Shallow breathing?

It's been about a month now since I noticed that the water level in my humidifier isn't dropping as much as it used to. I've been using an AeioMed Everest 3 CPAP with a Comfortfull 2 full face mask for almost two years, with the humidifier normally turned up to 4 - out of 5, and going through the whole tank in an 8-9 sleep period. (A tank is about 8 oz. of distilled water.)

For about two to three weeks, I'm consuming about half a tank in the same period. Wish I knew what was going on. but I'm asleep ;>). So I've ordered another tank to swap out of the device. Or perhaps I'm breathing differently while asleep. Would I need to go back in for a sleep study again? I lost my health insurance about two years ago and can't replace it because of this OSA, so I'm not real anxious to do that without a little checking first.

My pressure is 9, and I've been on CPAP for a total of four years this Feb. It saved my life! It's just so great to get a good night's sleep. And if I'm actually needing less humidity, that's fine. But isn't the device set up to cook that much water in a certain amount of time, no matter what the demand is? I wish I knew more about this.

Thanks for any help you can give.

SLEEPFUL IN NEVADA

Maybe the humidifier heating element is burnt out?

May be the mask is not leaking as much and sealing better.

CHOPS wrote: Or perhaps I'm breathing differently while asleep. Would I need to go back in for a sleep study again?

I think it would be highly unlikely for this to be related to your breathing. Minute ventilation is a pretty stable number.

Like others have mentioned, more likely to be a machine or humidifier issue. On my machine, if I shut off the blower to go to the bathroom, I have to restart the humidifier as well as restarting the blower. Could that be what's happening?
James

Welcome, please put your equipment in your profile. There's a link at the bottom of this post on how to do this.

My best guess is that you are having less leaks than you were before. That's generally a good thing, but be sure the 30 or so tiny vent holes in the elbow of the mask are not dirty and clogged up. Those holes are where the air you exhale blows out when the machine is on.

There might be a way to check the leak rate on your machine, but unless you have the software, you probably don't know what your leak rate was before the change.

CHOPS wrote:But isn't the device set up to cook that much water in a certain amount of time, no matter what the demand is? I wish I knew more about this.

Thanks for any help you can give.

The machines vary in terms of how they control the humidification. Some simply try to keep the water at a certain temperature. Some sense the ambient temperature and humidity, and the airflow rate, and adjust the heating element to give you the right amount of air without causing water to condense in the hose.

In almost all cases, the more airflow through the system the more water it will use. If you increase pressure, change masks, or have leaks, you will have more air flowing through the machine.

It's somewhat counterintuitive, but the total nightly airflow is controlled by your CPAP pressure, the mask, and any leaks you have around the mask. It doesn't matter how much you breathe in and out into your lungs. With a fixed CPAP pressure, the same amount of air would flow through the machine strapped to a mannequin head as it would for a live person.

Water consumption will vary somewhat with the room temperature and humidity level, especially if you have a machine like the Philips Respironics machines that try to be smarter about humidity levels.

I don't know if the Aeiomed machine tries to do smart humidification, or just keeps the water at a fixed temperature.

Most importantly, how does it feel to you? Are you waking up with dry mouth, throat, and nose?