Who else wakes up and has to blow their nose or clear their airways every morning and why?
I’m guessing it’s from dry air god me but even with humidifier I always have to blow my nose a bunch of times in the morning. Sometimes my lungs feel tight for a while after waking up. This happen to anybody else? Why does it happen for you?
Maybe someone is sneaking into your room while you're sleeping and stuffing dryer lint up your nose ¯_(ツ)_/¯
I’d believe it. I’ll set up some cameras. Thanks!
So, I actually had this because of my humidifier. I was using an ultrasonic humidifier with tap water - I know distilled is recommended, but with how dry it is here, that would mean an insane amount of bottled water. But I noticed a film of white dust appearing around the room from the dispersed salts and whatnot. Turning off the humidifier (and later replacing it with an evaporative style) cleared up my daily stuffiness instantly.
The problem for me using my evaporative dehumidifier is cleaning off the minerals every week.
Yeah agreed. But I guess I’d rather do that than clean it off my walls (and lungs apparently?). Definitely recommend getting a bigger one than you need, though, so you can run the fan lower and the media takes a little longer to get crusty.
Thanks! I use distilled water, but maybe I’ll try evaporative style.
I have nasal congestion due to allergies every morning so here’s some advice that might help you.
You can try a Neti pot morning and night. The NeilMed ones at Costco pharmacies are good.
Use distilled water or boil your own for 1-3 minutes depending on the elevation in the area.
Once the packets run out you can measure 1/8 tsp baking soda, 1/8 to 1/4 tsp non-iodized salt (e.g. sea salt).
For prescriptions, Omnaris might work for you too. Gets things moving and doesn’t have the congestive rebound effect that over-the-counter nasal decongestants do.
All the other advice about controlling allergens is on point too. You can try an anti-histamine (e.g. Aerius) for a week to see if your congestion goes away but allergy meds dry you out a bit by design and gum you up so maybe this won’t have the effect you’re seeking.
You can get a sleep study for apnea but I’d say only if you’ve had actual fatigue related symptoms, not just what you’ve described here.
You could get a breath test for your lungs. Maybe there’s mold at your place. That tightness should be enough reason to get checked out, tbh.
Best of luck!
Really appreciate Kate all the advice! I’ll try/look into these. The tightness is more like my lungs are really tired and I have to wake them up so they feel heavy.
Sounds like asthma or walking pneumonia even, but I’m no doctor. I recommend getting checked out.
damn walking pneumonia. i don't think it's that bad, but i'll tell my doctor next time i see them. i do have an inhaler but don't really have asthma.
I just use body temperature tap water with some salt (mine comes with a measuring cup, you don't want to mess that up too much) and it's working wonders when my nose is stuck (allergy, congestion from crap in the wind, "runny nose").
Cheers
Yes exactly, a game changer for me as well.
I used to use tap water too. I have to highlight why distilled or boiled water is important though. Tap water isn’t sterile and there have been cases of microbes creating infections when used with Neti pots.
Naegleria fowleri is a brain-eating amoeba that has been linked to tap water usage in Neti pots, among other scenarios.
These cases are rare, to be fair, but still worth avoiding with distilled or boiled water. There could be other less fatal microbes junking things up, after all.
I gotta clarify, boiled but then cooled water for use in your Neti pots!
I live in France where we don't have brain eating amoebae in the tap water.
You doesn't inject the water, you just clean out shit that is overwhelming the system, safety wise it's like gargling water if you don't over do it.
I mean if you do live where there are brain eating things in the drinking water, yeah do buy sterile water and proceed accordingly for sure.
Fascinating. I had assumed it was everywhere but I looked it up and it does seem pretty rare globally. It has caused illness in countries nearby you though so be careful traveling :)
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/73/1/e19/5830738
Unless your tap water is unusually, ridiculously pure, please at least use filtered water. Snorting bacteria directly into your sinuses can end very badly.
Tape your mouth when you sleep, when your body thinks it's about to suffocate your nostrils will open right up.
