Is it water, or is it .... drool ?

Hi folks

Sorry, icky subject; but I'm new to this CPAP thing and I find the whole thing icky. I guess long-haulers must find ways to control or, at least, come to terms with the ickiness (?).

Anyway... I sometimes wake up at night with a small pool of fluid at the bottom of my mask. I hope it's water vapour, but fear it could be saliva. Ewww... Anyway, when this happens, I have to drain it, because otherwise it keeps me awake -- by the time it wakes me up it's stone cold, as well as wet. I've put the humidifier well below my head, which I understand can otherwise be a problem.

So:

- Do other people have this problem?
- Can it be prevented? Am I just doing it wrong?
- If it can't be prevented, how can I dry the mask without switching everything off and removing my mask? Is this even possible?

Thanks in advance.

Best wishes
Lars.

If it is drool I would assume you would have some remnants of the drool on lips or cheeks. I know that I have those remnants from time to time. Not a lot you can do to prevent drool short of taping the lips shut.

The fact that you say it sort of accumulates and gets cold and sounds like you might be getting a cold shower from it...points to it not being drool. IMHO

If it is water or condensation in the mask...commonly called "rain out" there are several options available for help in preventing the condensation.
Check this thread posts number 2 and 3 for the various options.
viewtopic/t94035/Pugsys-Pointers-3Deali ... -road.html

My thoughts...assume it is rain out and see if you can prevent it by trying available options and it might just fix your problem.
Won't hurt to try and you might get lucky.
Easiest option...turn up the air temp in the heated hose if you have a heated hose and if you don't have one...get a heated hose.

If it does end up being drool I have heard of people putting a little something in a corner of the mask to help absorb the moisture so that it is less annoying. It's still yucky but yucky doesn't really hurt anyone as long as it doesn't disturb someone's sleep.

As far as that "put the machine lower than your head" advice....it used to work a lot better than it does now due to various things. Mainly because with today's masks and hoses and various attaching features there is usually some area where the water would have to run up hill to get to a point where gravity would let it run downhill and back into the machine.
Especially with water in the mask...think about how you lay in bed and where the opening is in the mask for the water to even run into the hose. Most of the time the water sort of pools in a low area of the mask and we don't sleep in a position that lets that low area run to the opening that goes to the hose. Like if you sleep on your back the hose likely comes out the front of the mask and the water would have to jump up to get into that hose....or else we sleep totally face down.
So take a hard look at just where the hole is for the hose...if there is any uphill anywhere that the water has to overcome...gravity can't help. Even if we sleep on our sides it doesn't always lean to a downwards trajectory for the water. Remember water can't flow uphill at all.

Hi Pugsy

Thank you for this detailed advice. I don't have a heated hose, but I would be happy to invest in one if I continue with CPAP. I guess in the meantime I could turn up the temperature on the humidifier itself -- I usually have it set to minimum. And it's bitterly cold in the bedroom at present, which I guess doesn't help.

I have the good fortune not to sleep alone, but I can see how that could easily change, if I have to drain drool out of a CPAP mask in the middle of the night regularly. Heaven knows, I'm expecting a lot of my wife as it is.

Best wishes
Lars.

lars_the_bear wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 23, 2021 11:48 am

I guess in the meantime I could turn up the temperature on the humidifier itself -- I usually have it set to minimum. And it's bitterly cold in the bedroom at present, which I guess doesn't help.

If you turn up the humidity setting that INCREASES the amount of moisture in the air going to your mask and it will greatly increase the chance of condensation in the hose or mask.
With a regular non heated hose those humidity settings are just for controlling amount of moisture the machine cranks out.

It's actually your bedroom temperature that is the big culprit when condensation is happening.
The cold ambient room temp is cooling down the air in the hose or mask and cooler air holds less moisture so condensation happens.
To prevent condensation we have to prevent the air in the mask or hose from cooling to the point of release.
Remember warm air can hold onto more water than cool air. It's just Physics in action.

Read those posts I linked to...there are other options you can try that don't really cost anything but a bit of time or an old sock.

I drool when I'm asleep, leaving stains/wet spots on the pillowcase.
Not enough to be a problem.
If I drool while I'm cooking, you bet it's going to be TASTY.
PS... I try not to drip on anything but my apron.