A nasty fright!

offlineon · Post by **offlineon** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:05 am

I woke up with my APAP off. It seems I had hit the power button in my sleep. Nasty feeling - Co2 Headache, zombie mode... the works

Silly idiot that I am, I had placed the APAP on a chair right next to my side where my arm could hit it. I thought the machine would have automatically reactivated but either I woke up too early or rather (and I suspect this is the case) a hypopnea was preventing enough exhale force to activate the sensors.

I wear a FFM so I was obviously re-breathing my exhaled air for a significant period. It was not an electrical outage as my computer was still on and downloading <cough> torrents. NEVER ever will I place my unit within arms reach again! Crikey!!

I'm now also scared into looking to make sure I have some sort of battery backup in place in case of an electrical outage. Any suggestions? What about a good surge protector as well? I'm hiring at the moment but I will be buying soon.

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:39 am

Lets start with the good news: You woke up - as nature intends you to.

Now: Does your machine autostart under normal conditions? Have you checked this when you're awake? Some people have reported Remstar Autos do not manage to autostart when a full face mask is used - apparently a full face mask (or some full face masks) has too much volume in it for the machine to figure out someone is attempting to breath at the other end of the hose...

You write: I wear a FFM so I was obviously re-breathing my exhaled air for a significant period

However, FFMs have an emergency valve that should open when you try to breathe and there is no pressure. (I know this from reading -have never held one in my hands). I'm sure one of our FFM users will have more info about making sure it's functioning on your mask.

Any chance you jiggled the electric plug while tossing and turning? Is it firmly in place on both wall side and machine side? (My 420E has power supply socket on the machine side as well, and I know that has to be inserted securely too).

I have some sort of battery backup in place in case of an electrical outage. Any suggestions? What about a good surge protector as well? I'm hiring at the moment but I will be buying soon.

Take a look at our host's site, cpap.com; use the forum search button for "battery pack" and similar terms - you'll find many very knowledgeable discussions of the subject by campers, yachters, etc. some of whom may not be posting just now. Seaching for "battery +yacht" (without the qoute marks) is a good bet.

And last but not least: Some of us have been know to take the mask off while half asleep, and turn off the machine. Train yourself not to turn off your machine, ever, before you take of the mask. If you drill that into your unconcious, "mask off, then machine" chances are lower that you'll turn of the machine, unconciuosly while asleep. I know you think you did it inadvertantly, but that's a good habit to aquire in any case.

O.

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offlineon · Post by **offlineon** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 1:29 am

Now: Does your machine autostart under normal conditions? Have you checked this when you're awake?

Yes it does.

However, FFMs have an emergency valve that should open when you try to breathe and there is no pressure.

You are right. I can see a silicon type o-ring seal flap open and close depending on pressure. Must have had a bit of choking then.

Any chance you jiggled the electric plug while tossing and turning?

1st thing I checked. Aussie plugs grip pretty hard unless broken.

Train yourself not to turn off your machine, ever, before you take of the mask.

Good advice thanks.I had been doing it the other way around because I thought taking the mask off would record as a leak in my encore results. I did give the machine a fair whack though - I have the bruise to prove where I hit it

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 1:47 am

So you must be geaing up for another night (tis 5:50pm in sydney right at this minute )

I used a Remstar Auto (cflex model) & am married to my UMFF mask as it is the one mask I can always come back to when the others play up or my mouth breathing messes up my nasal pillow masks.

15 cms is a bit of a whack to take. I was on 15 for a year but took myself to 13 after some home testing. Turned out that was supposed to be my proper cms anyway except the person writing the info down wrote the 3 like a 5.

Where did you do your sleep study Sydney ? - RNSH ?

Cheers

DSM

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rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 8:04 am

LINKS to Battery operation, camping, power outage

Back when I used to use a FF mask every night, I experienced several power outage incidents. Without air being blown into the mask from the machine, the mask's safety valve that ozij mentioned and that you noticed, does stay open to let you breathe more air than just through the little exhaust vent holes.

Nevertheless, it's a rather stuffy way to breathe, so we do eventually wake up -- same as the way we used to when feeling suffocated by an apnea. As ozij put it so well: "You woke up - as nature intends you to."

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 8:59 am

When i'm in the Lower Cave I use my computer APC Back-UPS 1250, It probably won't run it for long but it does protect the APAP, and shorter power outages.

Now that I'm in the Upper Cave, I need to make different arangements. I may get a second APC. Jim