Stopping Nasal Dryness from Sleep Apnea

When those nasal passages are all stuffed up, I used to worry about getting a good night's sleep. It took a lot of trial and error.

Photo by lunchtimemama

During my first year on a CPAP with a nasal mask, I'd have incredible problems with nasal passages getting dry. The dryness caused stuffiness and sneezing.

First I tried menthol-lyptus cough drops but it didn't stop the dryness. I didn't know what to do because the dryness was almost painful. So I saw my doctor.

The doctor recommended I use saline nasal drops. I used lots of it and that helped when done regularly, at least once a day. But I was still having occasional issues with dryness.

The doctor had me get a humidifier attachment for the CPAP. For me, the humidifier stopped 100% of the stuffiness. But changing the humidifier water daily and rinsing the water unit regularly was a chore.

A year or so later and I did another sleep study. They found I was opening my mouth too much with the nasal mask. So I switched to a full mask that covers both the nose and the mouth. Though it took a long time to get comfortable with it, the full face mask has also solved the nasal dryness problems. I stopped using the humidifier and saline altogether and it is rare that I have any dryness problems anymore.

That's my path. Any other experiences/recommendations?