Creative hose management?

[Sluggish]

I move around a lot in my sleep. The other night I woke up with the hose wrapped around my neck twice. I have since been experimenting with different styles of hose management. I'm wondering if anyone else moves around a lot and how do you deal with hose problems?

I've seen the 'hose buddy' and I know one guy uses a mic stand. Others like myself, attach some sort of loop to the wall or headboard above our heads to hold the hose etc.. The problem I am running into is that once I start tossing and turning I pull a bunch of hose through the loop and it just piles up and gets in my way again. I'm wondering if anyone has ever experimented with a counterweight system to put a gentle backward tension on the hose without too much as to break the seal. Is this even possible I wonder?

[klm49]

I move around a lot in my sleep. The other night I woke up with the hose wrapped around my neck twice. I have since been experimenting with different styles of hose management. I'm wondering if anyone else moves around a lot and how do you deal with hose problems?

I've seen the 'hose buddy' and I know one guy uses a mic stand. Others like myself, attach some sort of loop to the wall or headboard above our heads to hold the hose etc.. The problem I am running into is that once I start tossing and turning I pull a bunch of hose through the loop and it just piles up and gets in my way again. I'm wondering if anyone has ever experimented with a counterweight system to put a gentle backward tension on the hose without too much as to break the seal. Is this even possible I wonder?

Could you maybe use elastic to tie it to the head board or wall and tie it to the hose so that it keeps the slack out of the hose?

[chunkyfrog]

Double the tie to make it tighter--or use a grippy silicone or rubber band.
Years of wearing a pony tail teaches one how to keep elastic around slippery stuff.
Sometimes several bands can be spaced to keep hose length under control.

[MurrayNevada]

I could not be compliant without the "Hose Buddy." Night and day difference for me. I quit CPAP therapy over 10 years ago because I was losing wrestling matches with CPAP hoses. With the Hose Buddy I do not even notice that a hose is attached to me.

[ChicagoGranny]

I move around a lot in my sleep.

Have you tried to figure out why? Did you have an in-lab PSG? Did it reveal a comorbidity? Have you talked to a general practitioner about this?

[Stom]

I'm wondering if anyone has ever experimented with a counterweight system to put a gentle backward tension on the hose without too much as to break the seal. Is this even possible I wonder?

You could use a retraction reel attached to an over head hose management system. An ID badge one could be enough to help, though maybe too light. Or you could use a long piece of elastic between the hose buddy and the mask or at the end of the short hose if it is a nasal mask. An actual counterweight has inertia and dynamic movement could cause the momentum to pull your mask off. But that is speculation on my part.

If I didn't have a mic stand with a boom arm I'd buy the hose buddy. The arm swivels so you don't need much slack. Without seeing one in person it still seems simple, sturdy and practical.

But, there are other things you could do that might not work as well, or they might.

An *articulated* swing arm style mic stand mounted to the headboard or wall. This is repositionalble, without causing you to need extra slack:

https://www.amazon.com/RODE-Swivel-Moun ... B001D7UYBO

(any number of different style thrift store lamp arms could work just as well)

Pro: Very adjustable.
Con: Could squeak. Might be hard to get the counter springs adjusted for the load of the hose and mask weight.

Or, this is my overkill version, you could wire a taut line or cable across the room, high over your pillow, with rings that attach to segments of hose, the way power cables are rigged on some over head cranes and such. That would allow you a wide range of left-right motion on the bed without needing slack. A light, long spring or elastic cord could help keep up slack between the ring that supports the end segment and the mask.

Pro: Long axis of movement.
Cons: uses up a lot of room. Might not actually work well depending on the tension of the cable and the friction of the rings. A rod, bar or pipe might work better but could make noise.

[Sheriff Buford]

If you have the funds.... get the Hose Buddy. It has the straps to prevent that. I guarantee you'll be happy.


Sheriff

[Janknitz]

I have a wall mounted lamp beside the bed--I mounted it higher than I should have so it's hard to reach it to turn on and off, but it's turned out to be a godsend for hose management.

I bought a clothesline pulley suspended from the lamp and use an elastic hair band to hold the hose. There are counterweights on the other side of the pulley. This gives me a lot of freedom to move around in bed without pulling on the lamp itself. I'm not a big tosser and turner to begin with, but I do move from my right side to my left side at least once a night.

I would buy a Hose Buddy now, but when I first started CPAP the budget was very tight. This continues to work for me. Every once in a great while I have to replace the elastic band but I got a pack with about a dozen for a few dollars.

[Gryphon]

If you want something that retracts that might keep the hose out of the way... I'd try something like this.

https://www.keybak.com/collections/retr ... key-holder

The company "KeyBak" Makes really good retractable systems for badges and keys. I still have one that was given to me when I worked in the banking sector in IT and it's still going strong 25 years later. Most of the badge holders you find sold in office stores are garbage and will break if you look at them funny let alone try and hook a CPAP hose to it. Also I'd look at using velcro to attach the hose. Also having a hose cover sometimes helps as well.

Wish you the best of luck with your wrestling match.

Rest well.

Gryphon

[Sluggish]

I move around a lot in my sleep.

