Source of air in CPAP

[maldormir]

Where does the air for the CPAP come from? If I am in a dusty room is the dust (etc.) going in my lungs?

Thanks.

[Hopeful50]

Yes. It pulls room air in through a small filter.

[palerider]

Where does the air for the CPAP come from? If I am in a dusty room is the dust (etc.) going in my lungs?

There's a tiny little air bottle in the machine that supplies all the air, it's highly compressed, so it only needs to be changed every year or so. Don't worry, the bottles hardly *ever* rupture.

what do you do to protect your lungs from the dusty (etc.) room when you're NOT using the cpap? I'm hoping you use a respirator, or at least a bandana tied over your face.

[Julie]

PR's humor is very dry... yes, it's room air and nothing else, but that's why there are filters in the back of machines near the intake.

[Sir NoddinOff]

Dang... and I thought it came from canisters under your bed. I'd say it was April 1st, but that was quite a few days ago.

[archangle]

All CPAP machines I'm familiar with have an air inlet with an air filter over it. You need to learn where that filter is and how to change it. It's usually on the back side.

It's worth knowing where it is to change the filter and also to figure out where the air is coming in. If you setup your CPAP machine where the air inlet is near something smelly or dirty, you'll be sucking that in. Clean the dust bunnies and dirty clothes away from the air inlet. Also be sure you don't block the air inlet. It doesn't need much space, but it does need some.

[Goofproof]

Dang... and I thought it came from canisters under your bed. I'd say it was April 1st, but that was quite a few days ago.

Probably old dust bunny farts, maybe you got lucky and they are from the Easter Bunny. Jim

[stienman]

PR's humor is very dry...

Increase the humidifier setting.

[Goofproof]

PR's humor is very dry...

Increase the humidifier setting.

Too much time Waterboarding himself. Jim

[DWaldman]

Don't put it down close to the floor where your dog sleeps. Fresh dog fart pumped up your nose is an experience you will want to avoid.

[LSAT]

Don't put it down close to the floor where your dog sleeps. Fresh dog fart pumped up your nose is an experience you will want to avoid.

[chunkyfrog]

Cat fart is no prettier.

[asi]

Where does the air for the CPAP come from? If I am in a dusty room is the dust (etc.) going in my lungs?

I'm on day 16 since put on CPAP by the respiratory care folks.

Equipment

• ResMed S9 AutoSet CPAP machine (4cm H20, 5 min ramp, 70°F)
  H5i heated humidifier
  ClimateLine air hose
  Mirage FX nasal mask

I noticed the first time I removed the snap-in hose from the
aperture of the nasal mask, there was a distinct smell of
sawdust (closest analogy). I smell the same thing when I
lift up one piece of carpet that acts as an area rug, to
vacuum underneath it. As far as I can tell, the sawdust
is very fine particles from the 100 yr old wood floor that
was not sealed. The carpet acts like a (very) large sheet
of sandpaper -- the floor under it is a strikingly different
color than the rest of the surrounding floor, that has been
stained and weathered from use.

So I've been smelling this sawdust smell for years, but had
not noticed it. I smelled it every time I took off the CPAP
hose from the nose mask, for maybe a week, or not quite
a week.

I don't remember smelling it more recently than that, and
I've done nothing (at all) to abate the smell I was smelling.

My guess is I've adjusted to the new conditions.

So, yes, I think that the CPAP is at least initially effective
in screening small particles of airborne pollutants that
a person can smell, to the point where removal of the
nasal mask allows a nose conditioned by filtered air
to begin smelling the smells present in the immediate
environment.

The respiratory therapist (aka med supply saleswoman)
who came to visit, and demo the equipment, showed me
where the intake filter goes. I'm not curious enough to
change it out (prematurely) to see if the sawdust/no sawdust
smell changes abruptly when I use CPAP for a half hour
or more, then unclip (to ambulate to the w.c. for example).

I don't know that I have any lung health issues, so I am
not very concerned that there is a sawdust smell here.
I'll probably keep it in mind, in the future, as I become
oriented towards indoor air quality issues (I am not very
inclined to be so-oriented, tbh).

This place has probably missed five thousand vacuumings
it 'ought' to have had, over the years I've lived here.

--aside

[chunkyfrog]

. . .
This place has probably missed five thousand vacuumings
it 'ought' to have had, over the years I've lived here.

--aside

[/quote]
Most vacuum cleaners do not remove dust as much as they kick it up.
Just saying.

[palerider]

. . .
This place has probably missed five thousand vacuumings
it 'ought' to have had, over the years I've lived here.

--aside

Most vacuum cleaners do not remove dust as much as they kick it up.
Just saying. [/quote]

that's why I like my Dyson. it's the first vacuum I've had that I couldn't *smell* the dust while the vacuum was operating.