Auxiliary Power for Machine?

[WinterLily]

A couple days ago, some of the power outlets in my apartment randomly stopped working (I hope the maintenance guys can fix them and tell me why it happened later today). Thankfully the CPAP was not plugged into one of them.

If one is using a nasal mask, is there a risk of suffocating with this kind of power outage? I became paranoid after reading a post on another forum- http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread ... el-devices. One of the authors writes, "In industrial situations, this kind of thing can cause you to lose consciousness and eventually die from lack of O2. Google "confined space training". They tell horror stories about people passing out in confined spaces without ever noticing anything is wrong." However, "In a CPAP user, it's assumed that nasal mask users will reflexively open their mouth before harm is done." The topic was on FFM's and their safety, but it makes it sound like it's not 100% a person will wake up when they're breathing stale air.

I'm now considering some kind of auxiliary power / battery.. But is it necessary with a nasal mask? Has anyone with a nasal mask had the experience where their machine stopped working in the middle of the night?

Sorry if this is a silly question.. It's making me worried to use the CPAP though

[LSAT]

If the power goes off..you will breathe through your mouth. Full face masks that cover the nose and mouth have a special valve that will prevent suffocation.

[Pugsy]

Has anyone with a nasal mask had the experience where their machine stopped working in the middle of the night?

Yes...the very first night I decided to tape my mouth shut with my nasal pillow mask...we had a thunderstorm and lost power..yep, very first night. I don't know how long we were without power before I woke up but when I did wake up it wasn't from distress or anything related to breathing....it was the quiet that woke me up...and my lips were still taped shut.

Since then I have had several occasions to breathe with the mask and machine attached but no power. I really haven't felt any distress and once did it for 30 minutes (just using the vent holes for air exchange) and I gave up out of boredom and not because I felt bad.

If it worries you about power failure right now...get a power outage alarm to plug into the electric socket next to the cpap plug. That way if the power fails the alarm will wake you up for sure unless you are deaf.
Something like this is inexpensive and will get you by until you decide what you want to do in terms of secondary power.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/relian ... erout.html

For me it was never an issue. I found out that first night that I had enough air exchange to live.
Now I don't tape my mouth so it is even less of a non issue.

[archangle]

A couple days ago, some of the power outlets in my apartment randomly stopped working (I hope the maintenance guys can fix them and tell me why it happened later today). Thankfully the CPAP was not plugged into one of them.

If one is using a nasal mask, is there a risk of suffocating with this kind of power outage? I became paranoid after reading a post on another forum- http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread ... el-devices. One of the authors writes, "In industrial situations, this kind of thing can cause you to lose consciousness and eventually die from lack of O2. Google "confined space training". They tell horror stories about people passing out in confined spaces without ever noticing anything is wrong." However, "In a CPAP user, it's assumed that nasal mask users will reflexively open their mouth before harm is done." The topic was on FFM's and their safety, but it makes it sound like it's not 100% a person will wake up when they're breathing stale air.

I'm now considering some kind of auxiliary power / battery.. But is it necessary with a nasal mask? Has anyone with a nasal mask had the experience where their machine stopped working in the middle of the night?

Sorry if this is a silly question.. It's making me worried to use the CPAP though

Full face masks have an anti-asphyxia valve for this very reason. In theory, with a nasal mask, you'll open your mouth and breathe that way.

There's probably not much risk unless you do something like tape your mouth shut.

[Guest]

"In industrial situations, this kind of thing can cause you to lose consciousness and eventually die from lack of O2. Google "confined space training". They tell horror stories about people passing out in confined spaces without ever noticing anything is wrong.

Sure confined spaces can contain hazardous fumes or lack O2 but unless & until you are going into confined spaces I would not worry about.

I would/do worry about how I can power my cpap when the commercial power goes out. For that reason some people (myself included) use DC power on the cpap machine connected to a jump start battery. If you plug in while the jump starter is plugged in and charging it acts like a computer UPS without the noisey alarm to wake you up when the power goes out and the power will last longer than a UPS. I have slept right thru a couple power outages and lived to talk about it.

Like Pugsy I have also woken up within seconds after the power goes out but that was before I got the jump starter battery.

[WinterLily]

If the power goes off..you will breathe through your mouth. Full face masks that cover the nose and mouth have a special valve that will prevent suffocation.

Thank you! I figured there's an instinctive response where the body knows how to keep breathing - it helped to hear a confirmation

[WinterLily]

If it worries you about power failure right now...get a power outage alarm to plug into the electric socket next to the cpap plug. That way if the power fails the alarm will wake you up for sure unless you are deaf.
Something like this is inexpensive and will get you by until you decide what you want to do in terms of secondary power.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/relian ... erout.html

For me it was never an issue. I found out that first night that I had enough air exchange to live.
Now I don't tape my mouth so it is even less of a non issue.

Order placed! Thank you for posting a link to it. An alarm will be helpful even just to wake up and plug the CPAP into another outlet in case one breaks - it will prevent the loss of valuable therapy hours.

It's unfortunate how an outage happened on your first night with the mouth taped! Even though it doesn't sound like it posed a danger, it was probably very uncomfortable.. Do you use a chin strap now?

[WinterLily]

Full face masks have an anti-asphyxia valve for this very reason. In theory, with a nasal mask, you'll open your mouth and breathe that way.