Make sure your tongue is pressed up on roof of mouth right behind your top front teeth when you are awake, keeps you breathing through nose and not mouth.
Go to the gym and hit the treadmill, run as long as you can only breathing through your nose, go back everyday and increase the time by 5-15 seconds.
...
This combo solved it for me and got rid of snoring.
When I started on treadmill I could only do about a minute of running without mouth breathing, now I can go as long as my legs will last. Don't expect to be able to make it through whole night with your mouth taped, and tape verticle not horizontal, with small easy to remove tape... don't kill yourself.
woah that sounds extreme haha. i do that sometimes when i can't breathe without tape, i just force breathing through my nose and it opens up but not permanently. i'll try doing some cardio training. thanks!
I've found cleaning my nose before bed has helped - remove the day's snot and boogers rather than sleep with it!
Haha that makes sense. I don’t usually have anything in there to clean at the end of the day. Maybe I can do a nasal rinse though and see if that helps.
I've had the same thing for years. You should get checked for sleep apnea... I have it but unfortunately the CPAP machines don't let me sleep. I cannot get used to it.
But I sneeze at least 50 times and blow my nose as much for one or two hours after waking up.
The rest of the day my sinuses are clear. I've asked Doctors and haven't gotten any real solutions.
Damn. That would suck. I hope that’s not the case. I’ll ask my doctor about it. Would I be snoring a lot if I had it?
Yes, snoring and waking up from a dream where you were suffocating or couldn't breathe for one reason or another. My girlfriend sometimes wakes me up because she thinks I'm choking. It's also worse if you happened to drink that night.
Damn that sucks. Sorry! I don’t have any snoring or breathing issues like that tho
Have you looked into a dust mite allergy at all?
Do you have a mattress cover that you wash and replace your pillows often?
I have mild sleep apnea and a night device that improves my airways has eliminated my sinus congestion in the mornings. Talk to a dentist that specializes in sleep apnea.
Dentist!?!
Yeah, it is a mouth peice the pulls your lower jaw forward, opening your airway. I am trying one now. Only been two weeks though, so too early to know if it will work for me.
huh, TIL
Do you snore a lot? I don’t. I’ll look into sleep apnea. I never considered it.
On the same level, has anyone tried the Bongo Rx device? I was looking into it as a CPAP alternative
The classic advice is to go see a doctor and with what you’ve described I’d recommend it.
To answer your question, yes I do. However, I have an autoimmune disorder that makes me have a constant runny nose unless I’m on some meds.
I have and nothing serious. It’s only in the morning. I have allergies but infrequently. Wondering if living in a different environment would make sense.
Okay cool, then yeah maybe the dry air. Dry, stale, dusty air fucks with my sinuses too, but idk if that’s my autoimmune or a normal thing people get. So I usually keep my house filter clean and run a fan and that seems to help me
Yeah I gotta use the air purifier in conjunction with the humidifier and see if that helps. Thanks. What’s the autoimmune you have, if you don’t mind my asking, so I can do a little research about it.
My parents do but I do not. I'm guessing we all have sleep apnea though. Definitely allergies. But, I do have a small air purifier in my room
I think it's this one:
https://a.co/d/2MkuTDW
cool. i'll try using the air purifier again. mine is pretty loud though. is that one pretty quiet?
It is unless you use the high setting, then it's pretty loud. But I keep it on medium or even low
In addition to other suggestions here (all good ones so far), maybe an allergy? Could be something about your pillow
Yeah I definitely have allergies. I have a foam pillow and cotton case. Maybe I need to do some deep cleaning in the room or start using an air filter.
Check out bamboo pillows and pillow cases, they have natural hypoallergenic properties and it might suit you better. Or you could just get a bamboo pillow protector + pillow case, in case you don't want to change your whole pillow out.
Thanks. I’ll look into it.
Do you take an antihistamine? I live on Zyrtec and would be miserable if I didn’t take it daily
I do a spray sometimes but I don’t wanna take meds every day.
