I am going to try using a Remzzz's mask liner tonight

[zoran]

When AliExpress starts donating to the costs of upkeep for this forum then I might be more inclined to promote them more.
Out of respect to cpap.com....who totally pays the bills for this forum....how about we keep the direct links to the competition to a minimum please????

Do a search on aliexpress

This is your second one today where you included direct link and not just a mention of the alternative supplier.

Any more will be considered spam and the direct link will be removed.

Anyone with half a brain can do their own searches of any website for a price comparison.

My apologies Ive been away from this site for a while and forgot about the sponsor connection

[weroberts75]

Thanks for your tips everyone...

You'll find the routine that works for you.

As for drying out the humidifier chamber, you do not need to set the humidity to 0, but I agree it is a good idea to let air blow through the machine after you empty the water each morning.

I do this and also use distilled water, and so far I haven't had a need to even rinse the chamber. I just empty it each morning, run a warmup/cooldown cycle on my AirSense 10, and
then refill with distilled water at the end of the day as I'm getting ready for bed. (I guess I do swish it a little as I empty it, so maybe the left over water rinses it a little.)

Expenses may be more wherever you are, but lets say you could get a gallon of store-brand distilled water at your big box retailer for 68 cents, you used 12 ounces of water per night, and did this for 365 days. That's $23.27 cents per year for water. To me, that seems easier than cleaning the minerals out of our humidifier chamber every three months because you use tap water.

[weroberts75]

Thanks for your tips everyone...

You'll find the routine that works for you.

As for drying out the humidifier chamber, you do not need to set the humidity to 0, but I agree it is a good idea to let air blow through the machine after you empty the water each morning.

I do this and also use distilled water, and so far I haven't had a need to even rinse the chamber. I just empty it each morning, run a warmup/cooldown cycle on my AirSense 10, and
then refill with distilled water at the end of the day as I'm getting ready for bed. (I guess I do swish it a little as I empty it, so maybe the left over water rinses it a little.)

Expenses may be more wherever you are, but lets say you could get a gallon of store-brand distilled water at your big box retailer for 68 cents, you used 12 ounces of water per night, and did this for 365 days. That's $23.27 cents per year for water. To me, that seems easier than cleaning the minerals out of our humidifier chamber every three months because you use tap water.

I just noticed that you live in New Zealand. You might not have a Walmart near you. I don't know how cheap distilled water is there.

[Rosepetal]

Thanks for your tips everyone...

You'll find the routine that works for you.

As for drying out the humidifier chamber, you do not need to set the humidity to 0, but I agree it is a good idea to let air blow through the machine after you empty the water each morning.

I do this and also use distilled water, and so far I haven't had a need to even rinse the chamber. I just empty it each morning, run a warmup/cooldown cycle on my AirSense 10, and
then refill with distilled water at the end of the day as I'm getting ready for bed. (I guess I do swish it a little as I empty it, so maybe the left over water rinses it a little.)

Expenses may be more wherever you are, but lets say you could get a gallon of store-brand distilled water at your big box retailer for 68 cents, you used 12 ounces of water per night, and did this for 365 days. That's $23.27 cents per year for water. To me, that seems easier than cleaning the minerals out of our humidifier chamber every three months because you use tap water.

I just noticed that you live in New Zealand. You might not have a Walmart near you. I don't know how cheap distilled water is there.

Thanks Weroberts75, it looks like I am finally on the right track with my maintenance routine

The cheapest distilled water that I can find here works out at NZ $6.29 for 10 litres (2.64 gallons). I will definately stick to using distilled water because we are reliant on rainwater collected from the roof into a concrete watertank for use in the house. The thought of bird poops from the roof into the water is

[Rosepetal]

After 2 weeks of using my CPAP I finally got a good nights sleep without waking with a panicky feeling throughout the night and having to pull my mask off.

