Newbie waking up with rainout issues / stuffy nose issues

Hello everyone.
I've been lurking on this board for a bit, reading the posts, learning what I can. Thanks to the board, I've been able to avoid some treatment issues, but I'm still running into serious rain out problems.

Last night, I woke up to find water streaming down my chin from my mask. Yuck! My Respironics M Series heated humidifer had managed to do this on a setting of '1', with a snugglecover over the hose. My bedroom isn't especially cold or hot during the night, so I'm puzzled as to why I'm getting such extravagant rainout. I hear the humidifier making 'plink' (water drop noises) throughout the night whenever it is on.

Here's my setup:

• M Series Auto CPAP with A-Flex
  M Series Heated Humidifier
  In-line Outlet Bacteria Filter for CPAP/BiPAP(5 Pack)
  SnuggleHose Cover
  ComfortGel Mask with Headgear - Small
  SnuggleStrap CPAP Mask Strap Covers
  Disposable Fine White Filters

I'm contemplating picking up a humidity gauge and temperature gauge for the bedroom for further troubleshooting, but I can't help but have a gut feeling that there may be a defect in my humidifier. The CPAP.com folks had this to say when I emailed them about my rainout problem:

It sounds like you are getting condensation in the hose. Rainout
occurs when there is not enough moisture and you wake up with your
mouth, throat and nose feeling extremely dry. I suggest that you try
turning the humidifier all the way up. Also, you may want to consider
raising the room temperature. It could be that the room is too cold.

This sounds bogus to me unless they're talking about ambient room moisture? (Turning the humidifier all the way up only resulted in faster rainout and more 'plink!' noises of water all night.) I swear, I'm not sleeping in a polar bear cave!

Advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm getting very discouraged. My significant other LOVES my CPAP machine since it stops my terrible snorting and snoring in its tracks, and when I can sleep with it, I sleep like a log. [/quote]

Where is your CPAP located in relation to your head? Mine was a little higher than my head and I started setting it on the floor. No more rainout issues.

First thing I would do is check your reservoir and see how much water you have consumed during the nite, I fill mine 2/3 and have a setting of 2 and still have a 1/3 left in the morning, or are you getting condensation in your mask from exhaling into the mask, and its not being properly vented, because of clogged exhaust holes in mask. I keep a downward slope on the hose coming out of the cpap machine, then it goes up o a angle to the bed and mask, I never get rainout, and thats sleeping with windows open on a nice night, or have the air conditioner on when hot,
Ed

oceanpearl wrote:Where is your CPAP located in relation to your head? Mine was a little higher than my head and I started setting it on the floor. No more rainout issues.

The CPAP is at about the same level as my head. I have the hose looped up over the headboard, though, so that the hose goes up about two feet before decending towards my pillow. It doesn't seem to be using up tons of water at night, which is kind of a mystery to me considering the amount of condensation in the mask!

I think I'll try the trick of putting the machine on the floor tonight and see if it helps. I like the humidification, but I don't want to be inhaling a swamp each night.

If that works, I'll drill holes in the back of the nightstand's lower shelf to run the tubing and wiring out, but try to leave plenty of space for fresh air to circulate. Currently, the CPAP is completely taking over my nightstand's tabletop, which is a bit of a problem - no place to put my glasses at night, and the alarm clock got demoted to bottom shelf, which is awkward to reach from the bed...

Thank you for the suggestions!

Anonymous wrote:

oceanpearl wrote:Where is your CPAP located in relation to your head? Mine was a little higher than my head and I started setting it on the floor. No more rainout issues.

The CPAP is at about the same level as my head. I have the hose looped up over the headboard, though, so that the hose goes up about two feet before decending towards my pillow. It doesn't seem to be using up tons of water at night, which is kind of a mystery to me considering the amount of condensation in the mask!

I think I'll try the trick of putting the machine on the floor tonight and see if it helps. I like the humidification, but I don't want to be inhaling a swamp each night.

