Should I continue to use my C-Pap with these cold/allergy symptoms I'm having? My ears hurt, I am coughing and constantly having to blow my nose, which I have to take my mask off for the cough and the Kleenex. I asked my DME provider and he said people usually don't use it when they have those syptoms because it just makes it even harder to breathe. Tried calling my doctor, but diddn't return my cals. What do any of you do?
If you have an infection...sinus, nasal, ear....then definitely do not. If you believe it is just a general cold or allergies it's okay to attempt it and if you can tolerate it great. Also, clean everything daily if you do use it. I find when I have just a general cold I feel better with my CPAP on because it helps open everything up with the humidity and such. Also, from a clinician's point of view it is safe...as long as you don't have any actual infections that need antibiodic's to clear up.
In six years of use, I have never stopped CPAP due to a cold or other respiratory problem. I have sneezed in the mask, coughed in the mask, drooled in the mask, even had pools of blood in the mask for three nights after my nasal surgery.
To sleep without that mask puts a difficult load on my heart and brain. A load that I don't want anytime, much less when I am already weakened by an infection.
I do have an aggressive strategy for keeping my nostrils open at night when suffering from a cold. It involves using neti rinses, an oxymetazoline nasal spray (temporarily), and a cortisone nasal spray.
Permalink Reply by 99 on August 24, 2010 at 6:00pm
i purchased a mouth thing for such situations which is quite handy should we have a power cut
you should clean everything and then disinfect every then, two diffrent operations and change the back filter regularly until you get back to reasonable health