Hello, I'm new! Water, naps, etc.

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
sallyosleep
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Hello, I'm new! Water, naps, etc.

Post by sallyosleep » Sat Apr 21, 2018 9:42 am

Hi,
After many years of not sleeping well but not knowing it, two doctors said I had sleep apnea. So I finally did the study, and just finished my second night with cpap. Not bad!! Does anyone use tap water or is that really a no no? Also, so do you use it for naps? And, in the morning, I take it off around 4:30 and sleep for a couple of hours without it. Is this bad?
Glad to join a support group.
Cheers, Sally :D

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LSAT
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Re: Hello, I'm new! Water, naps, etc.

Post by LSAT » Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:42 am

Distilled water is preferred because there are no minerals and the cup will stay very clean. If you use tap or bottled water you may neeed to clean the cup often because of the mineral build up.

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jim22
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Re: Hello, I'm new! Water, naps, etc.

Post by jim22 » Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:49 am

Tap,water is ok, unless you object to any odor you might detect. If there are significant minerals dissolved in the water, you will get deposits in the tank which you can clean weekly or so by a vinegar and water soak. It may be easier to just buy distilled water to use. The tank will stay clean, and I only dump left over water at the very end of each gallon, so not much is wasted.

Ideally you should use the CPAP whenever you sleep. I would avoid sleeping in without it. You will get a better quality nap with it, but I will admit to napping without mine, but onlynsitting up on the couch. Gotta draw the line somewhere!

Jim

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Pugsy
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Re: Hello, I'm new! Water, naps, etc.

Post by Pugsy » Sat Apr 21, 2018 11:12 am

[quote]I take it off around 4:30 and sleep for a couple of hours without it. Is this bad?[/quote]

You know it's bad.

Anytime you are asleep (naps or whatever) the machine and mask need to be on. I know it's tempting to not do it but it's creating a bad habit and you know about bad habits...easy to make and hard to break.

As for the water...distilled water doesn't contain the minerals that tap water or bottled water has.
Those minerals can build up on the sides of the water chamber if you use tap water or bottled water...how much and how fast they might build up is going to depend on how hard your tap water might be. Where I live the tap water has a really high mineral content and it only takes a couple of weeks for the build up to be noticeable and while it doesn't really hurt anything it looks yucky.
It is easily removed with vinegar or lemon juice soak and rinse...so if you don't mind a little extra cleaning every so often tap water isn't that big of an issue.

Most of us use distilled because we don't want to have to clean anything more than we have to.
My water is so hard it kills coffee makers every 6 months despite regular descaling...so I keep bottled water to make coffee.
If I run out of distilled I use bottled water in the water chamber until I can get distilled.
If for some reason I am low on bottled water (I gotta have my coffee) I will use tap water and be prepared to probably descale the water chamber. It's not the end of the world if you use tap water...just be prepared to do a little extra cleaning to keep the sides and insides of the water chamber sparkly and clean looking.

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chunkyfrog
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Re: Hello, I'm new! Water, naps, etc.

Post by chunkyfrog » Sat Apr 21, 2018 11:22 am

Tap water: really check the smell before filling your tank.
I used municipal water straight from the tap at my brother's house,
and the chlorine was HORRENDOUS.
Turns out the water was being aggressively treated for high microbe levels,
and NOBODY drank the city water. I woke with a BURNING throat.

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gwc2795
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Re: Hello, I'm new! Water, naps, etc.

Post by gwc2795 » Sat Apr 21, 2018 11:36 am

Depends on where you live. Our tap water is very soft without bad odor or taste. I have used in a cpap for 7 years with no buildup. If I had mineral buildup or odor I would used distilled water.

Always use your cpap, naps without are a no no.

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chartle
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Re: Hello, I'm new! Water, naps, etc.

Post by chartle » Sat Apr 21, 2018 11:38 am

After starting treatment I stopped taking naps. At 3 ish at my desk I would startle awake and think was I just sleeping. I've taken maybe 3 over 3 months and 2 were in the car where I didn't strap up.

I keep my mask on all night and I've also not had to get up to pee. Before it was almost every night.

I miss my naps. :(

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palerider
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Re: Hello, I'm new! Water, naps, etc.

Post by palerider » Sat Apr 21, 2018 1:30 pm

sallyosleep wrote:
Sat Apr 21, 2018 9:42 am
Does anyone use tap water or is that really a no no?
Here's an interesting little fact about the whole tap water vs distilled water... and people in the states proclaiming that you HAVE to use distilled water....

In Europe, where distilled water is much harder to find, and much more expensive... the manuals say

"use water".

The only reason to use distilled is to avoid the mineral buildup.

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sallyosleep
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Re: Hello, I'm new! Water, naps, etc.

Post by sallyosleep » Sat Apr 21, 2018 1:42 pm

Thanks, all for the great tips, it is nice to sleep through most of the night, even tho my cats think an alien is in my bed!! :D

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chunkyfrog
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Re: Hello, I'm new! Water, naps, etc.

Post by chunkyfrog » Sat Apr 21, 2018 2:51 pm

Most cats get used to it fairly soon.
Just don't let them near the soft parts unsupervised.

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