If that works, I'll drill holes in the back of the nightstand's lower shelf to run the tubing and wiring out, but try to leave plenty of space for fresh air to circulate. Currently, the CPAP is completely taking over my nightstand's tabletop, which is a bit of a problem - no place to put my glasses at night, and the alarm clock got demoted to bottom shelf, which is awkward to reach from the bed...

Thank you for the suggestions!

lconover,

You most likely are getting condensation within your mask from your warm breath and humid air coming in contact with the cool mask. I have this problem year round and manage to live with it even with a fleece hose cover. One option you can try is setting the humidifier to zero. The air will pass over the unheated water but you should get some humidified air. Another trick to try to keep the water from leaving your mask and onto your face. This is what I did. Take half a paper towel and then cut that into fourths. Take one of the fourths and fold it so that it will fit in the bottom of your mask. My mask has a nice fold in it to hold the folded paper towel in place. This absorbs the moisture and I don’t have the water problem waking me up. I have since been able to sleep without the paper towel in the mask. I just have to shake out the water in my mask every morning.

I don’t quite know what is the cause of the “plinking” from the humidifier but the recommendation from CPAP.com makes no sense. Could the plinking be coming from the hose? If you have water blocking the hose it will make more of a gurgling noise and will wake one up. That is the sound of the air being pushed past water that is blocking the passageway of the hose. You may want to disconnect your hose and hold it vertical to allow any water to drain out. One night I had to empty out the hose twice because of this (and then I turned down the heat). In the fall and winter I had to drain the hose everyday. You may also remedy this problem by placing the humidifier lower down so any water in the hose will run back into the tank.


Since you are having problems now, you may experience worse problems this fall and winter as I did last year. With the colder temperatures will come even more condensation in the mask and in the hose. After two months of struggling with condensation in the mask and hose I purchased a heated hose. It provides enough heat to keep the hose dry and helps keep the mask condensation down too (may even be cheaper than heating the room...or house as suggested by the vendor). Some “sleep” with their hose. They run the hose under the covers near their body. I just can’t imagine sleeping with a hose. The mask is enough of a challenge.

You mentioned a stuffy nose in the subject line but I didn't notice any mention of in in the body. What's up with that?

ColoradoDreamer wrote:lconover,
After two months of struggling with condensation in the mask and hose I purchased a heated hose. It provides enough heat to keep the hose dry and helps keep the mask condensation down too (may even be cheaper than heating the room...or house as suggested by the vendor). Some “sleep” with their hose. They run the hose under the covers near their body. I just can’t imagine sleeping with a hose. The mask is enough of a challenge.
....
You mentioned a stuffy nose in the subject line but I didn't notice any mention of in in the body. What's up with that?
...

Sorry to abbreviate, but, your post was very long and informative and I didn't want to echo the whole thing... And I think I was just a sleepyhead and forgot to mention the stuffy nose in the initial post despite it being on my mind.

I'm starting to think that the stuffy nose feeling may just be inadequate air pressure. I can inhale effortlessly, so it's not a true stuffed nose. I think what's happening is that the exhale is having trouble getting through the mask and I'm left feeling like I ought to breathe through my mouth to get more air. The net effect feels a bit like being stuffed up.

I think I may have to set up a hose drip-drying rig in the bathroom, and buy a spare to rotate in and out. The heated hose idea is a good one and I'll look into it. I thought only the Fisher & Paykel model supported it, but maybe, there's a 'generic' heated hose?

Hearing from everyone here has made me feel a lot less discouraged. I did try placing the CPAP on the floor last night, and, I didn't have a rainout. It was the 'stuffy' feeling on exhales that lead me to take off the mask since I felt like I didn't have enough air. I think that the CPAP machine may be set on the lowest pressure so I'm going to experiment with it. I don't have an appointment with the doctor until September 19th so I've got a long wait before someone official has the time to tinker with it.

oceanpearl wrote: If that doesn't work you might want to try one of the fleece hose covers, That has worked for some people here.

Sadly, I've got one of those covers... I shudder to think how badly things might have gone without it! I may have needed a life jacket to get out of bed in the morning.

Whoops, those 'guest' posts above were from me.

(Still sleepy!)