10 days in, success, and a question (rain out?)

[aroeske]

After being diagnosed with severe OSA (AHI of 74), I finally had my titration and ordered my machine from CPAP.com. I started treatment about 10 days or so ago, and the result has really been fabulous, really even better than I could ever have imagined. In fact the titration/study was probably the best night of sleep I have had in years.

That said I have one little issue I am working on. I went on a cruise the day after I received the machine. I was having issues with moisture forming in the mask/ on my nose. I ended up setting the humidifier to 1 and the heated tube up to 86 and that seemed to take care of it. Now that I am back home, it now seems to doing the same thing again. We keep the temperature cooler right now in the winter, 65-68. That is the only thing I can think is different. I do have a cover for the hose coming, but not sure if there are any more thoughts anyone may have?

I am running in auto-mode 7cm - 20cm if that ends up being useful.

Thanks!

Andy

[Pugsy]

Take a couple of old socks and cut holes in the toes.
Run the short hose that is attached to the mask and the long hose through the socks so that the socks make a little cover for that short hose. Secure with scotch tape or bread ties or whatever to keep the socks in place.

86 degree hose temp in a 66 degree house should work well enough to keep condensation away but maybe the air is cooling too fast when it exits the heated hose and makes the trip through the short hose of the Eson and by the time it gets to the mask itself it simply just can't hold onto the water due to cooling. So by covering the short hose maybe the air will stay warmer a little longer.

I use a ResMed machine similar to yours with the same heated hose that I just got last Thursday...humidity set to 6 and hose temp of 80 degrees and my house is almost always below 60 or in the low 60s during the winter. Last night I had the windows open and the outside temp got to the 40s.
And I didn't get any moisture in my hose or mask but from looking at your mask and mine...your short hose is maybe a little longer. So maybe that's it.
At any rate...try a short hose cover and see if that helps. Nice thick socks...not hose thin socks. Be sure to not pull the sock up over the vent holes on the mask though.

[Julie]

And make sure the machine/humidifier is located just a bit (or more) below the bed so the water will run back to the machine and not sit in your mask.

[Pugsy]

The gravity thing doesn't help much with these new ResMed AirSense/AirCurve machines because of a little elbow at the junction of the hose and the humidifier outlet.

Non heated hoses have an optional elbow and I used it the first night I used the machine because I hadn't bought the heated hose yet.
The heated hose has a 90 degree angle/elbow built in.
I had some major rain out the first night with my new AirCurve...LOTS of water in the mask and hose and no amount of of holding that hose upright got rid of the water enough to not make a horrible racket. The water simply couldn't drain well enough into the water chamber because of the angle at the humidifier.

So...I ordered the heated hose but it's going to have that same elbow...it's pretty much a waste of time and energy trying to drain that hose with gravity...it won't go.

[aroeske]

Thanks! I turned the humidifier off last night and survived.

I ended up just ordering a hose cover. Hopefully that does the trick!

[D.H.]

You said that you are already using a heated "tube." I assume that you mean a heated "hose." Perhaps the hose is defective. If it's very cold in the room, the hose should be noticably warm.

I'm not sure about the "elbow" at the connector that supposedly would interfere with the hose draining back into the tank.

BTW, make sure the hose temperature is set as high as it can go.

[OkyDoky]

You said that you are already using a heated "tube." I assume that you mean a heated "hose." Perhaps the hose is defective. If it's very cold in the room, the hose should be noticably warm.

ResMed identifies it as heated tube, so hose or tube, same thing.

I'm not sure about the "elbow" at the connector that supposedly would interfere with the hose draining back into the tank.

Take a look at the picture. You can see how it might interfer in water return. http://www.resmed.com/us/en/consumer/su ... -tube.html

[palerider]

You said that you are already using a heated "tube." I assume that you mean a heated "hose." .

and this is what happens when people post without a brain...

sad.

[aroeske]

Thanks for the tips everyone.

The hose is definitely getting warm. So I think it is fine. I did get a cover for it which seemed to help. What I noticed this morning/last night is that the hose is actually dry, but the moisture is forming right where the mask touches my face. So I am wondering if there may be another mechanism at work here. I'm still thinking on this one.

[Pugsy]

the moisture is forming right where the mask touches my face. So I am wondering if there may be another mechanism at work here. I'm still thinking on this one.

The heated hose does well through the hose and maybe up a short hose if your mask has one but once the air leaves the heated hose it will start cooling a bit.

When you exhale your breath contains moisture.
So you have incoming air that has some moisture in it and you have your exhaled breath which contains moisture and they meet in the mask...and the air starts to cool in the mask. When it cools the air can't hold on to the moisture and that's why we get moisture only in the mask next to the skin.

The fix is to either warm up the heated hose air so it doesn't cool as fast or depending on the mask you can make sort of a cozy to put on it....or warm up the ambient temp in the bedroom so that the air in the mask doesn't cool to the point of releasing the moisture.

If your mask has a short hose from the long hose to the mask...you could make a short hose cozy or buy on.
That might be enough to keep that air in the mask from cooling to the point of releasing the moisture.