Have you tried to figure out why? Did you have an in-lab PSG? Did it reveal a comorbidity? Have you talked to a general practitioner about this?

MY experience with this has me a little jaded.

My GP is great but doesn't seem to know much about Sleep Apnea. I never did an in-lab because the order had to come from my GP and as I said... he doesn't know much about sleep apnea so he ordered the at-home test. My GP seems to think the folks at "Sleep Data" (the take home test place) are the sleep doctors. After doing a bit of probing I learned that there are absolutely ZERO sleep doctors at Sleep Data and they are not much more than an equipment rental/sales outfit. They tried their hardest to sell me the old NON-AUTO resmed for nearly $1000 and gave me a generic setting of "8" because my apnea is considered mild. I regret ever paying them $300 out of pocket for a BS oximeter home test that I didn't even really need and still doubt the results of. There's usually a specialist for everything but I'll be damned if I've been able to find a legit sleep specialist in my city yet. In San Diego I am only aware of 2 centers that do overnights and the reviews are less than stellar for both of them. And of course.... not covered by insurance.

I'm not against going to an overnight in-lab test but I'm not paying good money for the dog and pony shows that I read about on sites like yelp. Loud environments and bad technicians make it impossible to get an accurate test and if you are lucky enough to get a decent test, the technicians just forward the results back to my GP. So when do I actually get to start seeing the mysterious and elusive "Sleep Doctor"??

What I know is that I move a lot in my sleep. I also sweat A LOT. I also have been known to jerk and spaz out a bit sometimes just as I am falling asleep in between sleep and wake but as I understand this is actually normal? Perhaps the movement is related to temperature and sweating and the quest for a new dry spot etc.. I have noticed that I tend to get the best results (least leaks) on my SleepyHead on the nights when I take a Flexeral and I'm thinking it must be because they knock me out so hard.

[Sluggish]

If you have the funds.... get the Hose Buddy. It has the straps to prevent that. I guarantee you'll be happy.


Sheriff

I looked long and hard at them and could not see how they would be advantageous mainly because of the design. Perhaps I am missing something but the problem I see with them was that the hose attaches in a fixed position all the way up the pole with numerous velcro straps. This would be fine as long as I stay on my back but as I fall asleep and start doing laps around my queen size bed I would not have the slack I require because it's all being held back by the velcro starps. If I were to fall asleep with a ton of slack after the last loop on the hose buddy, then I am still dealing with all the extra hose etc...

In my opinion the Hose Buddy would be better if the last strap (closest to the user) was replaced by some sort of tension device to pull the slack back as needed. Maybe I could try getting a HB and replacing the last strap with a badge holder or janitor keychain thing etc...

[Julie]

Well.... could you do some kind of hack with a retractable dog leash thingy to which the hose is attached? You want to be careful tho' not to strangle yourself with it - maybe wearing some kind of collar, etc?

[wm_hess]

I move around a lot in my sleep. The other night I woke up with the hose wrapped around my neck twice. I have since been experimenting with different styles of hose management. I'm wondering if anyone else moves around a lot and how do you deal with hose problems?

I've seen the 'hose buddy' and I know one guy uses a mic stand. Others like myself, attach some sort of loop to the wall or headboard above our heads to hold the hose etc.. The problem I am running into is that once I start tossing and turning I pull a bunch of hose through the loop and it just piles up and gets in my way again. I'm wondering if anyone has ever experimented with a counterweight system to put a gentle backward tension on the hose without too much as to break the seal. Is this even possible I wonder?

Hi

I'm not an active sleeper, but my travel kit contains a Hozer hose manager. https://thehozerinc.com/hozer-photos/ From the photos, it appears to keep pretty good tension on the hose, yet gives you the flexibility of doing laps around the bed.

-Bill

[Sluggish]

I move around a lot in my sleep. The other night I woke up with the hose wrapped around my neck twice. I have since been experimenting with different styles of hose management. I'm wondering if anyone else moves around a lot and how do you deal with hose problems?

I've seen the 'hose buddy' and I know one guy uses a mic stand. Others like myself, attach some sort of loop to the wall or headboard above our heads to hold the hose etc.. The problem I am running into is that once I start tossing and turning I pull a bunch of hose through the loop and it just piles up and gets in my way again. I'm wondering if anyone has ever experimented with a counterweight system to put a gentle backward tension on the hose without too much as to break the seal. Is this even possible I wonder?

Hi

I'm not an active sleeper, but my travel kit contains a Hozer hose manager. https://thehozerinc.com/hozer-photos/ From the photos, it appears to keep pretty good tension on the hose, yet gives you the flexibility of doing laps around the bed.

-Bill

Thank you! Thank you all in fact!

The Hozer looks interesting. It appears to be like a Hose Buddy but on a flexible rod. I like their solution to the problem as well as the portability.

[snuzyQ]

I'm voting with the Hose Buddy. Both my husband and I use this to sleep each night and we are both active sleepers. The hose turns this way and that with each of our twists and turns without either of us ever even being aware of it.

Did you know they make a Travel Buddy as well? This is super for when you're going out of town or on vacation.