Help! How can I go on a pilgrimage?

[ozarkcrone]

Hi,
First, thanks for the wealth of info and help over the last two years of my Cpap experience. I love this site. I want to go on a four week backpack in Spain. I will carry a change of clothes and a sleeping bag. What do I do about my Cpap? Should I go to my dentist and try to get fitted with a mouthpiece for the trip or should I try to carry the lightest machine I can find? (I'm assuming electricity at my nightly stops, but I'm not sure......)

[Slinky]

I'd be inclined to inquire as thoroughly as possible about the availability of electricty at various overnight spots. It would be the pits to spend the money on a lightweight travel device and lug it around the entire time w/o the opportunity to ever use it!!!!!

Assuming you are in the USA don't forget to inquire about what is needed for any device you buy to run on foreign current.

If you anticipate making this type of trips very often I'd invest in the dental device as well. Just as insurance.

[BlackSpinner]

Hi,
What do I do about my Cpap? Should I go to my dentist and try to get fitted with a mouthpiece for the trip or should I try to carry the lightest machine I can find? (I'm assuming electricity at my nightly stops, but I'm not sure......)

The dental piece assumes that it would actually help. Not many people are helped by dental pieces.
It would be a real drag to be exhausted all the time you are doing this, also your body is no longer used to the constant stress of low O2 so you would probably feel twice as bad.

[secret agent girl]

.

[bearded_two]

You may want to consider buying a cord for your CPAP that has the plug that is appropriate for Spain. It will be easier to use and more reliable than using a socket adapter. If you can get electricity most nights, but you will have a few nights where you won't be able to get electricity, you might want to consider getting a small rechargeable battery pack. A 12 Ah li-ion or gelled lead acid battery should be good for one night's use, assuming a standard CPAP or APAP at about 12 cmh2o or less.

[ozarkcrone]

Thanks, great advice all of you. I'm thinking I will forgo the dental appliance and go for the smaller machine. I will thoroughly check out the availability of electricity.

[kteague]

Sounds like a great adventure. Backpacking across Spain... with a cpap and battery in the backpack - wow! I have seen some teeny tiny travel machines advertised, I just don't know their compatibility with your needs. This kind of trip is usually free-spirited enough that it could be reasonable to expect your nightly destinations might not be as hoped. I guess if it were my family member, I'd be more comfortable with them also having a dental device just in case. I don't know your financial and insurance situation regarding such devices. In your sleep study, was your OSA diagnosed as mild, moderate, or severe? Just wondering what the odds are of it being any benefit to you. Whatever you do, I hope you have a wonderful trip and allow us to travel thru your pics.

[Patrick A]

Hi,
First, thanks for the wealth of info and help over the last two years of my Cpap experience. I love this site. I want to go on a four week backpack in Spain. I will carry a change of clothes and a sleeping bag. What do I do about my Cpap? Should I go to my dentist and try to get fitted with a mouthpiece for the trip or should I try to carry the lightest machine I can find? (I'm assuming electricity at my nightly stops, but I'm not sure......)

I would say that if you can carry a battery pack with you. I use an M-Series Bi-Pap Auto and a battery pack is available for it. I can't use my Humidifier with it thought. The Battery pack that I have feels like it weights about 12 pounds. Trying to carry that around in a backpack might be a little much. If you can get a really light weight machine and a battery pack to run it off 12vdc. I would say go for it. If you can find electricity at your over night stops then you can carry your machine with you. I would find a battery pack. My battery pack can power my Bi-Pap for about 18 hrs. of use. If I unplug it as soon as I get up I can get 3 days use out of it for sure. Good luck.