At first I was using a nasal mask but I kept swallowing air so switched to a full face mask, but it was the wrong size (too small) and made me panicky. Yesterday I received the correct-sized full face mask and it was great. I practised using it during the day while I was reading/messing on the computer and was okay. No panics until I tried adjusting the head straps. Heaven only knows why I panic, I am not usually a panicky person.

I decided to leave the headstraps on the loose side and felt fine. My AHI was 3.5 a massive reduction from my sleep study of AHI 37. During my sleep study I had 406 episodes of stopping breathing. The longest pause was 57 seconds.

After years of complaining to my doctor of feeling exhausted I finally got the answer. When I used to complain of my tiredness, my doctor would say "aren't we all" or "tell me something new." The last time he took me seriously when I told him that I didn't know whether my tiredness was causing me to be depressed or depression causing me to be tired!

I am looking forward to having no tiredness during the day, no daytime naps and sleeping an 8 hour night instead of going to bed at 8.00 pm and getting up at 9.00 am still feeling sleepy

[zonker]

After 2 weeks of using my CPAP I finally got a good nights sleep without waking with a panicky feeling throughout the night and having to pull my mask off.
<snip>
I am looking forward to having no tiredness during the day, no daytime naps and sleeping an 8 hour night instead of going to bed at 8.00 pm and getting up at 9.00 am still feeling sleepy

tapdancing.gif

i'm so glad to hear this! good on you for going out of the way to find out what works for you. i think so many people get discouraged because they believe that it's just a matter of slipping on the mask and they'll suddenly be "cured".

i hope that you keep getting better and better.

good luck!!

[chunkyfrog]

. . . tiredness was causing me to be depressed or depression causing me to be tired!. . .

Funny thing how doctors can blithely brush you off---until you mention/suggest depression . . .
It is almost a magic word.
(Like bleeding, or unconsciousness make the ER move faster.)

[Rosepetal]

i hope that you keep getting better and better.

good luck!!

Thanks Zonker, I really appreciate your support, and I think I will need all the luck out there!

[Rosepetal]

Funny thing how doctors can blithely brush you off---until you mention/suggest depression . . .
It is almost a magic word.
(Like bleeding, or unconsciousness make the ER move faster.)

Lol, so very true. Maybe we should make a sticky post with all the magic words

I won't be seeing my family doctor for another couple of months. By that time my annoyance at him should have faded a bit. But I shall still tell him how it felt to be brushed off as trivial.

[palerider]

. . . tiredness was causing me to be depressed or depression causing me to be tired!. . .

Funny thing how doctors can blithely brush you off---until you mention/suggest depression . . .
It is almost a magic word.
(Like bleeding, or unconsciousness make the ER move faster.)

So true, I was in the hospital one time, and one of my visitors noticed the signs of impending reverse peristalsis, (the guy used to be a roadie for a band}, grabbed the trash can and stuck it under my chin, then ran out of the room and shouted

HE'S ASPIRATING!

Suddenly, the room was full of nurses.

Fortunately, I wasn't aspirating, just barfing, so most of the nurses lost interest rapidly.

[zonker]

i hope that you keep getting better and better.

good luck!!

Thanks Zonker, I really appreciate your support, and I think I will need all the luck out there!

hat-tip.gif

luck, sure. but hard work and knowledge pay a big dividend too!

[Rosepetal]

Still hanging in there. I am on my third mask trying to get one that fits and doesn't have excessive leaks.

I first tried the Fisher & Paykel Eson 2, medium sized, nasal mask but it caused my nostrils/sinuses to block up. I used it at first with no humidity, then tried at different humidity levels with no joy.

Then I tried the F&P Vitera medium sized full face mask, but the level of leaks was very high. I then made mask liners to see if they would help, but all it improved was the quality of the leaking sounds from farting noises to sounding like a trumpet being blown

I tried the F&P Vitera small sized full face mask last night and there was a slight improvement in the leakage rate, but it is still too high. I am going to make a mask liner for it and see if that helps. I am also trying different tightnesses of the straps. This morning I ended up with strap indentations on my face...too tight. So will try looser tonight.

