cpap machine

should cpap be sitting higher than bed? I hAVE A HIGH BED which is higher than stand the cpap sits on, I keep having problems with cpap since I started wearing this week I am awakened with a wap wap soud every night and found out it is from water in the hose. so I turned the humidifier down and that caused my eyes nose to dry out and wake with a terrible headache, also at the time the noise starts it seems that the air isnt flowing into the mask as much, so I was wondering if I sould be having the cpap higher or as high as the bed, I am about at the end of my rope with this thing and ready to give up using it.

Your CPAP should be lower than your bed, but preferably not on the floor. You said you have it on a stand, so that should be fine.

Sounds like you are having rainout for sure. I use a Padacheek hose cover (triple layer fleece) and have zero rainout now. I live in Los Angeles, so your mileage may vary depending on room temp. and humidity.

If the machine & humidifier are higher than your head, then all that water will flow up your nose.

When it's lower than your head, then the water drains back into the humidifier.

Just be glad that the water was in the hose and not up your nose. You need to put some kind of hose cover on to help with the temperature differences between the room temp and the temp of the air in the hose. That will help reduce the condensation in the hose. I keep my machine on a chest next to my bed and it is about the same height as my bed but I have a loop in the hose, kind of like a J trap in a sink drain. You also need to find a happy medium with your humidifier. Changes in the weather outside and having a cooler room temp at night will effect the amount of condensation that can possibly gather in the hose.

Gerry

that does make sense that the water would go up your nose.... no wonder people who know me call me lucy thanks so much for your input I did make a cover for the hose tonight thanks to your suggestion and am going to put it a little lower hopefully that will work. thank you

crissy, I hope the things you try will take care of the rain-out problem. If you continue to have trouble with it, here's a link to some ways others have dealt with rainout:

LINKS to discussions about the Aussie heated hose - to prevent rainout
viewtopic.php?t=5305

I have my machine in a low drawer in a night stand. All the gear is easily stowed out of sight during the day, and at night, the machine noise and lights are cloaked in a mostly closed drawer. I use a hanger above the bed headboard to suspend the hose, so it doesn't pull on my face at night, and helped any water to drain away. I have used a fleece cover on the hose for over a year, but still experienced some "rain-out". It causes the pillows on my Swift LT to leak and is irritating to the skin. I recently bought the Sleepzone heated hose, and that cleared up all the condensation issues. Good luck to you. Keep experimenting with different solutions, and you will find one that works for you.

desert rider wrote:If the machine & humidifier are higher than your head, then all that water will flow up your nose.

Wouldn't that technically be going down your nose?

More seriously: do overhead hose management systems thus promote rainout?

That would depend on the temp of the air and the room temp and where those two are causing the condensation to begin. If the condensation if starting or happening before the hose bends going back down to your face then your ok. If the condensation happends after it runs through the hose management device and heads down towards your face your getting a shower.

Adjusting the humidifier temp and room temp will either adjust where in the hose the condensation happens or if it happens.

Gerry