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BiPAP Problems
So, over the last couple months, I’ve been having more trouble with my BiPAP. I wake up in the middle of the night with a stuffy nose, unable to get enough air from my BiPAP. I have to breathe through my mouth to get enough air (and having to change my breathing wakes me up even more) – this increases the pressure from the bipap, which eventually clears out enough space in my nose, so that I can return to breathing through my nose and fall back asleep. This whole process repeats 5-10 times a night (though it doesn’t happen every single night). It has been really disrupting my sleep and increasing my daytime fatigue. But it’s weird because I have no problems at all during the day. Has this ever happened to any of you, and if so, how did you handle it?
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9 Replies
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Do you have a Pulmonologist? Sounds like maybe some BiPAP settings need tweaking. Many thing could be causing your stuffiness. From lack of humidity to swallowing troubles or even allergies. I know I drool at night and if I don’t sleep on an incline it causes me to get stuffy.
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Good suggestions – I was wondering about humidity. I’ll check in with my pulmonologist, I just wanted to see if anyone here had any good tips.
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My first thought was also humidity.
Are you using a heated humidifier?
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Not right now, I’m looking into getting a humidifier.
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A humidifier makes a world of a difference for me! But I agree with DeAnn. You should consult a pulmonologist too. Have you tried changing the mask?
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I was emailing with my pulmonologist today, and he suggested a nasal steroid spray… I’ll probably try a humidifier first.
Do you mean changing to a different kind of mask? My current setup is kind of set in stone to keep my neck comfortable. But I do change the nasal pillows every two weeks, as frequently as my insurance will let me.
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Thanks to everyone who suggested a humidifier! I recently realized I can change the humidity setting on my bipap itself, and that seems to have fixed it.
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Yay!
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That’s awesome!! I don’t think I knew that either. I have a separate humidifier that’s attached to my BiPAP.
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