Rolling blackouts and CPAP use

[Long day's journey]

Well this is an interesting time in Texas as many of us been experiencing rolling blackouts of unpredictable durations. They've ranged to 2-3 hours on/off to less than one hour. We have to scurry around and do anything we need to when the electricity is on.

I haven't been using my cpap all night--just the first part, until the first blackout arrives in the middle of the night (I'm somehow awake right before it happens). I'm a little worried about feeling suffocated if the electricity goes out--I tape my mouth at night. In normal times I would cover up the slit in the middle of the tape, as I'll inevitably try to breathe through that. But this is far from normal (we don't have water either), so maybe it's better to leave the slit that if I want to use it more than a few hours a night.

Anyway, the outages also make the cpap use problematic.

[Pugsy]

Depending on the mask's ventilation system you may find that even if the power goes out you can move enough air to be comfortable and not feel like you are suffocating.
I once woke up to no power and when comparing the time I woke up to the reports for when I lost power it looked like I actually slept for about 30 minutes using the mask but without power.
When I woke up I still wasn't in distress though....just woke up due to the quiet I think.
This was with the P10 nasal pillow mask which has really restrictive vent holes.

So I think the chance of suffocation that is real and not just uncomfortable....very slim especially if someone uses a full face mask with that little valve that opens up when the power is off.

Put your mask on and don't let the machine come on and just keep your lips closed...you can move some air and depending on the mask ventilation system it might be uncomfortable or it might not be but you will still be able to move some air. I have done this test...I could move enough air to not feel horribly suffocated. Now it took some work which wasn't fun but I didn't run into trouble.
I did this for 45 minutes while watching TV one day just to see what would happened. Aborted experiment after 45 minutes due to boredom and need to get up to go to bathroom.

Now for the situation we are in right now which is unique with the rolling power outages....I don't think I would worry so much about mouth breathing and taping my mouth right now. I think that the additional stress of even remotely worrying about suffocation is simply not a road I would want to go down right now. While I don't think there is a real danger....the fact that people think about it and worry about it is important though.

[chunkyfrog]

I am not so concerned with the rolling blackouts for myself.
Our local utility is doing 30 minutes to an hour at a time, (I can read by LED)
but farmers with calving, lambing and farrowing could lose a lot of babies.
We need these guys to do well so we can eat . . .

[Dog Slobber]

Pick up a powerbox and a 12v DC power cable for your CPAP.

Keep the powerbox plugged into the wall outlet and the CPAP plugged into the powerbox. Then when your power is cutoff, no problem.

• if you're a do-it-yourselfer, you can put together your own system with 12v scooter batteries a lot easier.
• you *might* get away with using the AC plug from your CPAP and the inverter on the powerbox, but they are terribly inefficient
• don't consider a UPS:
  • expensive
  • don't do 12v
  • poor capacity
  • most beep when not on AC
• be careful of the inexpensive lithium powerboxes, most have very poor capacity
• be aware CPAP humidifiers and heated hoses are huge power draws
• one of the capacity specs for batteries are Amp Hours (AH). This measure amp hours of usage at 12 volt. The rule of thumb I use for my AirSense 10 is one amp per hour, when on DC Cable, no humidifier, no heated hose. (Very rough estimate, YMMV)
• many powerboxes public specs of mAH, (milli-Amp Hours). You CAN'T divide mAH by 1000 to convert to AH. mAH is typically rated for the USB-3.6 v and marketing.

[Miss Emerita]

I also tape, and we are having more and more blackouts here in California.

I've put a circuit alarm in a plug that's on the same circuit as my machine. It works, it's around 12-15 bucks, and the sound is about the same as an alarm clock:

Reliance Controls
Powerout Failure Alarm
MODEL #: THP207M

[Long day's journey]

Put your mask on and don't let the machine come on and just keep your lips closed...you can move some air and depending on the mask ventilation system it might be uncomfortable or it might not be but you will still be able to move some air. I have done this test...I could move enough air to not feel horribly suffocated. Now it took some work which wasn't fun but I didn't run into trouble.
I did this for 45 minutes while watching TV one day just to see what would happened. Aborted experiment after 45 minutes due to boredom and need to get up to go to bathroom.

Thank you so much Pugsy, this is very reassuring! I never thought to test it out, but since I unplugged the machine (didn't think the on again off again power was doing it many favors), I'll do so tonight.

Luckily, my workplace is shut down for the next week, so it's not that stressful here...kind of like camping out in a cold house without running water.

[Pugsy]

I did that experiment some years ago when I first started cpap and it looked like I was going to need to tape my mouth shut and I was a bit nervous about doing that ....if the power went out.
Wouldn't you know that the very first night I taped my mouth shut we had a thunderstorm and the power went out. I did wake up but more from the quiet than anything else.
I also experimented with just how much force would be needed to dislodge the tape if I just had to breathe through my mouth and I found out that not much force at all would break the seal.

It was reassuring to know that I could easily break the seal and/or move enough air that I wouldn't suffocate myself.

[Long day's journey]

but farmers with calving, lambing and farrowing could lose a lot of babies.
We need these guys to do well so we can eat . . .

I probably should resist commenting here as most people won't want to hear it. But since this appeared on my thread...

I have news to share: you can eat fine without raising animals for slaughter! My husband have been vegan for almost a decade and are healthier for it. My doctor declared my bloodwork perfect last year (I'm over 50).

[Long day's journey]

I've put a circuit alarm in a plug that's on the same circuit as my machine. It works, it's around 12-15 bucks, and the sound is about the same as an alarm clock:

Thanks so much, I'll look into these! Of course I haven't experienced rolling blackouts before, so hopefully it was just a perfect storm that caused all this and it will be awhile before we see its like again. Not surprisingly there's a lot of unhappy people in this state looking for answers and reassurances that it won't happen again.

[Long day's journey]

Pick up a powerbox and a 12v DC power cable for your CPAP.

Thanks for the suggestion!

if you're a do-it-yourselfer, you can put together your own system with 12v scooter batteries a lot easier.

My father taught himself to repair appliances and did it for a living. I'm afraid I didn't inherit that particular aptitude or interest though--this is way beyond my capabilities. Hopefully someone else will find it helpful, thank you!

[chunkyfrog]

We have Adventist friends who eat vegan/vegetarian.
I respect their choices, but they benefit from decades of church sponsored
nutritional research to minimize the hazards of that diet.
Please respect the choices of those of us who consume beasts and their milk,
and have no guilt about it.

[Long day's journey]

We have Adventist friends who eat vegan/vegetarian.
I respect their choices, but they benefit from decades of nutritional research
to minimize the hazards of that diet.
Please respect the choices of those of us who consume beasts and their milk,
and consider it both nutritious and palatable.

I will always respect the wide-scale suffering of animals over taste buds and questionable nutrition. They are feeling beings, not "meat" or "beasts" and are subject to the same suffering and joys of other living creatures. Once one opens their eyes, the cruelty is staggering and I will always acknowledge that rather than to accede to calls to remain silent.

[jimbud]

Do you cook and mash potatoes then eat them? The plants are alive until someone tears the roots off and cast the still living plant aside.
They even have eyes.

[chunkyfrog]

Ever hear the song "Carrot Juice is Murder"?

[Long day's journey]

Do you cook and mash potatoes then eat them? The plants are alive until someone tears the roots off and cast the still living plant aside.
They even have eyes.

Heh, good try, but no nervous system.

It's a box on the right-hand side of this bingo card: https://vegansaurus.com/post/254784826/ ... vore-bingo.