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[Patze]

Hi Joy,

Now mine will also get into the tube and splatter across my face if I put too much water into the tank or if the machine needs to be looked at (had the cat knock it off the stand and it had to be serviced - fine after).  Is the humidifier set a tad bit high maybe (mine is usually around 3 and occasionally 4 when it gets really dry)?  Has a service rep looked at the machine recently?  Have you called the company that supplied the machine for a possible answer?

Good luck with your machine Joy and I'll keep my fingers crossed that your machine is in fine working order soon.

Take care of yourself and keep us updated, okay?

Patze

[MiJoy]

Patze,

Thank you for your helpful reply.
My CPAP is from ResMed, but I've never had a direct contact with that company. My insurance has me go through a company called Apria. I talked with the Apria representative several times about it & had them look at it. She says that it is working fine, but it happens because we live in a humid area (southern Georgia). The only problem is that it's still not humid enough for SJS dryness.

She says putting insulation around the tube is all you can do. I can only turn it up to about 1 1/2, any higher and water condenses in the tube.
I'm not sure if that's just the way it is & I'll have to deal with it, or if I should pursue it further with Apria.

I count my blessings that I do live in a humid climate with mild winters. It's pretty cold this week, at least for us, with highs only in the 40s. I don't know how SJS folks make it where the winters are cold and long.
I'm just always looking for ways to make things better, & so many of you have a wealth of ideas of what to do!

Blessings 
Joy

[Patze]

Hi Joy,

I would see if they have a website that might have a section on known problems that can occur with the machine that you use (could your tank be leaking?).

Like I mentioned, I'll put mine up to three on some nights (depending on how my lungs feel), and I don't have a condensation problem like you're having (I have two machines and both are REMstar Plus M series).  If you can't find anything, contact the company directly - they may have a quick fix or can offer another option for you.

Good luck and I hope that you get an answer soon!

Patze

[soycoffee]

Hi, Joy
Welcome to Sjögren's World.

I wanted to answer several things about CPAP, briefly, and your question to Patze gave me a chance.

The problem of water in the hose that you mention (called "rainout") has a cause, and a couple of solutions. The cause is that the heated humidifier condenses when the room it's in cools off for the night.

A. Some things to do:
1. keep the CPAP machine + its humidifier on a table/chair/bench, etc. that is lower than the bed. If it's on a higher surface than the bed, the water can only run down into your nose! That happens to me when I visit my daughter and her family. I take the mask off, and lift mask and hose into the air, so the colder water runs back down into the machine, and gets warmed up again.
2. get a SnuggleHose* cover, so the cold air doesn't have so much of a chance at cooling the humidifier water off as it travels through the hose.
3. pull the hose under the covers with you, and keep the CPAP machine really close.
4. ? maybe? don't turn the heat down so much at night.

* SnuggleHose (tm) is a tube of strong but lightweight flannel that fits over the plastic CPAP machine's hose to the mask. That, and keeping the machine in a lower position than my head, have solved the problem for me. There's a picture at CPAP.com, but it's probably available from, and cheaper at, a mask clinic in a Sleep Center -- if there's one near you.

B. Leaking air into the eyes I don't quite have this solved yet, but I have three different solutions that could be tried by the person who asked this question (and by me). It happens more with full face and nasal masks.
1. CPAP.com shows some cushions that fit over the nose to make a tighter seal with the mask, for nasal and full-face masks.
2.There are also two different kinds of eyelid covers, that keep the air from reaching one's eyes, again for viewing these can be found on CPAP.com, because I'm lazy, and also because I'm not allowed to post exact URLs.
3. Try a "nasal pillow" type of mask, which keeps air a long way from the eyes, and also allows reading in bed.

C. Tearing the mask off in one's sleep
I do this too. Sometimes it's due to Restless Leg Syndrome, I think. Sometimes I wake up with a stuffy nose and breathing through the mask is just not happening. Sometimes I just don't know why. If you've had a sleep study that showed different kinds of interruptions to sleep, that's probably where I'd start.

As Patze has just suggested, look for the manufacturer's web site for existing answers that depend on the machine. I'd add: look for forums on CPAP. (This is not one of them, but if one has Obstructive Sleep Apnea and/or other sleep problems, it definitely impacts Sjögrens.)

Good luck with CPAP. The results are definitely worth the bother.
Best,
Soycoffee