problem. This is another reason people give up - CPAP may be ineffective for them at the settings from the sleep study. My original CPAP setting ws 11cm. My new BiPAP machine averages around 19cm. This is a huge difference. If I had not fought like crazy, I would never have gotten relief. Many folks don't know how to fight the system. I'd like to educate folks on what to do if CPAP does not work for them.
Cheers,
Curt
Hi Curt,
There are so many problems with using CPAP, and the study of sleep apnea is fairly new to the medical field. Twelve years ago, when my husband became ill, it was obvious that the doctors here were unfamiliar with sleep disorders. If the machine doesn't work as it should, or if the benefits are not felt, it is time to take a look at other types and methods, and it may be necessary to buck the system. Do whatever you can to get the word out to others who might be having the same difficulties you were. If you'd like to write an article on this topic, I would be pleased to publish it.
Florence