How to Solve Humidity Problems

[Dallaslady51]

After several trips to the ER and many weeks of panic and misery, I realize that the humidity is so low here the last few weeks that maybe my Aircurve VAuto Bipap can't compensate. My sinuses are completely dried out after a couple of hours, and the water bin is empty after about 4 hours. I have started mouth breathing. My heart rate has jumped really high but doctors say it is not a heart problem - it's panic from not being about to breathe or sleep at night.

I have a face mask but after using it for about 15 minutes and breathing through my mouth, my mouth is so dry and throat is so sore I can't breathe.

Would a room humidifier help with all this - I am very desperate to get even a little sleep at night - trying manual or auto climate - no difference - the news says our air right now is drier than the Sahara desert and the machine may not be able to compensate for that.

I don't see how people use a face mask - when I breathe through my mouth it dries out immediately and I really can't breathe at all.

I just need some sleep so I can function and calm down and quit having panic attacks all night. thanks for any suggestions.

[Pugsy]

A room humidifier might help...sure wouldn't hurt.
Why not give it a try?

[Pugsy]

Oh..the dry mouth...if it's from mouth breathing more humidity may or may not help. Best thing would be to try to stop the mouth breathing if at all possible and if increasing the room humidity helps the nose then maybe you won't need to mouth breathe so much.
If that doesn't work then you will likely have to add one of those products that are designed for dry mouth.

[Julie]

Why aren't you using a full face mask that lets you mouth breathe without losing therapy air. plus you can also use something like Biotene to help the dryness.

[Dallaslady51]

Cant seem to tolerate a full face - seems like I'm breathing in dry hot air and my mouth and throat go dry right away.

What is the Biotene or products for dry mouth? What does that do to counteract all the hot dry air being blown in my face?

Sadly I've always used pillows or nasal for 10 years - really hard to feel like something huge on your face blasting very dry hot air down your throat - then it feels like my throat is closing (I'm told i have a small airway).

Lack of sleep and going through this all night is making me crazy.

Does a large amount of leaks indicate you are mouth breathing (or trying to?)

[Julie]

Leaks are usually because you're mouth breathing (with a nasal mask), but if you're using a set-up with any temp control, is it all the way down, or even off, but still have water in it so acts as a slight humidifier (called passover mode) without the heat? How many diff FFM's have you actually tried - there are lots of choices. And biotene's a moisturizer (ask your pharmacist about it and others).

[WalterC]

The combination of dry cold weather and heated houses can make the humidity inside very low. Most people benefit from humidifiers day and night in these conditions. Too dry and you suffer; too humid and you can get mold growth or damage to the house. It would at least keep your CPAP water tank from going dry so fast. As Pugsy says, it won't hurt and might help.

When I use a humidifier I use this one: https://www.lowes.com/pd/AIRCARE-Mini-C ... er/1125803 With the fan on low it would be OK for a bedroom. It has a humidity control that works like a thermostat and tries to keep the humidity at a set level. You want to keep the humidity setting low enough that you don't get condensation on your windows (probably around 40% - 45% but lower when it is really cold). You want to clean the humidifier often enough that bacteria and mold don't grow in it.

Do you have problems from the dryness during the day?

[Pugsy]

Are you using a heated hose or regular hose? When you mention Auto I assume heated hose but did you know that you can set the humidity to be delivered totally separate from the hose air temp when using a heated hose.
The air doesn't have to be "hot" to get the amount of humidity you want.

I don't like hot air either especially in the summer so I turn the hose air temp (on the heated hose) all the way down to the minimum setting and I essentially get room air temp.
Now in the winter I keep my bedroom/house rather cold so then I turn up the hose air temp because too cold doesn't feel good either.
I never change the humidity setting though...I keep it the same no matter what the hose air temp might be.

Now of course if the bedroom ambient temp is on the cool side and the humidity setting is on the high side you run the risk of condensation in the mask or hose but there are ways of eliminating that annoyance without having to get the hose air temp all that high.

What temperature do you set your house to? Where do you live that is so dry? Need heat or air conditioning both of which dries the air out even more?

[Dallaslady51]

In Dallas they say our air has been drier than the Sahara Desert for a while. It is extremely dry right now.

I am using a heated hose. I have the hose temp set to about 77 because I don't like really hot air. Room temp at night is about 69. We use a/c or heat year-round.

what do you mean "set the humidity to be delivered totally separate from the hose air temp"?

The water bin is empty after about 5-6 hours.

The "numbers" are pretty - but sleep is horrible.

I wish I know how people could use a full face mask and have it work and not be miserable. Also wish I could get a little sleep. Don't think I have had hardly any REM sleep in ages - can't get comfortable or breathe - air too dry.

