I want to flow cool air into the mask...........

Is anyone aware of after market products that I can attach to my CPAP, either in addition to the humidifier (which I never turn the heat on) or directly to the CPAP machine that will allow cool air to flow into the mask? I have difficulty with the temperature of the air in the mask, the mixture of the room temperature air and the non-evacuated exhaled carbon dioxide is too warm for my comfort and I often have a mini-panic attack that I'm suffocating and tear the mask off. I've been reassured that the mask is functioning correctly and allowing the appropriate amount of exhaled carbon dioxide to flow out properly. The only partial relief I get is to fill the humidifier resevoir with crushed ice which is OK in the beginning but partially impedes proper air flow initially and becomes less effective as the ice begins to melt. Any information or suggestion is appreciated.

tleatham wrote:Is anyone aware of after market products that I can attach to my CPAP, either in addition to the humidifier (which I never turn the heat on) or directly to the CPAP machine that will allow cool air to flow into the mask? I have difficulty with the temperature of the air in the mask, the mixture of the room temperature air and the non-evacuated exhaled carbon dioxide is too warm for my comfort and I often have a mini-panic attack that I'm suffocating and tear the mask off. I've been reassured that the mask is functioning correctly and allowing the appropriate amount of exhaled carbon dioxide to flow out properly. The only partial relief I get is to fill the humidifier resevoir with crushed ice which is OK in the beginning but partially impedes proper air flow initially and becomes less effective as the ice begins to melt. Any information or suggestion is appreciated.

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Some persons like to chill the water in the fridge then put it in the humidfier

Or maybe some crushed ice?

If you want a cooler outcome, you must cool the room air, as in A/C. I put a 10,000 BTU GE in my bedroom window, it goes down to 64 degrees, that's where it's set, if it went down to 62, i'd use that.

Cold water or ice in the HH won't last and the sweating will ruin the electronics of the HH. Jim

62F..... maybe your nickname should be POLARBEAR!!!!!!!!!

I keep my new Air Conditioner on it's lowest of 62 when I'm sleeping...

Christy

Stand alone AC units could provide cool air to the input of the cpap machine. I have seen units designed to sit on the floor in the room and put out a flow of cold air. They should be cheaper than a window unit and installation is unpacking and plugging in the unit. They were popular in France in the early 90s and I have seen them in the US at home depot?

tleatham,

What is the temperature of the air in your room?

I also like it cool at night, especially in summer. I also upt refridgerated water (but not frozen or ice) in the humidifier. That gives me an innitial burst of coolness. Then I have it set to around 3, some nighes a little less or more. It depends. We also keep our house cool at night. By the time the air gets warm, I'm ready to throw on the covers and snuggle in for the night anyway.

[quote="drummergirl410"]I also like it cool at night, especially in summer. I also upt refridgerated water (but not frozen or ice) in the humidifier. That gives me an innitial burst of coolness. Then I have it set to around 3, some nighes a little less or more. It depends. We also keep our house cool at night. By the time the air gets warm, I'm ready to throw on the covers and snuggle in for the night anyway.

Cool! Didn't realize how close some of us actually live! Yes, it has been plenty humid. We do run the AC, several in fact, during the warm parts of the year, around 68 or 70 most of the time. The air does get quite dry sometimes. I haven't really experimented with leavning off the humidifier. I've used it with the refridgerated water and no heat as a passover a couple of times. I found that it is better with a bit of heat. The insides of my nose don't get as dry. I'm anxious to see how the cooler temperatures we will get during the few winter months we have will affect my settings. We don't run very much heat unless the temp drops to around freezing or below. The temp in the house still hovers between 65 and 70. I've been thinking though that a headed hose would be nice when it really gets cold!

rooster wrote:tleatham,

What is the temperature of the air in your room?

My wife and I keep the central air set at about 72 at night. In addition we run the ceiling fan above the bed so there is plenty of cool air moving about. While I have always loved to sleep with the room extra cool (I grew up in Idaho so that wasn't normally a problem) I can't really subject my wife, nor do I want to incur the cost of keeping the A/C at a level to cool the room to the 60s.

Having the chipped ice in the humidifier resevoir works fairly well to begin with and usually helps me get to sleep. However if I wake in the middle of a night I have a hard time getting back to sleep because the air is no longer cool enough for me to be comfortable. Unless the air is cool to borderline cold my simple little mind freaks out that I'm suffocating.

I'm really glad for one of the other posts that noted the mini air coolers/conditioners. I'm certainly going to look into that as an option to blow much cooler air into the machine and see if that helps. If that doesn't seem to help then I may be forced to "invent" another solution. One idea that I've thought about is to buy one of those dorm room fridges and put my machine in there then boring a hole to run the hose through which would allow cool air to flow into, be cool during circulation within and cool during initial flow out of the machine into the hose. I'm not sure if this is feasible, workable or even a good idea but it's one that's been kicking through my head.

While it seems that there are only a few others here with like issues as I it also seems logical that modern science would have provided a workable solution for this issue unless there are other concerns. Does anyone know why it might not be good to pump air cooler than normal room temp into the mask, lungs and breathing passages at the pressure/rate administered by my cpap machine (currently at 11)?

Thanks to all who have replied to my post. I'm new to cpaptalk.com and have found the correspondence shared between others who share my "infliction" reassuring and calming. I'm very grateful.

Tom (in Memphis)

As a kid, the thrill was going to my uncles farm, we got to sleep in the attic in the winter. We thought it was neat waking up and brushing the snow off the bed covers. My aunt made her own quilts, never had to worry about getting cold. Nice Warm Morning Pot Belly stove in the livingroom and wood cook stove in the kitchen.

Better days, and better places..................... Jim

Anonymous wrote:62F..... maybe your nickname should be POLARBEAR!!!!!!!!!

It's more reasons here. I have tons of computer equipment in my master bedroom. So keeping things cold in here is a must.

The portable AC units start at $200, I would not start drilling holes in refer boxes until trying the AC units failed. Putting the cpap "air pump" in an enclosed space makes me nervous for quality of air reasons. Also the refrigerator is not designed to handle flowing air, more of a "trap some air and eventually get it cold". Good luck with the project and let us know what works.