CPAP machine noise

[Catzmama]

Hello All:
I'm new here. I just had a sleep test and was amazed at how much better I felt after using the CPAP machine at the lab. The machine there was extremely quiet, only a "whooshing" noise and contiuous airflow. Friends who have CPAP machines have told me they are bothered by a "whoosh/boom" type of noise when using their machine. Can anyone enlighten me as to whether they are supposed to be quiet or noisy? Thank you!!

[Julie]

Hi, well come are a little less quiet than others, some are just about silent, but I have no idea what your friends are referring to, or even whether their machine needs looking at. There are no machines so noisy (if working normally) that you can't sleep, though it could take a day or two just to get used to the new sensation. What can be a bit noisy at times are particular masks, but that's something you'll have to see for yourself.

[headbored]

I too am new here but I have no problem with the noise from my machine but I think it is just a matter of getting used to it as something different always is noticable at first.

[WearyOne]

I read a long time ago a suggestion to cover the cpap machine with a styrofoam cooler if the noise is bothersome (of course making sure there's adequate ventilation and the machine has plenty of space inside the inverted cooler). Those who have tried it say it works wonders.

I was bothered by it at first. It wasn't loud, but it wasn't a consistent noise, and that bugged me no end! I use a white noise machine that I already had to block that out.

Pam

[cajun]

Def a "whooshing" sound, but it doesn't bother me at all. My wife says I sould like Darth Vader, but she'll take the white noise-like sound from the machine over my snoring.

[BleepingBeauty]

ResMed machines are supposedly quieter than Respironics. Many people complain about the noise of the Respironics M-Series machines (and the blue lights on them).

I use a Respironics machine, myself, and I don't even notice the noise or the lights. I guess your individual sensitivities come into play with regard to machines, just as they do with masks. If you're overly sensitive to lights or sound, you'd probably be best off with a ResMed machine. But do your research here before you're prescribed any machine, so you can advocate for yourself re: which equipment will suit you best. (Start at the top of the page, at the lightbulb called "Our Wisdom," and also read the third post down on the main page, called "Where a CPAP Newbie Should Start.")

As to the "whoosh/boom" machine sound your friends are referring to, I have no idea what that might be. My machine noise is steady and more akin to white noise than anything else. I started using an oxygen concentrator about ten days ago, and THAT thing has that "whoosh/boom" sound and makes a heckuva lot more noise than my CPAP machine does.

[Spirit]

My cpap is so quiet, the first night while ramping, I checked to see if it was turned on a few times. My pressure is set low to 8cm, so I don't hear any pressure.

Think it has alot to do with the manufacturer of cpap and pressure settings. During my sleep study, pressure was high, thought the nasal pillows were going to fly off my nose (whoosing sound),.

Good luck !!

[Hoze-Zay]

My O2 Concentrator makes a whoosh boom noise but I have a small fan setting on top of it for white noise, a boxfan for white noise, and a white noise generator in the room. When I do for some reason hear the noise I start singing in my mind the chain-gang song, "Thats the sound of the men working on the chain-gang song" then I insert the whoosh boom for the hammers ..Puts me right to sleep.

[6PtStar]

I was on a oxygen Concentrator for a little over a year. The first one I got (don't remember the brand) was so noisy you almost could not stay in the house with it. I changed DME's and got a Respirionics Millennium and it was not bad on noise. Put it in the next room with 20 feet of hose and did not notice it.

Jerry

[LSAT]

I started out with an M series...it was very noisy. My wife was ready to send me to another room. My DME exchanged it for my current F&P which is extremely quiet. Often during the night if I wake up I need to check to see if it is on. I think when you initially start up the unit it is noiser than when it / you have achieved normal pressure in your mask. The unit does not need to work as hard to maintain pressure.

[apnez]

My wife and I are now on the same type of machine in the same room : Resmed S8 AutoSet II. And the gobal "noise" of two machines operating simultaneously in the same room is barely more than one. This is absolutely not an issue. I've heard a few other machines and there is nothing comparable as far as noise is concerned. Some of them are more than a turbo blower!

[Julie]

I think it should be pointed out that putting a cooler (or anything else) over the machine is a really bad idea. The air intake at the back of the machine will very quickly run out of clean air, maybe even any air at all, which is not going to help any of us very much.

[Jason S.]

With mask off, my Remstar Auto A Flex is at least 10 times noisier (same 8cm pressure) than my old M-series CPAP non-data. Now I have to shut the machine off when I get up at night or else it will wake up my wife. However, once the mask is affixed snugly, the sound level is about the same with both machines.

[DoriC]

I just hear the sound of my husband's inhaling and exhaling and it's a much more comforting sound than the silence and then gasping I was hearing before cpap.

[carbonman]

I started my therapy w/an Mseries auto.
I had to teach myself to live w/that rhythmic whine of the motor
as it spins up and down w/the cflex.
I actually named it Grace, as in:
amazing Grace, how sweet the sound.
I did learn to live w/the sound and actually came to enjoy it
because I knew it was responsible for my new life.

Grace lived in the bottom of my night stand.
I drilled vent holes in the back of the cabinet
and put a big pillow over the front to muffle the sound.
It worked great.

A month ago I got the S8 Autoset.
I maintained the same setup.
The first nights that I used it, I was always putting my hand
over the mask vent, to make sure it was running.
Last night, I didn't bother w/the pillow plug in the front of the cabinet.
Couldn't hear a thing. Just another amazing quality of this machine.

The more I use this machine, the more I like it.