My apnea is worse in my home bedroom and seems better elsewhere. What environmental factors can affect numbers of apnea events?

I have been using Autopap for 10 years. My wife and I had noticed that when I went to Lorne (Victorian Coastal town) each year my apnea seemed better we wondered if there was something in our bedroom that made it worse (eg mould spores, dust mites, or something like that). I recently had a holiday in the US, bought a new Resmed Autosense 10 whilst I was over there. Just downloaded the last 2 weeks of data and was surprised to see that AHI was 0.1 to 0.4 for a week in US and since being Back it has been around 1.1. I think my AHI has been higher in the past but have forgotten and can't find my years of usage data that I had on a computer 2 years ago. New machine is quiet and great (had a S9, but was using my older S8 whilst travelling in the US until I bought the latest one).

I do get blocked nasal passages (and use Rhinocourt which I also think is more required in Australia)

I haven't found anything online that suggests there are environmental factors for Apnea but I am beginning to think that if I am allergic to something that blocks my nasal passages that makes my apnea much worse and causes my APAP to crank up more during the night.

Has anyone heard of this or can point me to data and/or suggestions on what it could be. EG mites, dust, wool, pillow etc etc.

I haven't noticed any improvement in the bedroom despite new carpet, new bed and new pillows over the most recent years. Any thoughts or suggestions?

You pretty much have thoght your way through the issue logically so not much to add. i do know that when the wind blows from the north, my nose always gets stuffed up and when normal south wind, not so much. Something windborne I suspect. I am pretty sure there are quiet air filters that can be run in a room to remove this stuff and your analysis of potential problem issues kind of suggest trying one. Also make sure you clean the filter in your machine but i am sure you know that. Also, if your house a/c and or heater has a filter, you might want to switch to one that claims to be hypoallergenic and change or clean the filter often.

Nasal or sinus congestion can definitely exacerbate symptoms of sleep apnea. I have seen this in my own condition and in patients over the years. Many sleep labs recommend that patients actually reschedule their sleep studies if they are sick or congested. As for the allergies, inflamed sinuses can also contribute to symptoms. I had a water leak in a neighboring condo unit at one time, and got very sick with severe congestion and a sinus infection. We eventually found mold between the walls of the condos. Once that was removed, my sinus issues cleared up and my breathing improved. As a result, my sleep was much better as well. Best wishes and please keep us posted on your progress!

Thanks guys, I will do a search to see if there are any studies on this stuff. Is still very surprising and any period of time where I effectively had no sleep apnea seems extraordinary.

I suspect I still have it for life, but we are testing out whether doona contributes to the problem. The jury is out.

My apnea still appears improved in the last 2 to 3 years which coincides with renovating, repainting, air conditioner and carpet replacement. Going to get an air purifier to clean out allergens and see if that improves things even more. We decided it is worth a try.

Now that I am analyzing my results it is clear my apnea has improved from being severe to being mild and whilst in America almost disappeared. I find that astounding.

Wife is a big fan of ResMed Autoset 10. She says it is much quieter.

Hopefully, you will update us once you have an air cleaning machine in place on whether it had an effect or no. Thanks!

Hi BrighSpringbudSandpiper5105. I just thought I'd share my own experience with an air purifier. I have allergies along with my sleep apnea. I purchased 2 HEPA filter systems for my home, one of which is in the bedroom. My experience is that I have less allergy symptoms (stuffiness/congestion, etc.) which makes my CPAP easier to use. I've had them for a little over a year not, and I have noticed less dust in the room over time. Please let us know how it goes for you!

High everyone, I finally managed to acquire an air purifier machine 10 days ago after a couple of aborted attempts via ebay and have been using it ever since. Cost me just $AUD66 which is cheap and cheerful. Its ugly but effective.

For anyone who suffers from constantly blocked nasal passages I can report that so far so good. I have used my nasal mask solely since getting it.

The machine supposedly has 9 filters including HEPA and ozone etc. Whilst I am a bit of a sceptic about how wonderful the whole air filter/purifier thing is I do believe it is working better than I even hoped it would and helping my apnea. I have run it daily for a few hours at least and when I go to bed I no longer get the nasal passages blocking up as I lie down. (seems to indicate I was getting blocked nasal passages due to allergens) I have gone 3 nights in a row without using a Sinex nasal spray and the last time that happened was when I was on holidays in US in January.

My apnea continues to be extraordinarily improved this year since the trip to America and with the improvement from the air purifier I can say I am one of the lucky ones. Having had apnea at the low end of the severe scale for reasons I cannot explain I am now in the low range. I use my machine every night and whilst my results almost suggests I am "cured" and not suffering sleep apnea I know I do if I do not use the machine (as we tested it) I snort and stop breathing and snore.

My wife is still a big fan of the airsense autoset 10 to be a big improvement on the Resmed autoset 9.

Why the fan of the 10 vs the 9? I bought a 9 VPAP Auto which has Bipap mode and after using it for an hour, it howls at different pitches based on my breathing. I have learned that this is a symptom of the air blower. It will cost me about $150 to get the air blower replaced as you can't buy parts as a consumer. The blower costs about $85 and the rest labor. I have taken the thing apart and cleaned the innards and could easily replace the motor myself. The noise comes up through the air pipe and is really annoying and one of the few things that will wake me. I put the inhale and exhale pressures both at 25 and the thing howls at a single pitch. It does this with or without the water tub attached.