Waxy buildup that keeps coming back

[roger84]

Please help! I'm stuck between trying to get my ~5yr old Dreamstation clean and working right again and buying a new CPAP or waiting for my replacement from Philips Respironics.

A waxy film keeps coming back, alarmingly quickly, every night. It gets mostly on the inside of the humidifer reservoir, the tubing and the mask.

I can sleep but besides a waxy slimy discharge from my tear ducts that lasts for a couple hours after waking up, I've been noticing strange symptoms that are making me think this stuff is getting in my lungs! Shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness...

It all started when I opened the Dreamstation up to replace the sound abatement assembly with a foamless version I found on Amazon, scared of breathing in toxic fumes as I'd heard. This product has/had rave reviews so I thought it was a good idea.

I had just replaced my humidifier which had become pretty cracked and smelly and had the best night in months. So I did this replacement and while I was in there ... I sprayed it with canned air. BAD IDEA. That stuff left bitterant all over the insides that made my nasal passages close up immediately when going to sleep with it.

It's been a saga of diagnosing and cleaning ... I've used q-tips, no-residue electronics cleaner, alcohol, c-pap wipes, and I put the original abatement set back ... I ran the fan for hours after pouring electronics cleaner a few times ... did this at least 3 times ... thought I finally got it clean enough and for a couple weeks recently I've been having good nights.

I recently replaced the hose ... first night was great, second night the eye-discharge was back! I felt the inside of the tube and the disgusting waxy, sticky film was there! How could it have come back so fast??? Where could it be coming from?? Did I ruin the turbine? Is the lubricant breaking down? Is it coming from the foam?

I have tasted the buildup, and it literally sticks to my teeth like tar.

Another thing that's thrown me off ... these NEW SEALED disposable filters I bought , have some kind of grease on them??? Is that normal? Is that to help create a seal and reduce noise or something?

Maybe it's clear I need to replace the CPAP entirely ... I just have had such a time searching for any other people having this kind of experience and would really like to know what's going on because it doesn't seem natural???? How fast and how much of this stuff gets all over everything.

[zonker]

Please help! I'm stuck between trying to get my ~5yr old Dreamstation clean and working right again and buying a new CPAP or waiting for my replacement from Philips Respironics.

1.welcome to the zoo!
2. yuck.
3. if i were you, i'd look into buying a used cpap either from secondwindcpap.com or peer to peer. forum member lsat has machines for sale right now. he is a trusted member of this community. please click here to see his most recent post of what he has for sale-

viewtopic/t184451/FOR-SALE-2-Low-Hour-A ... osets.html

i've never heard of the conditions you describe re: replacing foam. perhaps others have and will comment. if it were ME i'd be getting a replacement machine.

whatever you do, i wish you good luck!

[Wulfman...]

This makes absolutely NO sense whatsoever.

You need to figure out what is in the air that is being sucked into your machine while you're sleeping.
Use distilled water and clean/replace your filters. What you described is just NUTS!......nonsense.

Den

.

[chunkyfrog]

Sincerely, it sounds like someone is spraying Pledge all over the place.
Or Armor All?
Throw that crap OUT!.
And lock that freak out of the bedroom!

[twin rivers]

Burning scented candles will do it to.

[chunkyfrog]

Or the OP could have a sinus or salivary gland infection.
'Twer me, I would be calling my MD several times a day.

[mummmz]

It all started when I opened the Dreamstation up to replace the sound abatement assembly with a foamless version I found on Amazon,

I had just replaced my humidifier I sprayed it with canned air.

I've used q-tips, no-residue electronics cleaner, alcohol, c-pap wipes, and I put the original abatement set back ... I ran the fan for hours after pouring electronics cleaner a few times ... did this at least 3 times

I recently replaced the hose ... first night was great, second night the eye-discharge was back! I felt the inside of the tube and the disgusting waxy, sticky film was there! How could it have come back so fast??? Where could it be coming from?? Did I ruin the turbine? Is the lubricant breaking down? Is it coming from the foam?

NEW SEALED disposable filters I bought , have some kind of grease on them???

Maybe it's clear I need to replace the CPAP entirely

You've broken the seal so you know the warranty is void. The electronics cleaner, alcohol, and whatever the cpap wipes contain may have mixed to form a solvent that is breaking down the plastic/acrylic or possibly seals that now allow whatever lubricant to leak. Kind of like mixing ammonia and bleach. Your last remark is right on target...replace the whole unit and any tubing/masks that have been used with it. You certainly don't want to breathe that stuff in all night. I would also go as far as cleaning hard surfaces in the room with a soapy solution (Dawn dishwashing liquid works good for removing oil from wildlife so it might be a one to use) and wash all bedding.

