Rainout Resmed Swift FX mask

[empezza]

HI,

I have been using CPAP for about 4 weeks and struggling. Suffering with sinus and sore nasal passages but I am determined to get through this. I have a Resmed S9 Autoset with H5i heated humidifier and climate control tubing.(I also made a cover for the tubing to keep it warm but I still experience rainout in the nasal pillows mask. I have the humidifier set on 24/25 celcius as it is currently Winter where I live. Gets down to about 17 degrees Celsius overnight in the bedroom , even lower some nights but can't adjust the temperature of the room- we turn the aircon off before going to bed. Tried the nasal mask but ended up with a red mark on the bridge of my nose which was painful. My clinician is fantastic, very helpful and always available and feels the pillows are the best for me. I am also a restless sleeper and toss and turn a bit which I feel is probably contributing to disturbing the mask fit. I have a loan of a Mirage Micro mask but haven't been able to try it out until the nose settles down.

So you can see my problem with the rainout. Any advice would be appreciated.

Wave

[sunnyway]

Keeping a wrap on the tube between the CPAP and the mask helps prevent rainout. The CPAP machine should be lower than your head also.

[Janknitz]

I think there is always going to be a small amount of rainout in the pillows, no matter what you do to keep the tubes covered and warm. As long as it's not so much that it is dripping onto you or causing your machine to read it as vibratory snores, I wouldn't worry.

In the Lab Rat fix thread, there is a design for a wick you can put in the pillows to absorb the rainout (look for the Swift LT, but I'm sure it would apply to the FX as well). I tried it, but it was more trouble than it's worth. The small amount of moisture isn't a problem for me.

[DreamOn]

I agree with sunnyway that covering the small mask tubing can help with rainout. I made my own from double fleece fabric and it helped a lot. If that small tube is uncovered and the room is cool, condensation will form there and work its way to the nasal pillows. I have pretty much eliminated nasal pillow rainout by making a cover for my Headrest nasal pillows, but the Swift FX pillows are small and may be difficult to cover without also covering the vent.

For the sore nasal passages, you may want to try a Saline Nasal Spray (Ocean or Simply Saline in the U.S.) or a gel such as Ayr Saline Nasal Gel inside your nostrils. That helps to lubricate the tissues. I also use a tiny dab of Lansinoh lanolin (made for nursing mothers) on the outside of my nares where the pillows seat.

I hope that helps!

[DannyPh]

I use the Swift Nasal Pillows and haven't had any Rainout Issues since I Invested in an Aussie Heated Hose. I was Having Rainout Problems Nightly before.

[KC5cychris]

saw you talked about a hose cover on the climate line
Did you see this thread

Re: Do Not Use Tubing Wrap With S9 ClimateLine Heated Hose

chris

[cobra4x4]

HI,

... Gets down to about 17 degrees Celsius overnight in the bedroom , even lower some nights but can't adjust the temperature of the room- we turn the aircon off before going to bed.
Wave

Wow, you call that winter . Its summer here and thats our temprature now.
Back to the subject ... Try turning down your humidifier about 5-7 degrees, you get rainout when there is too much of a temperature difference between the room temp and the resulting air temp from the humidifier.
That could also be the cause for the sore nose, humidifier settings need to be adjusted from time to time depending on ambient air conditions (seasons). Where you live and the natural humidity will have a huge impact on what your humidifier settings should be.

[araminta]

For me, the trick to dealing with rainout was:
- Aussie heated hose
- turning off the humidifier, but keeping some water in the chamber and having what's referred to as "passover" humidification.

For sore nasal passages, Lansinol did the trick.

[empezza]

HI,

Thanks for all your suggestions. The Cpap machine sits on the floor so that one"s covered. I was told by my clinician not to use the cover for the Climate line tubing so I didn't last night. Inside temperature last night was 14.5 celisus. I will try tonight lowering the humidifier temperature from 25 to 22 and see what happens. Will try a cover for the small hose that attaches to pillows if turning the temp down doesn't work. My clinician also told me that the small hose does hold moisture and is hard to dry so she suggested connecting it up(without any water in the humidifier) close the pillows with your hand , turn the humidifier up to 30 and run it for a few minutes. Will try tonight .

