Question about CPAP

[SallyBear]

A bit of advice. DD (14) is on humidified CPAP at night, and she has had a very bad cold which I think has now spread to her sinuses. She's been blocked up for over 14 days and its now really affecting her sleep. The CPAP doesn't seem to push past the congestion which I would have expected. I am taking her to the GP today to see if we can get antibiotics.

My question is this; could we put one drop of olbas oil or Karvol in the water bath of her machine? Will it work or will it wreck her machine (smell wont go away etc.), or even it may be detrimental to her? Any advice out there please?? Quite desperate!

DH was advised to put a drop of olbas oil in his CPAP last time he had a review as he had a bit of a cold. It doesn't seem to have made much difference to be honest but then he gets manflu , but keeps him happy, and i've got used to the smell. Hasn't damaged the machine at all.

Brilliant. Thank you. It's a nightmare at the moment. She has very severe OSA so we are very worried about her. Thank you again.

DD has been struggling with a heavy cold and it went on to develop into a full blown sinus infection. It is probably worth having a GP look at your daughter. I hope she feels better soon.

GP appointment this morning. Sigh. Wish the poor kid would get a break.

My DH is on CPAP (actually its vpap/apap as it senses the level of pressure needed and adjusts it), and always adds olbas oil.

He has found that he seems more prone to chest and sinus infections since being on cpap, and theorises that it can push the mucus in during the night. The last year, he's taken Sudafed (pseudoephidrine) as soon as he feels snotty/coughing to dry up the secretions a bit and it seems to help

Advice from GOSH was to use saline nasal drops, don't put Olbas oil in the machine as ResMed won't support it, and to crank up the humidification. So it's now set to 4.5 instead 3.5. Apparently this increases condensation so she should wear some Vaseline under her nose to stop her skin from chapping. She's now on antibiotics for a bad sinus infection.
Thanks for the advice everyone.

Does she have a hose cosy? DH finds that really reduces condensation

A hose cosy? Ooh what's one of those? She's been on CPAP for about two years

hose cosy - you could make one fairly easily tbh. It also stops the hose making an annoying noise on the side of the bed as you turn over.

Sinus rinse is excellent. I use neilmed sinus rinse with my patients but a neti pot also works well. Is basically saline that you run up one nostril and with chin tucked down and head tipped slightly to the side it runs out the other nostril.

If you go for neilmed just squeeze the bottle really slowly. I'd use immediately before cpap and possibly in the morning too. You can get the bottle and sachets from boots or most pharmacies.

Brilliant. Thank you both! I will look at neilmed and I can definitely make a Cosy.

Hi Sally. Glad you got an answer. On another note, do you mind me asking if your DD has tongue tie? I had my eight month old assessed yesterday- they advised me to get it cut as it may lead to sinus / congestion / cpap need in future.

Yes she had a tongue tie, but her issues are due to having a craniofacial condition with a small jaw and a cleft palate (which is repaired). She's now 14 and has had many surgeries.

Thanks for that Sally. Hope it was alright to ask.