Are many of you needlessly using a humidifier ?

[Physician]

I have never needed nor used a humidifier with either the RemStar nor the S9 Autoset. It seems some members use the humidifier because it was included with the machine. It adds time regarding cleaning and the possibility of the reservoir being a culture medium.

Which symptoms did you have which prompted your using humidification and did the unit relieve your symptoms ? Have you tried going without it once you started and did those symptoms/signs return ?

[Jason S.]

I have never needed nor used a humidifier with either the RemStar nor the S9 Autoset. It seems some members use the humidifier because it was included with the machine. It adds time and concern.

Which symptoms did you have which prompted your using humidification and did the unit relieve your symptoms ? Have you tried going without it once you started and did those symptoms/signs return ?

If I don't use a humidifier, I wake with an extremely dry throat. And I don't consider 15 seconds to fill a tank with distilled water time and concern.

[LSAT]

Whether to use a humidifier or not certainly depends on location, time of year and/or health situation. I don't think many people "needlessly" use their humidifiers. In summer when the air is humid I don't use a humidifier. In fall and winter when the heat is on in the house and the air is dry...I need it. When I have a cough or a cold...humid air helps.

Physician...If I was on the west coast like you...with humidity from the ocean, I don't think I would use my humidifier as often.

[howkim]

If I don't use a humidifier, I wake with an extremely dry throat. And I don't consider 15 seconds to fill a tank with distilled water time and concern.

I'm with you, Jason.

[Slartybartfast]

I live within sight, sound and smell of the beach. When it's stormy, the sound of the waves booming on the beach and the sea lions barking on the rocks sometimes keep me awake.

Still, I use my humidifier every night. When I run out of water I can tell something is wrong. Sinuses and throat become dry and I don't sleep as well. I'm most comfortable with my humidifier set just high enough to avoid rainout.

To answer the second part of your post, the HH was prescribed by the sleep center as, I think they call it, a comfort aid, not to treat any specific condition. I've used my S9 Autoset with and without water in the humidifier and am definitely more comfortable with humidification. I shudder to think of what getting my air through a tube would be like when the next Santa Ana wind blows our way, with humidity in the single digits, and, soon after, fires burning the hillsides around me.

[roster]

Are many of you needlessly using a humidifier ?

I live in a humid part of the country and know from experience that most patients start the therapy with the same idea I did, "Moisture is good for the airway, fill that baby up and crank the setting way up." Sleep labs and DMEs reinforce this idea.

The room humidity in my bedroom is around 50% most of the year. This is a healthy range for breathing. No supplemental humidity is needed and in fact it may be detrimental.

During the coldest part of the winter when the central heat runs often for three or four days in a row, my bedroom humidity will drop down to 30 - 35% and I will add some water to the tank and turn the setting to one or two. I don't think I used the humidifier more than ten days all of last year.

Here is a chart showing that healthy room humidity ranges from 40% to 60%.



If you search the internet you can find studies that show patients do well with CPAP humidity in that same range of 40 - 60%.

But CPAP is a suit yourself process. If you think that cranking up the humidifier helps you, then by all means crank it up.

[Wulfman]

I have never needed nor used a humidifier with either the RemStar nor the S9 Autoset. It seems some members use the humidifier because it was included with the machine. It adds time regarding cleaning and the possibility of the reservoir being a culture medium.

Which symptoms did you have which prompted your using humidification and did the unit relieve your symptoms ? Have you tried going without it once you started and did those symptoms/signs return ?

I'm confused by your post. You say you've never used one but then you make assertions that are "questionable".

In the state/area where I live, the relative humidity varies greatly, but is typically in the 20's or 30's......sometimes in the 40's. I've never tried to sleep a night without using the humidifier tank attached to my machine, even though I use it in cool, "passover" mode. I believe I need SOME additional moisture as the blowing air can have a drying effect on a person's nasal passages, so, I'm not willing to deliberately go without it.

At the time I started therapy, humidifiers were still "optional", but there had been enough studies to show that humidification was having a positive effect on CPAP compliance......so, as a general rule, they were being accepted by insurance without having to be specifically prescribed on an Rx, but there were still some providers who were insisting that they be prescribed if they were going to be reimbursed. Five years later.....they're just accepted as part of the equipment.

I just dumped the remaining water out of my humidifier tank, rinsed it out with hot water, refilled it with distilled and it probably took a total of 5 minutes. I also couldn't see any life forms crawling around in there before I dumped it out, either.


Den

[sleepydawn]

I also had the RemStar and now have the S9. I live in the very dry high desert (Boise, ID) and also have never needed a humidifier. I tried it and it made my nose run. I do keep one in case my throat gets dry andI am forced to use a full face mask with a stuffy nose. My insurance paid for it and it makes me feel better to know I have one in case my preferences change. I will use it if I think I need to for comfort.

[Uncle_Bob]

Which symptoms did you have which prompted your using humidification

I live in Arizona. My room humidity can be as low as 10%.
I tried a couple of months without a humidifier, my nose dried out and i ended up having nose bleeds about 4 times a day. In the end i had to have my nose cauterized.
My ENT doctor says the use of a humidifier is essential. I say the use of a humidifier is also comfortable and helps prevent congestion. I also paid an additional amount for the H5i humidifier as it was not included with the S9 machine when purchased it from cpap.com

You can have my humidifier when you prise it from my cold dead hands

[kempo]

I use my humidifier in pass over. I tried it for 3 nights without it and ended up with a sore throat.

[carbonman]

It is our unalienable rights,
from God,
the Declaration of Independence,
the Constitution,
and Slinky,
that we may have humidity.

"Give me humidity, or give me death."

[sleepydawn]

It is our unalienable rights,
from God,
the Declaration of Independence,
the Constitution,
and Slinky,
that we may have humidity.

"Give me humidity, or give me death."

I just think it's one of those individual things like masks. Some of us are naturally... er, snottier... ahem... I mean... more humid... ummm, I mean... moister... uh, I mean... some of us just like it better that way. You know what I mean.

[roster]

I also had the RemStar and now have the S9. I live in the very dry high desert (Boise, ID) and also have never needed a humidifier. I tried it and it made my nose run. I do keep one in case my throat gets dry andI am forced to use a full face mask with a stuffy nose. My insurance paid for it and it makes me feel better to know I have one in case my preferences change. I will use it if I think I need to for comfort.

That is interesting.

Here is a chart showing outdoor humidity levels in Boise - http://www.cityrating.com/cityhumidity.asp?City=Boise

Any idea how it ranges inside your domicile?

[Janknitz]

Kaiser autotitrates patients with a PR S1 auto, but NO humidifier. Usually it's just a week long, but because of unforeseen circumstances I had to go a solid month on the titration machine with no humidifier.

It was miserable! I had so much throat and nasal irritation that was NOT related to mouth breathing. I had small nose bleeds and sinusitis, a sore throat every day, and dry mouth. I'm prone to salivary stones and that exacerbated during that time. I was a mouth-breather pre-CPAP, but the dry mouth miseries were much worse on CPAP without humidification--even though I was not mouth breathing any more. All that is gone with the humidifier.

So, no, I am not "needlessly" using a humidifier. I do have to use it judiciously. Too much humidification is as bad as too little.

I live in a temperate climate with moderate relative humidity most of the time. But don't forget that forced and unheated airflow is drying over and above the relative humidity levels.

Some people do fine without it, but it shouldn't be considered a needless luxury for others who do.

[OutaSync]

When I lived in Mountain Home, Idaho (about 60 miles southeast of Boise), it was very, very dry in the summer. The houses were cooled by whole house evaporative coolers. Just adding mositure made it feel 20 degrees cooler.