My sleep consultant said that I really need a size in-between small and medium but they don't make that size, sighs.

On the positive side: I am not having panics any more when I have the mask strapped to my face. I don't feel like I have to rip the mask off to breathe. I am getting used to breathing out against the air pressure.

I learnt that: I don't like the expiratory relief function as it feels like it is forcing me to breath in and out faster than I usually do. That I need the humidity setting on 2 to stop my nose from blocking/swelling inside. That using lip balm stops my lips drying out when using the full face mask. That drinking a lot of fluid during the day, including hot drinks, helps clear my sinuses enough to used CPAP okay. And lastly that a lavender essential oil diffuser placed 10 cm away from the CPAP machine, slightly away from the filter, is relaxing/calming.

I have bought a CPAP pillow that I hope will help stop the mask leaks because I sleep on my side and when I relax, that is when the mask leaks. I am hoping the CPAP pillow arrives soon. I am having it shipped in from Australia.

Phew, just needed to vent Thanks for being there to listen.

[bwexler]

It's amazing how many clean freaks we have here.
Cleaning things daily, weekly, monthly.
I tend to change my Sleepweaver mask cushion every 4 to 6 months. I would probably wash it annually, but since I no longer using the old one I don't bother.
My heated hoses get changed every year or two, or when I change machines and they no longer connect. With stainless steel water chamber it is sometimes hard to tell which one is the new one if I change after a year or two.

[Violet West]

Rosepetal: I was very careful and diligent about cleaning all parts for the first few months. After that -- I stopped being paranoid and now--not so much. I wipe down the nasal pillows every few days; I replace the filter every month, and do a good soap-and-water (or vinegar and water) cleaning of the nasal pillow and water chamber every week (mostly). The hoses I only clean once in a while.

As far as replacement, you do NOT need to follow the manufacturers' ridiculous schedules, which only serve to make them money. The headgear and nasal pillows do need to replaced every so often because they get weak and stretched out and no longer serve their purpose; the nasal pillows more often (not sure about other kinds of masks). I can stretch the time period out if I boil the silicone parts in distilled water for a few minutes. So, for me; the headgear replacement maybe every 9 months; the pillows every 4.

After 3 years of use I decided to replace the chamber and hoses. YMMV

After you are using everything for a while and get a good routine, it becomes a matter of common sense.

[Denial Dave]

I've been at this for over 7 years now with the exact same machine. After a while, you get into a maintenance routine that works for you & you feel comfortable with.


Over that time, It's been 100% use of Distilled water, I rarely empty out my humidity tank. The tank does get disassembled and washed 2 maybe 3 times year with Dawn dish washing detergent.

I've had to replace my hose 3 times & each time it was due to a leak in the hose near the connector end. I've never ever washed one.

Hose cover of choice is from Snuggle hose. I have 3 available for rotation. One goes into the washing machine once a week along with the bed linens.

My current Quatro FFM frame is over 7 years old, but I've replaced several parts on it like the hose connector, flap pc, etc on it over those 7 years. The mask gets a complete wash (not disassembled) under hot water with Dawn detergent every 45-60 days

My current mask cushion is 18 months old and will be replaced in the next month or so. Only because it getting to look old & yellow. My cushion gets washed with Dawn detergent twice a week.

NOTE: When I started out my Bi--pap pressure was 21 / 15 and my cushion needing replacing about every 90 days. I've lost 80+ pounds and my pressure is now down to 14.5 / 10.5.

Pad A Cheek liner lasts me about a year before it gets too thin to be effective anymore. It gets washed twice a week by going into a delicate's type mesh bag & is washed along with a regular load of laundry. typically with cold or warm water.

I keep at least 1 spare of everything on hand in the event of an emergency.

Dave