Humidity question...

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joeljjk11
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Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2015 6:40 am

Humidity question...

Post by joeljjk11 » Mon Oct 05, 2015 6:43 am

So I have been waking up with my throat, nose and mouth being very dry. I am not breathing through my mouth because I have a chinstrap but I still feel dry. I raised the humidity last night from 4 to 6 but this caused annoying rainout in the tubing and mask. I ended up having to turn the humidity down in the middle of the night. What can I do to avoid this? Should I lower the temperature? It is currently set at 81 degrees.

Joel

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Pugsy
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Location: Missouri, USA

Re: Humidity question...

Post by Pugsy » Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:51 am

To lessen the condensation/rain out chances you need to increase the hose temperature not decrease it.
Warmer air will hold more water than cooler air and thus there will be less chance of the air cooling to the point of releasing the moisture.

Remember the physics behind condensation...we either have to warm the air so it holds the moisture better or warm the room air so it doesn't cool the air in the mask and hose so much.

Warming the air in the hose...either by an increase in hose air temp or using some sort of hose cozy to help insulate the hose.

Warming the bedroom air...turning up the thermostat. Rain out is more of a problem during the cooler months. I recently had to crank up the hose temp because of the recent really cool nights and I haven't turned the furnace on yet and still have most of the windows in the house open.

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joeljjk11
Posts: 365
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2015 6:40 am

Re: Humidity question...

Post by joeljjk11 » Mon Oct 05, 2015 9:26 am

Hmm...makes sense. Thanks Pugsy. I will try increasing the hose temperature. What do you think is a good temperature? I think the max my machine goes is 90 degrees or so.

Joel

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Julie
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Re: Humidity question...

Post by Julie » Mon Oct 05, 2015 9:55 am

Chinstraps are not always that effective, especially as they close your jaw but not your lips.

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Pugsy
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Re: Humidity question...

Post by Pugsy » Mon Oct 05, 2015 10:34 am

We have no idea what temperature will prevent the air from cooling and releasing the moisture.
It's a combination of factors that cause condensation.
Ambient room temp
Humidity levels
Hose temp
And how much moisture you exhale in your own breath

If your bedroom is 50 degrees there's a good chance that maximum hose air temp won't be enough.

In the winter my house is typically around 55 degrees and maximum hose air temp for my machine is 86 degrees and with maximum humidity selected I don't have rain out issues with my nasal pillow masks and I don't have to add a hose cozy but I could if needed.

Like Julie says...a chin strap doesn't/can't guarantee that a person isn't doing any mouth breathing.
A person can still mouth breath easily even with teeth firmly clenched together...try it now..clench your teeth together and open you lips a little and breathe. All chin straps can do is hope to give your mouth a little reminder to not drop open. If you are mouth breathing with a nasal interface mask it is fairly easy to spot on the leak graph should it be enough to be a problem in terms of therapy pressure loss.
Not all mouth breathing means that all the therapy pressure is lost...it does mean that it could be lost though.

Your pressure needs are very high. Lots of air movement and it is entirely possible that between the air pressures used and your own body's hydration that the nose and mouth are going to dry out even with no mouth breathing or very little mouth breathing.
I have found that my mouth can dry out considerably with as little as 5 minutes of mouth breathing.
I can wake up with massive dry mouth and look at my reports and maybe there will be evidence of 5 minutes of possible mouth breathing prior to my waking up with the dry mouth.

If your leak graphs are acceptable in terms leak management then you may not be doing a huge amount of mouth breathing but it still might be enough to dry out the mouth and throat.
If that is the case then about all you can do is try adding more moisture via humidity selection or adding a mouth hydrating agent like Biotene or Ora gel or whatever.

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.