Floor or table?

Ronnieadl · Post by **Ronnieadl** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 3:19 am

I thought I would ask how many of you keep the unit on the floor or on a bedside table.. The therapy guy I talked to said to put it on the floor to keep the "rainout" thing from happening,( doesn't work) also to keep me from shutting it off in the middle of the night.. I was shutting it off after about 2 hours so I am not getting the full benefit of using the machine. I still don't know why I do this? Anyone else have this happen and how did you stop yourself? Any and all thought on both these things would be most welcomed!

Cheers!

Ronnie

Bert_Mathews · Post by **Bert_Mathews** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:41 am

Ronnieadl wrote:I thought I would ask how many of you keep the unit on the floor or on a bedside table.. The therapy guy I talked to said to put it on the floor to keep the "rainout" thing from happening,( doesn't work) also to keep me from shutting it off in the middle of the night.. I was shutting it off after about 2 hours so I am not getting the full benefit of using the machine. I still don't know why I do this? Anyone else have this happen and how did you stop yourself? Any and all thought on both these things would be most welcomed!

Cheers!

Ronnie

The FLOOR is dusty and get a hose cover & turn humidifier DOWN... Put the machine on a carton / box just below the bed level with a Towel over it -- This might slow you down from shutting it OFF.

ALSO cutting the fingers off is an OPTION?

BERT

Linus · Post by **Linus** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:46 am

In my opinion, I would not put the machine on the floor. Dust would get into the machine -- especially if you have a carpeted floor. Also if your hose is shorter (2 meters) you will have hardly any room to move around. The idea of keeping rain out away by having the machine lower makes sense. Any condensation will go back into the humidifier via gravity. I tried having the machine on a step stool, but I worried about the risk of knocking it over. I keep mine on my nightstand. It is level with my bed. I do have a hose cover and I also keep the hose in my bed. I hope to end that soon when my heated hose arrives.

As far as turning off the machine...I am not sure. I must be a lucky one because I took to the machine right away. The machine helps me, so I am enthusiastic about it almost to the point that I look forward to using it.

roster · Post by **roster** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:32 am

The therapy guy should have told you to first try a hose cover.

After that, if you still have rainout, experiment with turning your humidifier down. In my experience you need just enough humidity to keep the nasal passages from feeling dry.

I use a 14-inch tall bed tray sitting on the floor to hold my machine. This keeps the humidifier tank below the level of my head and keeps the air intake off the floor where dust bunnies might have attacked.

bdp522 · Post by **bdp522** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 8:35 am

I keep mine in a high sided tray on the floor. Never had a problem.

Brenda

jnk · Post by **jnk** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 8:37 am

We have a very small bedroom. My side of the bed is right up against a nightstand that was pushed completely into the corner. What I have done is to pull the nightstand forward just far enough for me to then hide an old 10-inch wide subwoofer cabinet, which I don't use anymore, in that corner, on end. So now that small wooden box has walls on two sides, the nightstand on one side, and the bed on one side. That way it can't fall over, and it is the perfect height for me to set my machine on it so that it is about nine inches lower than the top of my mattress and the top of the nightstand. I keep a dark towel thrown over it all the time, including when it is in use. That helps hide the machine during the day and makes it quieter at night. I have instructed my wife to slap me if she ever finds me asleep without my mask on and the machine running. So far, she has not had the pleasure of doing that.

Gerryk · Post by **Gerryk** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 8:48 am

I have mine on the nightstand same height as the bed. I did have humidifier problems with dry mouth. If I turned it up too high I had rainout. I checked the humidity in the room was way low, so I put a humidifier in the room. Things are much better now. I also used to run out of water at night even at a lower humidity setting because the room was dry.

One Tired Puppy · Post by **One Tired Puppy** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 8:56 am

Ronnieadl wrote:I thought I would ask how many of you keep the unit on the floor or on a bedside table.. The therapy guy I talked to said to put it on the floor to keep the "rainout" thing from happening,( doesn't work) also to keep me from shutting it off in the middle of the night.. I was shutting it off after about 2 hours so I am not getting the full benefit of using the machine. I still don't know why I do this? Anyone else have this happen and how did you stop yourself? Any and all thought on both these things would be most welcomed!

Cheers!

Ronnie

At first I kept my new Sandman auto on the nightstand but it fell off when I turned in my sleep. It is very lightweight and the way it fell it got caught between the night table and the bed with the humidifier leaking into the machine.

I then kept it on the carpet by my bed. I sleep with the head of the bed elevated, sometimes in a sitting position because of bad bouts of GERD and inflamed esophagus. The hose is just under six feet and a couple months after the first incident, it tipped over again during the night as I sat up to close a window. This time I couldn't get it to work again.

I personally think the safest way would be on the floor inside a heavy box with high sides with a compact fit so it can't tip. A bit longer hose wouldn't be a bad idea either.

If you ever order the Sandman auto don't get the one with the integrated humidifier but get the one with the stand alone humidifier. The Sandman auto is a very good machine and has great software but the integrated humidifier is a major problem because it tips too easy.

I think I'm going to have a box custom made for the Sandman auto when I get it back.

Anne

kopoloff · Post by **kopoloff** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:19 pm

Seems to me that you need to find the absolute best place from a therapy perspective, which is likely to be
I off the floor to avoid the dust
II elevated enough that you don't have hose length problems, and
III slightly below your head level so that and condensation drains away from the mask.