[Pugsy]

What is your humidity setting with that 77 degree temp you are currently using? You see 77 degrees on the screen???

Totally separate is just 2 settings...one for temp and one for humidity as opposed to the setting of "auto" which lets the machine figure out what humidity and air temp to use. Independent of each other.

[Dallaslady51]

Pugsy - do you mean "Manual"? - I have tried Auto and Manual with up to a 6. The only temp I see I think is the hose temp - some people seem to have theirs high in the 80's - about 77 feels ok with me and that is what it is set on.

I have tried 2 other full face - the Simplus which I cannot get to seal at all and the F&P 431 which causes flooding rainout as do all F&P masks for me when used with the Aircurve Bipap or the Autosense 10 that I tried before. No amount of whatever reduces the severe flooding. Same with the F&P 407 Nasal and the Zest - all flooding rainout with the Aircurve or Autosense 10....

I have not yet tried any others. That's the other thing about full face masks for me - getting them to seal - the only one that has sort of worked
is the Resmed F20 because there are so many straps and I can get it sealed pretty well - just can't stand breathing the hot dry air. - I'm used to just having a small mask and cool air on the rest of my face......

Also using the Breathe Right Nasal Strips to try and keep nose open - my nose closes anyway in about an hour, and is so dry.

[Pugsy]

Manual humidity choice is the 2 independent settings I was talking about..
Sounds like you are already using that.

Condensation in the mask...need the air to be warmer (or reduce the humidity setting which you don't want) and since you don't like the hot air then maybe a hose cozy on the short hose (if you are using a short hose from the long hose to the mask) or a hose cozy on the long hose even.
Warm air holds onto more moisture than cooler air...so the air in your mask cools (because of your bedroom temp and the incoming not so warm air from the humidifier) and releases the moisture. It's Physics in action....so the solution is warm up the air in the mask a little...sometimes only 1 or 2 degrees will do the trick. The reason for condensation issues with the full face mask as opposed to the nasal mask is probably just the volume of air in the mask.
The full face mask let's that air volume cool more and thus the air releases the moisture. It stays a bit warmer in the nasal mask.

You should be able to get more than 4 hours before the tank goes dry though...
Even if you were using over 20 cm pressure all night with maximum of 8 setting...it should last more than 4 hours.
How bad are your leak numbers?

[Dallaslady51]

Leak numbers are usually ok - even with low ones still having trouble with all this.

Yeah I cozied everything with those F&P masks - tried literally everything. ResMed Tech said good luck using a F&P mask with the Aircurve or Airsense (he told me I would have to wrap the mask in duct tape (nice)- but I'm sure many people do use them. Don't know - I'll just stick to ResMed masks of which there are many.

Found a good CPAP person locally and going back next week to get some help on all these issues. Still waiting on appt with the Good Sleep Doctor - but my daughter called and begged them to move me up from 9 months (September) to six weeks from now. I talked to the scheduler and told her how much trouble I was having, so am on the cancellation list and hopefully might get in about 2-3 weeks. The good CPAP person (so nice and helpful) works for that Sleep doctor. Just have to get through the next few weeks and pray they can help me figure out how to get some sleep. Another thing is I still question whether I need a BiPap - my average pressure is about 12-15. It feels weird to me.

I just was wondering if in the meantime if a room humidifier would help. They don't cost much so I guess I could try it.

[Dallaslady51]

Could my Aircurve VAuto machine and/or Humidifier be broken? Last night I tried Auto (with Climate Control Hose) and Manual with a Setting up to 7 and neither one seemed to provide any humidity at all. Used a ResMed Mirage Nasal Mask. Woke up at least 8 times not being able to breathe and nose closing up, etc. The water bin is empty after 6 hours. If I take it to the DME I am sure they will look at it and say they don't see a problem since the AHIs are below 6 and the water is being used. Problem is I feel like I am going to die every night and day because of not being able to get any sleep longer than about 1 hour at a time and it is not good sleep. I don't know what to do any more.

I need humidity to breathe and keep my nose open. Last night I tried a ResMed Full Face and I could not get it to seal at all and breathing through my mouth just dried out and burned my throat and mouth. It all feels so hopeless and impossible. Thanks for listening.

[Pugsy]

If it is using up the water then it is providing humidity...it's not broken.
Now it might be that you need more moisture than it can provide for whatever reason.
It's already been discussed that you know your ambient humidity is quite low and the machine is using up all the water trying to provide the humidity setting you selected. It's working as hard as it can work.

Did you ever do anything about getting a stand alone humidifier for the bedroom?