There's probably not much risk unless you do something like tape your mouth shut.

Thank you! There is a chin strap that I got just in case, it's pretty elastic, enough to let the mouth open if necessary. Thankfully I only had a problem with air leaking through the mouth the very first time using the CPAP- it looks like my body is learning to keep the jaw closed when the machine is on (yay!)

[WinterLily]

Sure confined spaces can contain hazardous fumes or lack O2 but unless & until you are going into confined spaces I would not worry about.

I would/do worry about how I can power my cpap when the commercial power goes out. For that reason some people (myself included) use DC power on the cpap machine connected to a jump start battery. If you plug in while the jump starter is plugged in and charging it acts like a computer UPS without the noisey alarm to wake you up when the power goes out and the power will last longer than a UPS. I have slept right thru a couple power outages and lived to talk about it.

Like Pugsy I have also woken up within seconds after the power goes out but that was before I got the jump starter battery.

This will be an option to research! I wonder if they sell those types of batteries at Cpap.com?

I just hope this outage was a rare occurrence. I think my neighbors messed something up in the electrical system in our shared wall, maybe from plugging in too much stuff during one of their parties this weekend. Really looking forward to moving out of this building in a few months, hopefully to a quieter and safer community! Maybe a CPAP battery won't be needed after that

[Pugsy]

It's unfortunate how an outage happened on your first night with the mouth taped! Even though it doesn't sound like it posed a danger, it was probably very uncomfortable.. Do you use a chin strap now?

Actually I wasn't uncomfortable at all. I found I was easily and comfortably breathing just fine using on the vent holes in the nasal pillow mask for air exchange. I suppose I could see where someone might be uncomfortable if they were maybe really shallow breathers but I was fine with it. It really was the quiet that woke me up and not any breathing difficulties....in fact it took me just a few moments to realize "hey, it's quiet...how come it's quiet....okay power is out...hey I didn't die with my mouth taped "

I don't use a chin strap or tape or even worry about mouth opening anymore. Most of the time the mouth stays shut and when it doesn't I have found it doesn't cause much more than a momentary sometimes big leak. Sometimes not even a big leak. Either way I sleep through it and I have chosen not to worry about 15 minutes of maybe big leak when fixing that 15 minutes causes more sleep issues as a by product.
Taping wasn't horrible and neither was using a chin strap but it is "there" and it's something else to have to do and wear and deal with and I found that I woke up often worrying about "is the tape still stuck" or fiddling with the chin strap and it simply wasn't worth the hassle to get a maybe nice perfectly flat leak line. I do get those nice flat leak lines every now and then anyway. I just don't panic if I see a bit of a leak that I have slept through.

[sleep_quest]

I had concerns about power failures as well so I went looking for solutions for both short term and long term outages. Here is a link to that thread:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=101194&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Hope the info provided helps.
d

[wm_hess]

If you have a smartphone that you charge overnight, there are (Android) apps that can be used as a power failure alarm. I'm guessing IPhone has them but I don't know for sure.

-Bill

[archangle]

Sure confined spaces can contain hazardous fumes or lack O2 but unless & until you are going into confined spaces I would not worry about

The confined space training is relevant because it's an example of how low O2 levels can cause you to lose consciousness and die without any warning signs. That's part of the reason all full face masks have anti-asphyxia valves. The medical community seems to be happy with the assumption you'll open your mouth with a nasal mask if the blower stops.

Taping your mouth screws this idea up, though.

[Guest]

Sure confined spaces can contain hazardous fumes or lack O2 but unless & until you are going into confined spaces I would not worry about

The confined space training is relevant because it's an example of how low O2 levels can cause you to lose consciousness and die without any warning signs. That's part of the reason all full face masks have anti-asphyxia valves. The medical community seems to be happy with the assumption you'll open your mouth with a nasal mask if the blower stops.

Taping your mouth screws this idea up, though.

Here is what was said.. w/o the link

A couple days ago, some of the power outlets in my apartment randomly stopped working (I hope the maintenance guys can fix them and tell me why it happened later today). Thankfully the CPAP was not plugged into one of them.

If one is using a nasal mask, is there a risk of suffocating with this kind of power outage? I became paranoid after reading a post on another forum- <link removed> . One of the authors writes, "In industrial situations, this kind of thing can cause you to lose consciousness and eventually die from lack of O2. Google "confined space training". They tell horror stories about people passing out in confined spaces without ever noticing anything is wrong." However, "In a CPAP user, it's assumed that nasal mask users will reflexively open their mouth before harm is done." The topic was on FFM's and their safety, but it makes it sound like it's not 100% a person will wake up when they're breathing stale air.

Normally when a person is low on O2 they will present with a headache as known by people who had untreated apnea. Dropping dead w/o warning is not a symptom of untreated apnea OR a result for a power failure while sleeping with a cpap mask on.

In a nutshell, Confined spaces contain other hazards not known or associated with sleep apnea.

[palerider]

The confined space training is relevant ... The medical community seems to be happy with the assumption ...
Taping your mouth screws....

In a nutshell, Confined spaces contain other hazards not known or associated with sleep apnea.

yeah, well, we all know that arch tends to 'shoot from the hip' with a lot of his opinions presented as gospel.