Thanks again

Wave

[DreamOn]

My clinician also told me that the small hose does hold moisture and is hard to dry so she suggested connecting it up(without any water in the humidifier) close the pillows with your hand , turn the humidifier up to 30 and run it for a few minutes.

The S9 machines (and others) also have an automatic "cool down" cycle, which blows air lightly for a certain amount of time after you turn off the blower. I leave my tubing and mask connected to the machine for a while, as that does help to dry it out a bit if there's any moisture.

Also, before I sewed a cover for my small mask tubing from fleece fabric, I had it wrapped in a bandana that I secured with twist ties. It worked very well.

[jdm2857]

You might want to get your machine up off of the floor a few inches. It's less likely to "inhale" dust that way.

[empezza]

It's still raining here!

The machine is now on a small stand (courtesy of my handyman husband), about 4 inches off the floor.
The Climateline tube and the short tube attached to the Swift FX pillows both now have a polar fleece covering. I have the hose on top of the bed covers. We have a water-bed,but I can't see how that would effect rainout.
I've tried various temperature settings, from 22 to 28 degrees Celsius.
Temp in the bedroom gets down to about 14 degrees C by early morning (6am).

I generally wake about 3 times each night to visit the loo, and the mask has water in it each time.
My AHI is averaging around 1, which is fantastic seeing that the test I had prior to using APAP gave an AHI of 46!
Now if I can only solve the rainout problem I will be very happy.

Any further advice would be most appreciated.

Wave

[greg-g]

I'm down in Tasmania, and its much colder down here and I'm having very few issues with rainout, just a drop or two in the morning from water accumulating in the pillows. There is nothing in the tubes.
I have exactly the same setup with the following settings.
Pressure 6 - 20
EPR 2
Climate Control Auto
Temp 26
I'm using a home made tube hanger so the only horizontal hose section is near the mask. This should stop any water accumulating.
I'll send a photo if you PM your email.

[empezza]

Success - no rainout last night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After consulting the ResMed Clinical Manual,I discovered on Page 17-Managing Climate Control - that you can turn off Climate Control Auto.
You then have the option to set humidity and temperature independently. I set the humidity at 2 and the temperature at 25. I got up twice during the night and when I checked my mask - no rainout!!!!!!!!!!!!

It does state however that this setting could also cause rainout but hey, it's worth a try.

This might not work for everyone but my Clinician has been at a loss as to why I was suffering rainout on previous settings. She contacted Res Med and they were also at a loss to explain it. She mentioned that I could be one of those people that didn't need a humidifier.

My nose has cleared up too( was stuffy all the time). Not sure if this was due to my GP giving me a 5 day course of antibiotics for a bacteria infection that he suspected might have been causing the problem. I have had this problem for a month since I started on the ResMed S9 machine.

Slept better too for the first time in a while.

Hope this helps some others out there.

Wave

[torontoCPAPguy]

ResMed recommends that you set Climate Control to AUTO in the clinician menu. I did. They also recommend very strongly against using any kind of hose covering on their climate control hose as it will prevent it from working its magic and is a fire hazard. I no longer use the hose cover. I have my humidity set at 3.0 and no rainout; we have our room temp set to 69F nightime and 72F-74F daytime all year round, regardless of season. (There's just something about those static temperatures that we like).

I would definitely keep my Climate Control set to AUTO to prevent rainout. Otherwise you are going to be experimenting as they suggest. I love being able to crank up the humidity without having to worry about rainout. And I also like being able to use the humifier in passover mode without heating the water into the air.... and having the option to set a precise temperature that is delivered to me to the degree. I have been wondering how the sensor that detects the mask temp works on this system - will have to take a closer look tonight.

Gotta say that the S9 sure is different. Can't wait for the S10 to come out next month. Sic.