Why the hell would I use a humidifier.

[palerider]

I’m curious, do you use distilled water? The only time the air I was breathing has smelled was when I used tap water, as I had run out of distilled. Our drinking water is perfectly clean and has no noticeable smell. But, breathing it in such concentrated fashion, one can certainly smell that it is not distilled.

You breathe far more of it in the spray when you shower, how does it smell then?

[palerider]

Excuse my rudeness but ... I am a GP.

Believe_00.jpg

I believe him, but I thought that in this case, GP stood for Gigantic Pr*ck.

[CountingSheep]

Wow this guy „troll“ was rude.
Well I’ve only been on CPAP for about 8 months and haven’t had any unpleasant smells from tubes, containers or any parts of my Resmed. I was a pull through my tube regularly. Also wash and clean my mask daily. I don’t have any signs of gunge or bacteria. As for being a rude doctor.... it’s basically not on. Some think they are very special though.
I find it just more comfortable with my humidifier attached. I had to use it for a week without it at first as it wasn’t available. Much better with it.

[chunkyfrog]

Just a gentle reminder---it is the weekend, and there be "trolles" about.
I, too happily use the humidifier because I am not fond of the dry, itchy
(and often BLOODY) nasal passages that I suffered with for YEARS before CPAP.
If any "doctor" were to spout the NONSENSE written in the first post,
I would be looking for a provider unencumbered by severe cranial rectosis.

[Guinges]

Well, sorry to have been rude. I did not intend to be aggressive either.

[chunkyfrog]

Well, sorry to have been rude. I did not intend to be aggressive either.

If you really are an MD, it is wrong to inflict misery on your patients without cause.
It might also be considered a tort in a court of law.

[Guinges]

Well, sorry to have been rude. I did not intend to be aggressive either.

If you really are an MD, it is wrong to inflict misery on your patients without cause.
It might also be considered a tort in a court of law.

No I wasn't looking to inflict misery on anyone. I am not involved with CPAP administration. I was hoping to learn from this forum and I went about it in the wrong way. I was frustrated that I couldn't find answers to my question on the internet. My question was "why the hell would you use Humidification" . Perhaps I should have phrased it "why the hell would I use humidification".

[Guinges]

I hope I am reasonably educated in bacteriology, physics, medicine, respirology etc
Why would you pass the air you breath through a heated moist tube that could enable bacteria to grow?
The CPAP machine doesn't dry out the air that you breath. It is just passing through a fan of sorts that is increasing your pressure.
You are breathing room air in the normal amounts and at the normal rate.
I put aside the humidifier, half of that bulky machine, and changed the stinky bacteria infested tube and I am now enjoying cool fresh air "morning air", and of course my nose doesn't dry out like a prune. The machine is not drying out the air I breathe, it is simply delivering normal room air at a slightly higher pressure....and I love it!

By way of an apology I have changed the title of the thread and the original post to the above.
Thank you.

[Pugsy]

Apology accepted. Poor wording on the text content. Not the first time and won't be the last.

Everyone move and put down your 2 X 4s. There is no sense in piling on at this point. OP has seen the error of his ways.
Let's give him a chance to see that we can actually help people here get educated and be successful with their cpap therapy no matter how they go about doing it. We are here to help and not throw stones.

Perhaps I should have phrased it "why the hell would I use humidification".

Probably would have been a good idea and not too late to do it...you can edit your topic title if you wish but the horse is sort of out of the barn at this point.
Might defray further stone throwing a bit because I doubt anyone will read my note here in this post.
I can pretty much guarantee that someone will read the first post and not bother to read the rest of it and hit the reply button immediately and unload on you with both barrels.

[Guinges]

Thanks Pugsy, You and I posted at the same time. I had already changed the title and the original post. I hope both are more suitable for the forum.

[palerider]

By way of an apology I have changed the title of the thread and the original post to the above.
Thank you.

There are studies published on pubmed that say that your suppositions lack scientific basis, I don't have the links with me here, I'd someone else doesn't come up with them, I'll post them later.

As to your revised question, who knows? People's needs are different, what works for one may not work for another.

I don't use water in my humidifier most of the time, usually only when sick, because it helps me breathe, (think of the benefit a steamy shower gives when you have bronchitis or similar).

Other people use a little added humidity, others a lot.

The only way to find out what is best for YOU is to experiment and find what works best ... for you.

[Raticate]

Guinges you are the one who came across aggressive first and sounds like you may project on others but again I agree with you about the humidifier you are spot on. I wouldn’t listen to these haters or bow down to the king moderator pugsy some of us are working to dethrone pugsy because he or she lock our threads and is a little feisty like a cute doggy

[raisedfist]

Lol you do realize that dry mouth is a major complaint of a large amount of PAP users? I also don't think that ResMed and Philips Respironics would include humidifiers to try and make us sick. Just because you don't get dry mouth does not mean others don't. It's not "just air" since how it's delivered is what is most important. Positive airway pressure is not the way that we naturally breathe.

[Guinges]

There are studies published on pubmed that say that your suppositions lack scientific basis, I don't have the links with me here, I'd someone else doesn't come up with them, I'll post them later.

That would be great. Thank you.

[Madalot]

I went from CPAP (with humidification) to BIPAP (with humidification) to the Trilogy WITHOUT humidification. The air was so dry that I pretty much gagged through the night on it. Got a stand-alone humidifier to use with the Trilogy and have been comfortable ever since.