Having found that position, now find a way to stop from knocking the machine over. Try getting a flat piece of timber, say 12 inches square or larger, drilling 2 holes in it, and threading a cable tie over the machine and through the holes.

I keep my machine on a lower shelf beside the bed, run the hose up to a very sophisticated hose suspension device,with only about 20 inches of hose then running down to my mask. Works for me. The sophisticated hose suspension device consists of a picture hook, a length of string and a plastic loop!

K

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:31 pm

I keep mine on the (heavy/sturdy) nightstand beside the bed.....it sits on two large (thick) mouse pads to keep it from moving. It's also below the level of the bed, which keeps it below ear-level for lessening any sound (but it's quiet anyway).

Den

hobbs · Post by **hobbs** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:35 pm

On the floor and replace the hypo-allergenic filter once a month.

alnhwrd · Post by **alnhwrd** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:57 pm

The best answer is........do what works for you. Lots of people put their CPAP on a table next to them. Some put them on the floor. Some put them in a drawer of a cabinet placed next to their bed. I read about one guy who was so bothered by the sound that he got a styrofoam cooler, cut out an air inlet to allow free flow of air and put his CPAP in the cooler on the floor to keep the sound from bothering him. And it worked for him! The concerns others have raised about having it on the floor are valid, but if it works for you, and you are willing to clean and change filters a bit more frequently, you probably can make it work. I have mine on a simple table next to my bed, with a very low tech command hook above it. I attached the hose to the hook, then over to the head board right above my head with just enough hose left to allow free movement during the night. Most condensation drips back into the unit. I also wasn't sure I wanted to bother with a hose cover so I took an old towel that wasn't being used and wrapped it around my hose held in place first with rubber bands, and now with small plastic zip ties. It works so well I couldn't see spending money for a nice looking one and have used it ever since. A few months ago I got a 15 watt reptile cage warmer and wrapped it around the first part of the hose so I have almost no issues with rainout, even with the room cold and my humidifier on.

The issue of you turning your unit off during the night is not unusual, probably similar to people who take off their masks in the night without realizing it. It is one that in time, as your subconscience mind adapts to the idea that it is now NORMAL for you to sleep with a rubber and plastic attachment that blows air up your nose, should pass. Some machines have an alarm that goes off when they are turned off for this very reason, to get you to wake up and turn it back on. My machine has a "Smart on/off" function so that even if I turned the machine off it would turn itself back on again in about a minute unless I removed the mask or disconnected the hose. In time you will reach the point where you will wake up the instant the machine turns off.

The best solutions are often simple ones. You could get a longer hose (up to 10 feet will not affect your pressure settings) and place your CPAP out of reach so you would have to physically get up out of bed to turn it off. Hopefully you would wake up and realize it and stop yourself from doing so. You could contruct a simple, non-airtight (lots of holes to let air in) plastic or carboard or light wood cover for your CPAP that will prevent you from casually reaching over and turning it off while half asleep. Some people have reported success with using a product called Pursleep that using relaxing scents to keep them from getting anxious and taking off their masks, so it might work for you too. If your mask allows it, you could try reading or watching TV with your mask on and the CPAP running for a while before going to bed or even during the day to help your brain adapt. No matter what, keep using your CPAP and try for a little bit longer every night until you are using it all night. Its very important that you do. Hope some of this helps.

MaskedBandit · Post by **MaskedBandit** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:31 pm

I keep my unit on the floor. No real worries about dust as the filter will take care of any little "bunnies" that roll on by. Besides I like the cooler air of that level which may sound odd but is indeed true.

I only started having an issue with taking off my mask and turning off my machine AFTER I read about some people doing such things here! Of course I have only been on APAP for about 8 days now so it may be just my brain getting used to the fact that yes I do want that mask on. Caught myself taking off the mask last night, gave myself a good scolding, put the mask back on and went to sleep again! LOL.

No idea why I started doing this either as I turn the machine off after taking the mask off. Otherwise I know the leak alarm would have woken me up the previous day that I must have done the same exact thing. I woke around 1 a.m. to my wife asking me why I didn't have my mask on. It may sound odd but I like using the APAP and got mad that my subconscious was not only screwing up my data ; but waking me up unnecessarily.

RedThunder94 · Post by **RedThunder94** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 8:04 pm

i use an 8 foot hose and attach it to the wall using a couple of velcro elastic bands just like the one i use to help keep my mask as leak free as possible, and since they do stretch there is less chance to actually damage the hose by yanking on it. plus it keeps me from pulling the machine of of the night stand, lol. heres a pic.

the nightstand is just about 4 inches lower than the bed, plus i also use a nonslip drawer liner under the machine for added skid resistance as the top of the nightstand is rather slick. the extra length helps out quit a bit since i tend to sleep on the other side if my wifey wants to stay up and watch tv. lol. no probs there.

jda1000 · Post by **jda1000** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 10:21 pm

By chance of existing furniture, my machine's about 5-6" below my bed. There's a window above my bed about the width of the bed: I've put a heavy book-end in the middle of it and run my 6' hose behind it. I don't have - yet - a rain-out issue, but this system gets the hose out of my way. The hose slides around the bookend without binding or hanging up, at least so far.

My tech told me not to put it on the floor, due to dust and such, but I really don't think it matters if the area is kept clean.

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Humidifier

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