Wake up with a "cold " every morning using CPAP

Hi @beccaboooks, Welcome to Connect. I had a similar problem when I first started using a CPAP a few years ago. I did end up getting a heated hose which helped some but eventually I stopped using the humidifier because it works better for me without it. Have you tried using the CPAP without using the humidifier?

In reply to beccabooks, I used to wake up with a stuffy head each morning, blowing my nose and sneezing. These symptoms happened only after being in bed and wore off during the day. To my surprise I learned my pillow was stuffed with feathers. I changed pillows and the symptoms went away. This may not be your problem at all but you might want to check it out.

I clean my Oasis cool pass over plastic baffled box humidifier, which I use instead of a designated humidifier with my AutoPap, a ResMed S9, with a bit of white vinegar and three drops of baby shampoo in the water. Be sure you rinse it well. Insist on a hypoallergenic filter (which you can not see through) for your machine. It will filter better and help maintain the life of your machine.

Huge question: Does your ResMed 11 stink of plastic or other toxic odor? The new ResMeds I’ve looked at and tried in my DME’s office stank. That’s why I’m still using my 8 year old one. Don’t let them tell you it’s like a new car odor and the stink will go away. It won’t! Once I had a plastic odor CPAP and it always stank the whole five years I used it.

My reasoning: a hematologist said “environmental benzene” can be a factor in causing MGUS, which I’ve been monitoring for 7 years. Want to be certain I’m not inhaling that foreign chemical so I refuse to accept any AUTOPAP (APAP) which blows chemical/plastic odorous air into my lungs.

Therefore I keep my ResMed S9 and have two refurbished ones around as back-ups in case it dies. Hope this helps you! Good luck!

I have a ResMed airsense 10
which I think is a good machine but I wonder how healthy it is to breathe through a machine that never gets opened up and cleaned. I do my part cleaning mask, tube, water tank, changing filter etc but the DME says the machines don’t need to be serviced.
I wonder about that. I also wonder what materials are inside there. Phillips got recalled but that doesn’t mean other companies aren’t guilty, just haven’t been caught.
Any thoughts on this?

Hi Kudzu,
Cute pen name!
It seems to me the problem with the Phillips PAP was that it exuded a toxic stink. When I tried the air sense 10 in my DME’s office it stank of plastic. In my experience that odor does not dissipate over time. That’s why I continue to use my wonderful and compactly designed ResMed S9 AutoSet. All I can suggest to you is to be sure you insist on hypoallergenic filters because they filter out the dust. If you can see through the filters you have been receiving, they can not do as good a job filtering to keep dust out of your machine. Hope that helps!

Good idea about the filters.
My concern is about the machines themselves, any of them.
If you’re interested, go to YouTube-Nick’s teamed CPAP reviews. On one of them he takes apart a resmed 9 or 10 (I’m not suggesting anyone attempt this) and the gunk all over the turbine blades is sickening. Just made me think.

I meant to write “resmed”, not resmed.

I hate phones that keep trying to correct me. 😡

OM gosh!!! I have the same symptoms to the letter. My 1st machine in 2012, the air was pristine. Last 3, I can't hardly tolerate the plastic smell. Sometimes my nasal passages burn like fire. The doctors & medical supply co. aren't into it. Are the options a slow death by sleep apnea or from inhaling chemical residuals?

If your mask/nasal pillows are fitting properly, I'm not sure if I understand how allergens could be an issue. What do you think?