Why? Meds are great
I’d prefer to fix the problem instead of blocking my body’s response to the stimuli.
If your body produces too much histamine in response to cotton or something else super common like dust mites, you aren’t going to remove all of that stuff from your environment
maybe i gotta to back to my allergist for something more permanent.
There’s no permanent solution? If you mean the shots, you still need to get those regularly…. And that’s just medication anyway lol
But after time your allergies go away. Pills you take indefinitely.
No? They don’t go away. The shots are literally just injected meds
They’re not. Do a quick google search.
In addition to those, consider getting a hypoallergenic mattress cover and hypoallergenic pillow covers. And wash your bed linens more frequently.
i'll look into the hypoallergenic stuff. thanks!
Yeah. My nose ends up pretty clogged in the mornings. Blowing my nose before going to bed doesnt do much.
Also I use a hypallergenic pillow case and an air purifier, and that hasnt done much either.
Hah! Well shit. Have you tried a humidifier?
I feel like this is something you should speak to a doctor about, like it could just be a quirk or it could be that fluid is accumulating in your respiratory system when you lay down which could be dangerous.
What’s that condition called? It doesn’t feel deep in my lungs. It just feels stuffy in my sinuses.
It's not one condition, basically when your respiritory system is irritated it produces mucus, that's why you get a runny nose when you have a cold for example, but anything going weird there can cause this reaction, infections, tumours, anything. When there's an overproduction of mucus you might not notice when awake and upright as it drains away but when asleep laying down it can build up in certain areas. Your description of having to clear your nose and tightness on the lungs sounds like this could be whats happening and I feel like someone with a medical degree should have a look just to be sure it's nothing sinister.
for sure. i'll see what my doctor thinks
Sounds like allergies/asthma. I would go see an allergy clinic and get tested. If you find you have allergies you could consider getting allergy shots.
I definitely have allergies. I gotta see what options they have besides taking pills or spray
If you have allergies and don't want pills or spray then I think you should definitely try the nasal rinse others have suggested. It literally washes the allergens out of you sinuses. I recommend a neti sprayer as I get better flushing than the pot. The one I used is similar to the one made by "tone life" if you want to search it.
yeah i have a nasal spray bottle that i've used in the past. i'll try that again and see if it helps if i do it before sleep.
I recommend doing it about 30 minutes before sleep. My sinus will continue draining for a while after doing it which is harder for it to do if I'm lying down. Good luck.
I’ve been living with this for 20 years and only now seriously seeing an ENT to figure it out. One thing doc has me doing is a twice a day sinus rinse with a NeilMed sinus bottle. It has def improved things a lot.
I say see an ENT and they will probably take a swab to check for an infection. I had one and pill antibiotics didn’t help so he has me doing this rinse with an added antibiotic powder.
i have that bottle. i'll try doing it as you have been and see how it helps. thanks!
I have this. For some reason, I find a scented candle helps - I sleep with one lit.
Just for safety's sake, I would advise more for a diffuser with or without a light for aromatherapy. Lit candles unattended are notorious for fire-related accidents, and diffusers can act as a mini humidifier for some. But that's just imo.
Interesting. I wonder why that works. I’ll look into it. Thanks
Running the ac while sleeping does this to me.
Yeah. It gets worse with AC, but even without it I have to sneeze and blow my nose every morning. Takes at least 30 min to clear my sinuses up. I use a humidifier but minimally helpful.
reminder to clean AC air filters
(i need to clean mine...)
Well, I want to breathe easily, I guess.
You tried drinking a lot of water before sleeping? Humidity alone doesn't help.
i'll try that. watch, i pee the bed and have a whole different problem haha.
Could be a dust allergy (or rather the poo of dust mite), you could try changing your sheets more often, and vacuuming more, and especially vacuuming the headboard of your bed, even more imporantly if it's fabric. I have found my throat closes up if I haven't vacuumed the headboard in a long time. Once I do, my throat goes right back to normal :) Hope this helps!
Oh damn. Haven’t thought about the headboard. I’ll try that. Thanks