Humidifier reaction

[suesq]

I have had my CPAP machine for a year and have used it with a humidifier setting of 1 with no problem. My doctor yesterday recommended that I try other settings. In fact, he recommended that I turn it up to 5 and try it out and then adjust from there. I did as told and at 4:30am, I woke up feeling really nauseated and odd. I took my mask off and when I got out of bed, I was so dizzy and lightheaded that I literally bounced off the hallway walls and fell into the bathtub. I didn't lose consciousness but I was a mess. When I was able to get up, I sat in the recliner and fought the symptoms - taking deep breaths and trying to be still. My doctor isn't available until this afternoon and I don't want to go to the ER so does anyone know what happened to me????

[Julie]

I can't see that using a higher humidifier setting would account for what happened... I'd be more likely to think that coincidentally your C02 vent got covered by bedding and you rebreathed some back (had a similar disorienting episode few yrs ago), but why did your MD tell you to change your hum. setting if you were doing fine? In any case, I would not have just bumped it arbitrarily to 5 (I know he said to try it) but maybe moved it one notch at a time to see how things went. But why do it at all if they're working fine - you could end up giving yourself a cold and congestion!

[LSAT]

I can't see that using a higher humidifier setting would account for what happened... I'd be more likely to think that coincidentally your C02 vent got covered by bedding and you rebreathed some back (had a similar disorienting episode few yrs ago), but why did your MD tell you to change your hum. setting if you were doing fine? In any case, I would not have just bumped it arbitrarily to 5 (I know he said to try it) but maybe moved it one notch at a time to see how things went. But why do it at all if they're working fine - you could end up giving yourself a cold and congestion!

I agree................

[WindCpap]

I - you could end up giving yourself a cold and congestion!

Give yourself a cold from a humidifier? Are we living in old-wives-tail-ville?

[suesq]

Wow! Great information! I never thought about covering the CO2 outlet causing a problem but I do pull my covers up around my head and face...there is no doubt in my mind that the CPAP caused my problem because here it is just a couple hours later and I feel almost 100% (I'm still a little woozy ) At my appt. yesterday, the doc said all my readings were perfect and he'd never seen a mask fit and seal like mine does with virtually no leakage. He asked why I never move the humidifier setting and if my throat was dry in the morning. I said "a little" and he said I should crank it all the way up and see if moisture collects in the tube and then work my way down until I was comfortable. I realize now I WAS comfortable and I totally agree - I should have tried it at 2 if I felt like I needed a change at all. I guess it's my age - I've always respected doctors and did what I was told without questioning and the report IS kind of mind blowing - I mean, he knows when I pee! ...pretty dumb, huh?

[Julie]

[chunkyfrog]

The dichotomy of TV doctors influencing what we expect of real doctors:
Marcus Welby, Ben Casey,and Hawkeye Pierce--doctors we want to have,
versus Frank Burns (the doctor too many of us GET.)

[WindCpap]

It is pretty unlikely that the covers pulled up over your head caused a vent failure unless you had the vent directly pushed into them. Due to the positive pressure from the CPAP, unless your pressure is extremely low (like 4 cmH20), it is not possible to rebreath C02 from outside of the mask. The entire under-cover environment could be filled with CO2, and you would continue to breath fresh air from the CPAP.

On the other hand, for some masks (the P10 being one of them), it is possible, under some pressures, to completely clog the vent with condensed water. In that case, you would be rebreathing air from the hose.

[LSAT]

Often too much machine humidity causes congestion...especially if you are in a home with high humidity or in an area of the country with high humidity.

[suesq]

Thanks again everyone for the info! The doctor's nurse called me late this afternoon and said the doctor said the CPAP machine and humidifier were not my problem...I knew he would You guys were so much more helpful and I KNOW it was the machine or the components - you don't wake up like I did at 4:30am thinking I was dying and then by 9:30am, you're almost 100%! I wish I had the finger thingy so I could have tested my oxygen level but I sanitized everything today and I will make sure the covers are down below my neck tonight. Thanks everyone and sweet dreams!

[AlabamaAl]

Interesting problem. It makes me wonder if the increased humidity might be interfering with oxygen intake in the lungs. I have no medical evidence, but I having COPD I have noticed my O2 blood levels dropping a few points on rainy days, and more trouble thinking clearly on those same rainy days. Perhaps too much humidity is harmful to some people who also have reduced lung capacity.