Humidify or not!

[Skimmer]

What are the pros and cons of using the humidifier? I have been using mine and sometimes wake up with a dry mouth.
I was prescribed for it but maybe don't need to use it. I would appreciate what you think. Thanks

Skimmer

[rise&shiner]

If you are waking up with dry mouth you definitely need to use the humidifier and you have it set too low. Depending on how bad you dry mouth is try upping in small increments until the dry mouth goes away. I had real sahara mouth and that is how I even found out my humidifier was working properly. Believe me it feels much better to have a little moisture in your mask *case (there are ways to fix the rain out) as oppose to the dry mouth which could also mean your nasal passages don't have enough moisture and you might start to get nose bleeds.

[RipVW]

The humidifier is generally recommended--I think most CPAP'ers use one. Some prefer no heat (passive), others prefer the heat on--higher the heat setting, the more humid the CPAP air. Like you, though, my humidifier didn't prevent my dry mouth issues. That requires keeping one's mouth closed. Good luck!

[pagebypage]

The pros: Keeps your breathing passages (both oral and nasal) from drying out, which means you are less likely to develop sinus congestion. It can get pretty nasty when you have blockage all day long for days on end. Your co-workers probably won't like you hacking.

The cons: When I go to bed, I want to go to sleep, not fill a humidifier or clean it out or worry about running out of distilled water or whatever. I find it just one extra chore to have to take care of (besides daily cleaning of mask, weekly cleaning of headgear, replacing filters, etc.)

If you don't need it, great! You can reduce your need for one or even eliminate the need with a full face mask or hybrid. Some people would rather use Ayr gel. Works for some, not for others. It just depends on your unique situation: what you need, what you can tolerate, what you can afford...

[pagebypage]

Oh and I forgot to mention...
Con: If you travel a lot, as I do for my work, it is just another thing to lug around with me, to connect and fiddle with in a hotel (where there aren't even enough outlets to plug in the cpap!). If you don't travel, no problem, as the humidifier is usually barely larger than the footprint of your cpap machine.

[Pugsy]

Doesn't matter what the annoying cons might be for me. I discovered early on that I need the extra moisture going up my nose to prevent some serious drying out issues. I will use it every night and deal with rain out (when it should occur) and having to fill the darn thing up every night. Some people don't need the extra moisture and do very well without it. Your mileage may vary of course. Mouth dryness can simply be from breathing through the mouth too much and the humidifier may not be able to compensate enough for that. You could get dry mouth if you breathed through your mouth very much even if you weren't on the cpap machine.

[Section1]

I think it really just depends on the person. I know for me I try to use it, usually in pass-over, but there have been times I was out of distilled water and did fine with out it. Where I live the air isn't usually dry so that may be part of it too.