Question:
I have recently been diagnosed with moderate OSA. I also have recently
been "rediagnosed" with asthma. It was a serious problem in my childhood,
but my Mom said I outgrew it and so I assumed this was the case....NOT. I
have been doing a little research and it seems that asthma and OSA can mimic
or aggrivate each other. I am taking medicine for the asthma and I also use
the CPAP to sleep. I have had it a little over a week and I haven't seen any
improvement in my sleep and I am still a zombie all day. I have noticed that
my lungs are full of goo. I am assuming that the asthma medicine is
loosening up what has been there, but I just want to be sure it's not some
weird side effect of the machine.
I am also wondering if anyone here is dealing with both and how are you
handling it? Are you doing anything differently to assure success with your
machine, and is the machine aggrivating your asthma? I'd like to know if
anyone here has run into complications from these two that I may need to be
on the lookout for. Any other help you can give me would be most
appreciated.
I have adjusted to the CPAP well. I sleep all night and don't get up or
move around all night like I used to, I just still can't wake up and I'm
washed out all day. I know the time for "success" varies from person to
person.
Answer:
. I have had severe asthma all my life and now, also severe
OSA. One can certainly complicate the other.
Asthma is an allergic reaction to something, either breathed in or
ingested that causes parts of your breathing mechanisms to restrict.
Most common is bronchial where the bronchia (tubes into the lungs)
restrict and cut off the flow of air. In severe cases, the restricion
is often more severe on exhalation than inhalation.
Interesting that you comment on the 'goo' you are releasing. This is
not asthma per se but is something built up in the lungs because of the
inability to breathe deeply enough for the lungs to fully function.
This is serious as this can harbour infections, viral, bacterial and
fungal.
What colour is the goo?
If anything but clear, you should have your doctor take a sample for
analysis and put you on anti-biotics appropriate to what they find.
Many long term asthmatics develope a habit of very shallow breathing as
a protection against asthmatic spasms. This is a problem if you are
also OSA as it can make getting used to CPAP pressure a difficult task.
What asthma meds are you on, both ingested and inhaled?
Have you tried sleeping with the upper body elevated with the head up
about 6 to 8 inches? Most asthmastics, and especially if you have
congestion in your lungs have difficulty sleeping prone so you might try
this. Also, with lung congeston, you will have difficulty taking in
enough air to keep you oxygen level up even if you are on CPAP. Couple
this with shallow breathing and it is a double whammy.
You should try to make your bedroom as dust free as possible and should
also use the extra find optional filter for your CPAP. Since getting
compliant with CPAP, my asthma and allegies are down by about two thirds
due to eliminating dust and the optional filters.
When I go outside, especially in our hot humid summers my asthma can be
really bad and the last few weeks I have had a few episodes so bad that
I've been at the ER twice and just got a new Epipen.
Do you have a heated humidifier for your CPAP. While most benefit from
one, it can be counter productive for asthmatics. I belive Beth has an
article on the web site out this.
BTW, it took me three months get fully compliant with CPAP so my real
benefits started in the fourth month. Had I known then what I know now
about OSA, it probably would have been only a month
