At a loss... help please

[Berks]

CPAP user for just over 3 years now. Took the first 6 mo to really dial in all my settings but it’s been pretty smooth sailing since.

Come this fall and winter I’ve noticed a lot of airway irritation and discomfort while breathing. After ruling out any other cause for it, I decided to try changing up my humidity settings to see if this winter, for whatever reason, I no longer liked the humidity setting that’s been working for me. It worked. The second I upped my humidity the irritation in my airway and lungs went away.

But a new problem arose. Rainout. Hose and pillow/mask. Now, I’ve already played this game in the beginning when I started using my CPAP so I should have been fine. Heated hose. Check. Long hose and short hose cover. Check. Barrel cozy. Check. Reasonable temp in the room. Check. Ugh.

The setting that had been working for me so well previously was humidity setting 5 and temp of 84. So when I upped to 6 I upped the temp to 86. Rainout. My thermometer is set for 67 and, while I could handle upping the temp in the house, my 1 and 4 year old would have something to say about it (at 3am). And I’d would assume that with a heated hose temp of 86, should it even matter? I tried going back to a 5 and the rainout stopped but the irritation came back. I don’t even mind the condescension in the hose so much. It’s visible but hasn’t made that annoying sound yet. But the water going up my nose and keep me up all night is killing me. But since I already have covers and everything else, I can’t figure out what else I can do.

What else can I try? Or am I doomed to have to choose between rainout and irritation? ... until spring.

TIA!

[Julie]

Is the machine located at or below your head so water runs back to it instead of you?

[cyberdreamer]

I second Julie suggestion. I used the standard hose with my usual high humidity (7) when traveling to colder places and the condensation water didn't reach my mask because the machine was considerably lower than the bed.

Also, if your mask is easy to remove during the night, wipe it with the bed sheets if/when you wake up during the night to remove the drops of water that eventually form.

[Berks]

Is the machine located at or below your head so water runs back to it instead of you?

Here’s my set up

[Pugsy]

I have been in your exact situation and even if you have the machine on the floor the water won't run back down to the water chamber well enough to not be annoying.
Combination of things...the way the hose attaches to the humidifier chamber and the mask you use won't allow much drainage unless you position your face so the hole in the mask to the hose is below the mask.
Remember water can't flow up hill and that includes in the mask.

What are you using for a hose cozy at the mask's short hose?

Is the condensation in the long hose or just in the mask?

[Berks]

What are you using for a hose cozy at the mask's short hose?

Is the condensation in the long hose or just in the mask?

Fleece hose cover for the short hose (and another on the long hose). Condensation is happening in both hoses but more often and more troublesome in the short hose. I get that the short hose is not heated but until recently (and for years) the cover was sufficient. Barrel cozy from pad-a-cheek on the pillows.

I can work on positioning myself to have gravity working for me but that’s not easy when you turn in your sleep.

Ps... don’t mind the lint on the hose cover

[Pugsy]

I wonder what has changed to have the rain out be so annoying now unless it is simply that little bit of extra humidity tipping the scales.
I use a setting of 6...and my bedroom ambient temp is around 60 degrees...and I don't use a barrel cozy or a short hose cozy and I don't get that much condensation. I might get just a tiny bit in the mask but none in the hose.

Can you put a second barrel cozy on the mask? I know one person who used to have to do that to limit the rain out in the mask.
She was using a nasal pillow mask though which is slightly different from your mask.
You can try to see if you can get gravity to help...see if you can put the machine lower than the mattress and try to sleep in a position that allows the water in the mask to drain away but that's really hard to do.

And the reason I am not so keen on the "machine on the floor" thing is that with this machine and the way the hose attaches...even if you held the hose totally vertical you might not have all the water drain out of the hose. I had that happen once when I increased my humidity setting and instead of increasing the hose air temp I reduced it....woke up with massive amounts of water in the hose so I got up and stood on the floor and held the mask high over my head so the long hose was straight up totally vertical and the water didn't drain enough and I had to unhook the hose and drain the water into a towel. It just wouldn't go into the water chamber like it needed to. I think that little rather odd way it attaches and the bend creates a drainage problem.

I understand not wanting to increase the ambient temp...and I understand wanting to keep the higher humidity....so the only thing left is to try to figure out how to keep the air in the short hose and mask warmer.
Maybe a bulkier short hose cozy and a second barrel cozy....maybe even a bulkier long hose cozy.
Warmer air is what you need because warm air holds more moisture than cool air.

[babydinosnoreless]

You said you turned your hose temp up. It sounds counter intuitive but have you tried the hose temp where you had it set before you turned up the humidity? I was getting rain out in arizona and when I turned my heated hose off it stopped.

[ILoveFlowers]

It happens to me once in a while, too. Maybe it's a combination of the temperature and humidity of the room, with my needing more humidity from the machine? I use fleece cozies on my tubing, too, but at those times, I'll get rainout right at the nasal pillow sometimes. The only thing I've had luck with is upping the room temp a bit. Sometimes 1 degree is all it takes, it's funny. You could try just edging it up to experiment to see when the rainout stops?