[roger84]

So I got two CPAP's to replace the Dreamstation, a ResVent iBreeze and a ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset and I'm still dealing with this buildup. Therefore it was not coming from the blower of the Dreamstation!

Last night was yet another ordeal. Constantly trying to combat congestion, weird odors, nasal passages closing up, it just doesn't end. I wash stuff constantly. I don't feel well today, like literally ill (which happened in the span of 3-4 hours after falling back asleep after replacing the tubing and the nasal pillow and washing everything) but at least I don't have a dire need to sleep, so I can get stuff done.

I have a few working theories... one is there is too much water softener in the tap water I use to wash my stuff... something that may not have been the case when I moved in but had been building up around the time I replaced the humidifier... I am now rinsing everything with filtered water after washing ... which I did when washing the new parts yet still feel like crap today ...

Another theory is pathogens in the air .... now, I don't have any allergy issues when in my room and it smells fine. But my air purifier's filter hasn't been replaced in over a year so I just ordered a new one from Amazon ...

Maybe the rug needs washing??? I think I've washed it once in the 5+ years of owning it.

Another theory is I keep my clothes out in the open on a rack. Perhaps fabric softener is getting in the air? This was never an issue in my old place...

Another theory is the nightstand the CPAP sits on, there are as you'd expect some products in the drawer such as lotion, medicated cream. It's such an absolute mindf**k but this is where I'm at, entertaining the idea of greasy fumes somehow traveling through solid wood into my CPAP's intake.

Finally, and this wouldn't make sense either, oils and product from my hair somehow creeping UP the mask and into the tubing and as far as the humidifier. This makes even less sense because I suspend the tubing, so it would have to travel upward.

The speed at which the tubing, mask, and even the humidifer chamber gets covered in this waxy slimy crap is the kicker. If I don't wash everything daily I wake up with crap in my eyes that takes hours to fully empty.

So the only thing that currently makes any sense is the tap water. I have no idea how the tiny bit left after rinsing and drying could be such a problem. It didn't used to be the first year or so in my current place. And I used strictly distilled water for the humidifier.

One weird thing that happened was a jug I bought from 7-11 somehow got greasy on the inside??? I checked it again after some days and indeed something was not right on the inside of that jug. Wish I had checked it when I first opened it... by the way this was long before the new CPAP's ...

Still not going to go back to the Dreamstation since it's probably gunked up in the blower. I've opened it several times and saw nothing pre-blower, only ever post-blower and not every time. The humidifier reservoir was almost always disgusting to the touch until washed. It's kind of like if you've ever gotten egg yolk on your fingers and wiped it off with a napkin but some is still left.

[roger84]

OK, right now, I think it was the water. Woke up this morning well-rested and (almost) gunk-free. Will update again after a few days.

If it was the water, I'd *really* like to know if anyone else in my area has had the same issues and possibly hold the city accountable.

[Julie]

There's a reason they call for distilled water in the humidifier - you may need it for everything else!

[RNeil]

I remember another post, maybe on the other forum, where someone kept the machine in a drawer and had trouble with fumes. I think you implied you use your machine with it on top of the night stand, as it should be.

If the trouble is caused by the water, distilled water will solve the problem. If your water was that bad, I would not be drinking it.

[chunkyfrog]

It's probably nothing more than craptronics negligent design,
materials, and construction.
The only thing to do is avoid the brand--FOREVER.

[roger84]

I'm not happy with the replacements. The iBreeze's automatic sensing barely works, and it doesn't support heated tubing. And the AirSense I got from secondwindcpap needs to be turned up to like 13-14 to get adequate pressure and the design of the humidifier chamber is even worse than the iBreeze's, which isn't nearly as good as the Dreamstation's. And I wake up feeling okay but not great.

Any suggestions welcome. I can't remember the last time I had a perfect night, which was almost all the time with the Dreamstation before things went south.

[zonker]

Any suggestions welcome. I can't remember the last time I had a perfect night, which was almost all the time with the Dreamstation before things went south.

download oscar, post graphs and we can see what's going on.

good luck!

[chunkyfrog]

Any suggestions welcome. I can't remember the last time I had a perfect night, which was almost all the time with the Dreamstation before things went south.

download oscar, post graphs and we can see what's going on.

good luck!

What zonker said!