another reason to use distilled water:brain-eating-amoeba

[avi123]

Check this:
http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/16/l ... ing-amoeba

If it covers Neti Pots it sure also cover CPAPs humidifiers

[tomjax]

I think it is totally irresponsible to suggest that PAP humidifiers carry the same risk as a neti pot.

These are totally apples and oranges comparrisons.
Microbes can certainly be transmitted with a neti pot or anything else that provides water or droplets.

The CANNOT be transported in the water vapor in a PAP.
Some here can be frightened.

We deserve better.

[Kilgore Trout]

I'm sure there's some teensy percent of a percent of risk, but you'd have to have a tube that was constantly soaking wet, and a lot of contaminated water. The stars would have to line up pretty damn perfectly for this to be a reasonable xPAP risk as well.

However, it's good that you thought to spread the story here so we could start a conversation about it and try to put any conjecture to bed.

(I use distilled for both; only because of how gross tap water can make my humidifier tank)

[avi123]

I think it is totally irresponsible to suggest that PAP humidifiers carry the same risk as a neti pot.

These are totally apples and oranges comparrisons.
Microbes can certainly be transmitted with a neti pot or anything else that provides water or droplets.

The CANNOT be transported in the water vapor in a PAP.
Some here can be frightened.

We deserve better.

Reply,


The following seems to agree with you but still give warning:

http://www.everydayhealth.com/cold-and- ... worry.aspx


Excerpt:

Unlike neti pots, you don’t introduce the water from a CPAP directly into your nose and near your sinuses. If your mask has a humidifier, the water stays in a separate chamber, adding moisture to the air you breathe from the tube. Though there’s no physical contact between the water in the humidifier and the area up and around your sinuses, Schaffner advises taking the same precautions as one would with a neti pot. Read the instructions, wash your hands first, and rinse, clean, and dry your mask and the water chamber immediately after use to avoid standing water. For extra protection, use distilled or sterile water, or boil your tap water.

“At least to the moment there seem to be no reported cases of this infection with any other devices, which is always reassuring,” says Schaffner, but taking proper precaution will make it even more unlikely that you’ll experience this unlikely complication.

[chunkyfrog]

We had a little funk growing in the humidifier with Wally world distilled water;
no funk junk since we've been brewing our own. Just an observation.

[derek70]

It's the same risk as drink infected water.
You could die, too.

[cowlypso]

There's actually no documented risk of drinking water containing this ameba, just from getting it up your nose. The acid in your stomach kills it. Plus, the way that it infects your brain is by crawling directly through the membranes at the top of your nasal cavity and into your brain.

[idamtnboy]

It's the same risk as drink infected water.
You could die, too.

It's obvious drinking water is fatal. I mean, after all, everyone who drank water in 1895 is now dead!

[Matty332]

Oh god. I suffer from Hypochondria and I did not need to know that. For my first night of CPAP last night I through in tap water. Does that mean I have exposed myself to this risk? I wish the retailer would specifically say use boiled or distilled water - they said tap water is fine.. Oh man

[cowlypso]

Don't worry!

The ameba itself is very rare in home water systems. When it is present, it is usually found growing in the hot water heater. So even if you use tap water to fill your humidifier chamber, if you use cold water you're fine.

Even if this ameba was in your humidifier tank, it would have to be aerosolized to get into your nose, which doesn't happen by the gentle heating of the water that your humidifier does.

And then, even if it got into your nose, you'd have to have some predisposition to the infection (possibly a cold or allergies causing inflammation). Even when somebody comes down with the ameba from swimming, they go back and find that there were hundreds of people swimming in the water that day, and only one caught it.

On your list of things to worry about, this one is way, way, way down on the list!

[Matty332]

OMG thanks for that Cowlypso! What a scary thing to worry about. At least medical authorities are slowly getting better at treating the infection I suppose. I found two PDF documents one from China and one from India that chronicled the complete treatment and recovery of two patients with the amoebae. Months later they had absolutely no signs of brain damage or illness.

I just wanna thankyou again for rationalizing this for me. It has been hard enough just to get the machine on my face.

[archangle]

Oh god. I suffer from Hypochondria and I did not need to know that. For my first night of CPAP last night I through in tap water. Does that mean I have exposed myself to this risk? I wish the retailer would specifically say use boiled or distilled water - they said tap water is fine.. Oh man

Even if you had snorted Naegleria, the incubation time is pretty short, so switch to distilled water and if you aren't dead in two weeks, you're OK.

In reality, forget about it. There have been less than 10 potential cases of getting Naegleria from neti with tap water in the past 20 years or so. Worry about something more probable like flesh eating bacteria from a paper cut from handling the mail.

However, I do think distilled water in the humidifier is a good idea just to keep it clean.

[avi123]

See also my post here:

viewtopic/t73718/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=72 ... er#p666540

[GumbyCT]

Even if you had snorted Naegleria, the incubation time is pretty short, so switch to distilled water and if you aren't dead in two weeks, you're OK.

Consider taping just in case you didn't get the bacteria.

[ems]

It's obvious drinking water is fatal. I mean, after all, everyone who drank water in 1895 is now dead!

Best laugh of the entire day!