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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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").
Unless your tap water is unusually, ridiculously pure, please at least use filtered water. Snorting bacteria directly into your sinuses can end very badly.
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!
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 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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I want to let you know you're not alone. I'm in Ohio, and everyone at my work has been feeling like this. Like there is something up your nose, or sinus issues. We've all been asking about it. I took a Sudafed and it seems to help.
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!