Dreamstation without humidifier

[Jdan179]

I have been on cpap therapy for 2 weeks. I have been using the humidifier and feel that I am adjusting pretty well to therapy. last night I wanted to see how well that I did without the humidifier. It did not work well at all. The air pressure noise in my mask was so bad that I could not sleep. I had to replace the humidifier and slept well. My question is should there be a noticeable difference in mask pressure noise with and without the humidifier?

[Pugsy]

Yep...common noise complaint when the humidifier isn't attached. The humidifier acts like a muffler.
Now you do have some options if you don't want the added moisture for some reason or you want minimal moisture and don't want the noise. The humidifier itself can be turned off with or without water in it. You will still get the noise muffling though.

[chunkyfrog]

Humidity was once considered a "comfort issue"--(as if comfort were not essential to good sleep.)
Truth be told, denying your tender mucosa the moisture it needs can be quite damaging.
But if you choose to try going without--go for it--many have succeeded.
I like moisture--but that's just me, and all my froggie ilk.

[palerider]

Humidity was once considered a "comfort issue"--(as if comfort were not essential to good sleep.)
Truth be told, denying your tender mucosa the moisture it needs can be quite damaging.
But if you choose to try going without--go for it--many have succeeded.
I like moisture--but that's just me, and all my froggie ilk.

Well, technically, humidity *IS* a comfort issue, it's not part of the treatment that holds your airway open.

As such, it's an optional item, and while many people really really need it to be comfortable, like you and Pugsy who are *extremely* uncomfortable (even if your airways are open) without it, others don't find any difference with or without humidity, so decide not to bother with it. (like me, I initially used humidity because I thought "that's what needs to be done"... then I tried less and less and it never made any difference, the only time I put water in my humidifier is the rare instances when I get some kind of respiratory congestion going, then it seems to help loosen things up).

But, to address the OPs question, I still leave the humidifier attached to the cpap, because, like Pugsy said... it lessens the mask noise.

[Pugsy]

while many people really really need it to be comfortable, like you and Pugsy who are *extremely* uncomfortable (even if your airways are open) without it, others don't find any difference with or without humidity, so decide not to bother with it. (like me, I initially used humidity because I thought "that's what needs to be done"...

Tis true...technically humidity isn't part of the holding the airway open part of cpap treatment but for some people it is a critical part to the getting actually to be be able to sleep which is of course kinda the ultimate goal. If I can't be comfortable then I can't sleep and none of the rest matters much if I can't sleep. So that makes my own comfort and ability to breathe easily and freely through my nose a critical part of my own therapy. I just can't sleep if my nose is stopped up and when I don't get enough moisture my nose stops up and I am miserable and I just can't sleep. I was that way long before the OSA thing entered into the situation. When I lived in Las Vegas (pre cpap) and things were so dry out there....my nose wasn't happy for sure.

Some people need very little or none added moisture to keep their nasal mucosa happy....me...mine would have me snorting water every chance it gets.
It's funny but when I have forgot to top off the water chamber and end up using things without humidity for maybe a short period of the night...I wake up sneezing and congested and hubby will say "hmmmm...forgot to add water last night huh?" It's one of the reasons he often prompts me when he goes to bed (which is before I do)....did you fix your machine yet because that's code for "add water"...since I have to add water every night. I can't ever get more than one night out of a full chamber unless it is raining outside and the windows are open. Then I can get by without a full chamber. I still out of habit will top it off though. I don't like to risk the symptoms I get when the nasal mucosa get mad at me.

[palerider]

No doubt, and that's why I always tell people to start off at a medium setting, and then to experiment to see what works best for them, even though I almost never use any water in my humidifier, I realize that is just one extreme, you and your 'just short of drowning' near the other

[Jdan179]

Thanks to everyone for the comments. I will continue using the humidifier on a setting of 3 as low as I am comfortable. It was kind of an experiment to see if I could do without it but the added noise convinced me otherwise.

[palerider]

Thanks to everyone for the comments. I will continue using the humidifier on a setting of 3 as low as I am comfortable. It was kind of an experiment to see if I could do without it but the added noise convinced me otherwise.

As pugsy mentioned, you can leave the assembly connected, turn the humidity *OFF* and just not put any water in it. That's what I do on mine.

Having water in there doesn't make it any quieter.