British Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Association

Hi

I've had OSA for 4 years and am 40.

My normal job is an ICT technician but 12 months ago my job came to an end so I decided on a radical change and began to help my partner with her Child-Minding business.

Ever since I have caught a cold every 2-3 weeks. I will be ok for 1 maybe 2 weeks and then get ill again, whereas before I would catch a cold for a week maybe once a year or even less. Previously my cold would last 3 days to a week but the ones I get now are 2 weeks minimum of hardcore cold type symptons (severe nasal congestion. chest infections ... all the fun stuff)

Now I realise this is because I'm being exposed to more germs (at least 2 kids or more we look after have a cold each week) but I just wondered if it's something made worse by the CPAP machine forcing what germs may be in the nasal area etc into my system, has anyone else had anything similar ?

Having around 15-20 colds this last 12 months is beginning to wear me out slightly lol.

Just to note I have been to see a couple of docs but, rather unsurprisingly, they just say I'm being 'unlucky'.

.... I know I'm not a doc, but I think your exposure to youngsters and all their germs would make you more prone to colds ... and if they are sneezing in your house, the air might well be fuller of their droplets from sneezing than beforehand!

Sorry to hear of your problem ... colds can be a pain when you hava a CPAP. If you have a humidifier you might need to crank it up a notch when you've got a cold or put a tissue with a bit of Olbas oil near the air intake ... or both!

Yep, kids and bugs

Thanks for the replies everyone

Yeh I definitely blame the little munchkins for the germs Just shocked at how many colds I'm managing to catch when my partner gets the standard one a year .

Even though my CPAP does work and I don't get the daytime sleepiness I do feel generally that I'm not 100% so maybe that's contributing too. My pressure has gone up quite a bit also along with my weight so that's making sleep a bit tougher too.

It's hard to do the exercise and restricted calorie diet when you're ill 3 weeks outta 4 so it's a bit of a cycle.

Thanks for getting back to us ... and I hope that you'll keep an eye on the weight and pressure ... not because I'm on at you to lose weight .... we'd ALL like to do this! .. but you might need to go back to your clinic to check if the pressure still meets your needs.

Good luck with the little ones ... presume they don't have 'holidays' like school children ... and hope you feel better soon ... OH and WELL DONE for wearing your mask!