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Permalink Reply by susan mccord on October 19, 2009 at 8:44pm

Ralph, I am absolutely CERTAIN that CPAP has contributed significantly to your improved nasal passages!!!!!

LOL!

You know darn well I have no freakin' idea what I'm talking about!!! But I'm happy for you if you're feeling better--THAT'S true!!

Susan McCord :-)

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Permalink Reply by Steven Y. Park, MD on October 19, 2009 at 9:15pm

Ralph,

I have had patients that tell me the same thing but it's uncommon. In general, like the other posters, it gets worse temporarily.What you're describing is probably explained by the fact that your chronic rhinitis (or non-allergic rhinitis) condition is improved since using CPAP. This is a neurological imbalance of the involuntary nervous system. Many sleep apnea patients by definition have this and it can present as allergies. It responds somewhat to allergy medications so you don't know what you're treating. It's been shown in a recent study that people with laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (and obstructive sleep apnea) have a relative hypoactive state of the sympathetic nervous system in the nose, with a relative hyperactive parasympathetic nasal nervous system. This is what makes the nose chronically stuffy or runny. The CPAP machine's humidification and filtration system helps too.

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Permalink Reply by susan mccord on October 19, 2009 at 9:31pm

Thanks, Dr. Park! It's great to have you on SG, per usual, always with something truly helpful to contribute.

Hey, you guys, check out his book. It's called "Sleep Interrupted"--you'll find it on our SleepGuide Book Club site, along with several other books written by member of SG and others. All have been screened and are worth a look.

Susan McCord

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Permalink Reply by Ralph C. Stewart on October 20, 2009 at 9:13am

Thank you for your concise reply. I appreciate your taking the time to provide an explanation.

Steven Y. Park, MD said:

Ralph,

I have had patients that tell me the same thing but it's uncommon. In general, like the other posters, it gets worse temporarily.What you're describing is probably explained by the fact that your chronic rhinitis (or non-allergic rhinitis) condition is improved since using CPAP. This is a neurological imbalance of the involuntary nervous system. Many sleep apnea patients by definition have this and it can present as allergies. It responds somewhat to allergy medications so you don't know what you're treating. It's been shown in a recent study that people with laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (and obstructive sleep apnea) have a relative hypoactive state of the sympathetic nervous system in the nose, with a relative hyperactive parasympathetic nasal nervous system. This is what makes the nose chronically stuffy or runny. The CPAP machine's humidification and filtration system helps too.

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