How this forum has really helped

[knightlite]

This forum has made my journey thru sleep study an easy trip. I lingered and learned a lot, only posting when I could not find an answer over a period of time .

What I learned here has helped me with other friends who are on the machines even though they have been on cpaps for a long time . Their machines are old and they had no idea of finding the wealth of info that resides here. I gleaned some good things from them to.

A. Don't buy a bunch of stuff you don't need ---hangers etc. be patient give yourself time.

B. Clean your equipment gently and often - use dawn to clean oil off, a cap full of bleach to a gallon of water, occasionally use a cup of vinegar , and last a warm water wash with baking soda, hang it up let it dry , paper towel out the inside of the mask. I don't want anything growing in my breathing line. Don't use any scented stuff -washed it one night with shampoo to get the oil off-- bad night ,never will do that again. You told me so !

C. distilled water in humidifier tastes bad to me , if money is not tight I use dasani water, it does not leave any residue in my chamber, but 1 bottle pint lasts me 5 days. My bi-pap friend put me on to this and he was right.

D. I have the ds460p and use sleepyhead software and patch works fine on my xp computer. Thanks to the people here on this forum . And no it does not bother my data on my sd card like my dme tried to scare me with. I have not got my 90 day compliance yet so I am restricted with what I can do.

E. I intend to get a second mask for cleaning and a second machine --a ds560 apap but I must stay in compliance with this machine . Meanwhile no boiling water for my mask or anything like that .I can't fake out ds460p to be a full apap until its mine -10 months away.

F. my mask works it is a full face amara ,the cpap is bringing my ah1 down--- yay! I want to try other masks but I think I will try to get past six months and not confuse things including me . So my second mask will be the amara.

G. The greatest discovery was cpap reduced my bathroom trips to one or less --whoopee that's worth a lot. I fought going on this for 12 years , big mistake !

meanwhile I'll be reading your posts ---its helping a lot of us.

[Xney]

Odd, distilled water should not have *any* flavor or taste.

But glad stuff has helped

[LSAT]

This forum has made my journey thru sleep study an easy trip. I lingered and learned a lot, only posting when I could not find an answer over a period of time .

What I learned here has helped me with other friends who are on the machines even though they have been on cpaps for a long time . Their machines are old and they had no idea of finding the wealth of info that resides here. I gleaned some good things from them to.

A. Don't buy a bunch of stuff you don't need ---hangers etc. be patient give yourself time.

B. Clean your equipment gently and often - use dawn to clean oil off, a cap full of bleach to a gallon of water, occasionally use a cup of vinegar , and last a warm water wash with baking soda, hang it up let it dry , paper towel out the inside of the mask. I don't want anything growing in my breathing line. Don't use any scented stuff -washed it one night with shampoo to get the oil off-- bad night ,never will do that again. You told me so !

C. distilled water in humidifier tastes bad to me , if money is not tight I use dasani water, it does not leave any residue in my chamber, but 1 bottle pint lasts me 5 days. My bi-pap friend put me on to this and he was right.

D. I have the ds460p and use sleepyhead software and patch works fine on my xp computer. Thanks to the people here on this forum . And no it does not bother my data on my sd card like my dme tried to scare me with. I have not got my 90 day compliance yet so I am restricted with what I can do.

E. I intend to get a second mask for cleaning and a second machine --a ds560 apap but I must stay in compliance with this machine . Meanwhile no boiling water for my mask or anything like that .I can't fake out ds460p to be a full apap until its mine -10 months away.

F. my mask works it is a full face amara ,the cpap is bringing my ah1 down--- yay! I want to try other masks but I think I will try to get past six months and not confuse things including me . So my second mask will be the amara.

G. The greatest discovery was cpap reduced my bathroom trips to one or less --whoopee that's worth a lot. I fought going on this for 12 years , big mistake !

meanwhile I'll be reading your posts ---its helping a lot of us.

There is some BAD information here...NEVER use bleach and ALWAYS use distilled water when possible. (Why are you drinking the humidifier water????)

[WarmBodies]

While we are picking on what you learned, let me add this one.

I don't want anything growing in my breathing line.

I learned the hose doesn't need cleaning unless you are doing something untowardly.

[cosmo]

I would stick to mild detergents only. Dawn dish soap is awesome for greasy pots and pans, probably not so good on the lifespan of mask parts.

This is for my ResMed set, Respironics should have something similar.

[eeckel]

I am also grateful for all I've learned on this forum!
There are some brisk personalities in the OT threads. I'm quite entertained.

[SusieG]

"Brisk"... good way to put it!

[simplyme]

I would stick to mild detergents only. Dawn dish soap is awesome for greasy pots and pans, probably not so good on the lifespan of mask parts.

I kinda thought Dawn was a "Mild" detergent, after all they use it to clean up animals after oil spills... although perhaps the "mildness" of a detergent is less of a thought when compared to the Oil coating an animal?

I have always used dawn or just a quick suds of Dove unscented hand soap, those are what I have handy on my sink, and I am all about whatever is easy and less effort...

[cosmo]

Seeing as how Dawn can take care of greasy items, I wouldn't call it mild But I don't really know if it is or isn't. I tried the pricey all natural stuff, you end up re scrubbing the stuff a few times. Dawn is the best.

I use baby shampoo for my weekly mask cleaning. I rinse it daily. I use 7th Generation natural dish soap for the weekly hose and humidifier tank.

[Sheriff Buford]

"Brisk"... good way to put it!

I say, "oh, here we go..."

Sheriff

[knightlite]

eeckel
I was shocked also by the replies , but when you are a newbie you have to take it on the chin . Its okay! I am not out to change someones mind .
Perhaps when a year has passed I'll look back and feel like a foolish freshman . At least its not boring ! I take life too seriously anyway.

[zoocrewphoto]

Seeing as how Dawn can take care of greasy items, I wouldn't call it mild But I don't really know if it is or isn't. I tried the pricey all natural stuff, you end up re scrubbing the stuff a few times. Dawn is the best.

I use baby shampoo for my weekly mask cleaning. I rinse it daily. I use 7th Generation natural dish soap for the weekly hose and humidifier tank.

I've been using dawn since I started April 30. I changed the first cushion at the end of October, but still have it as I wasn't really sure if I needed to change yet. I have a new cushion that i have not opened yet. My second cushion has been going 5 months now, and it seems fine still. I don't clean my mask every single day, but I have found that I have more leaks if I don't give it a cleaning every couple days.

[Madalot]

Seeing as how Dawn can take care of greasy items, I wouldn't call it mild But I don't really know if it is or isn't. I tried the pricey all natural stuff, you end up re scrubbing the stuff a few times. Dawn is the best.

I use baby shampoo for my weekly mask cleaning. I rinse it daily. I use 7th Generation natural dish soap for the weekly hose and humidifier tank.

I used Dawn Direct Foam on my masks, hoses & filters for the first couple years. While I never seemed to have any issues, the claims that it could break down the silicone concerned me. I decided to try Baby Shampoo (Lavender scented for me) and I've stuck with that since it seems to work just as well.

[ems]

There are some brisk personalities in the OT threads. I'm quite entertained.

You are most welcome. Better than real life sometimes... wouldn't you agree?