A few questions

Hi everybody. I have a few questions, if anyone out there would be able to help me:

(1) I am planning to do my first weekly clean today. I plan to use Palmolive Pure + Clear dishwashing soap because it was the closest type that I found recommended. It says it has "no unnecessary chemicals" like bleach, anti-bacterial agents, dyes, perfumes, etc. Is this okay to wash everything -- tube, humidifier, mask, headgear, filter -- with?

(2) I bought a plastic basin to do all my CPAP cleaning in. Should I pour out the water before washing a new item to prevent cross-contamination? Or would it be okay to, say, soak the hose for a few minutes, then use the same water to wash the humidifier, mask, headgear, and filter with?

(3) The mask I wear is supposed to have little vents to release air, correct? The reason I ask is because it seems lately I haven't been getting enough air from my machine. It says it is set to the correct pressure, but I can barely tell it is even on when I wake up sometimes. I have been having some of the same problems before CPAP treatment -- waking up every hour, waking up with a headache and dry mouth, being sleepy ALL the time, etc, so I was just wondering.

(4) How accurate is the AHI reading on my machine? It says I average around 2.5 AHI, which is MUCH less than the 115+ I was measured at during the sleep study. Do you believe this is accurate? I do not have the software for more detailed analysis of the data.

Thank you all for your help!

Let's see what we can do for you:

(1) I am planning to do my first weekly clean today. I plan to use Palmolive Pure + Clear dishwashing soap because it was the closest type that I found recommended. It says it has "no unnecessary chemicals" like bleach, anti-bacterial agents, dyes, perfumes, etc. Is this okay to wash everything -- tube, humidifier, mask, headgear, filter -- with?

That sounds like it should be fine. The milder the better in general.

(2) I bought a plastic basin to do all my CPAP cleaning in. Should I pour out the water before washing a new item to prevent cross-contamination? Or would it be okay to, say, soak the hose for a few minutes, then use the same water to wash the humidifier, mask, headgear, and filter with?

Not sure what you mean by cross-contamination. It's all hooked up together on the machine so all your gear is already "sharing" whatever gets in/on it anyway. If you are particularly suseptible to infection or disease I can understand wanting to be real stringent with your cleaning practices. Otherwise I wouldn't really stress too much over it. Use warm water and soap, rinse everything well and let it dry thoroughly. Do you empty the sink after every dish you wash? (hopefully not) Nor should you worry too much about that sort of thing with your CPAP gear. I've seen some very obsessive cleaning regimens recommended here and elsewhere. I don't have enough experience yet with nasal pillow-style masks to know how much it helps (although I've started cleaning mine daily now), but I know with my previous mask (a ComfortGel nasal mask) I went weeks without cleaning it and didn't notice significant problems with it. As long as you're using distilled water in your humidifier, I wouldn't worry too much about the cleanliness of the hose and tank.

(3) The mask I wear is supposed to have little vents to release air, correct? The reason I ask is because it seems lately I haven't been getting enough air from my machine. It says it is set to the correct pressure, but I can barely tell it is even on when I wake up sometimes. I have been having some of the same problems before CPAP treatment -- waking up every hour, waking up with a headache and dry mouth, being sleepy ALL the time, etc, so I was just wondering.

Sounds like maybe a mouth breathing problem. You might want to try a chin strap. Using the appropriate software would help identify this as it would let you look at your leak rates and a few other items that indicate mouth breathing.

(4) How accurate is the AHI reading on my machine? It says I average around 2.5 AHI, which is MUCH less than the 115+ I was measured at during the sleep study. Do you believe this is accurate? I do not have the software for more detailed analysis of the data.

I don't know enough about how the data is measured to comment on this. Hope this helps.

Thanks for your comments, snardo! Regarding cross-contamination, you make sense, but I wasn't sure if it would be a problem, say, washing my headgear then letting my hose soak in that same water.

Also, I use a mask that covers both my nose and mouth. Could simply keeping my mouth open and having the air blow down it cause my throat to dry out, even if using a humidifier?

W_HAMILTON wrote: Also, I use a mask that covers both my nose and mouth. Could simply keeping my mouth open and having the air blow down it cause my throat to dry out, even if using a humidifier?

Yes. The humidifier helps some but for serious mouth breathers it may not be able to add enough moisture to the air.
This is common. Some people will even use a chin strap of sorts to try to keep mouth from dropping open to lessen the dryness.

W_HAMILTON wrote:The mask I wear is supposed to have little vents to release air, correct? The reason I ask is because it seems lately I haven't been getting enough air from my machine. It says it is set to the correct pressure, but I can barely tell it is even on when I wake up sometimes

It is common to feel that the air flow has decreased substantially when we wake up because our body has become used to the pressure. What seems like gale force winds when we first mask up is not noticed at all when we wake up. You are just getting used to the pressure.

W_HAMILTON wrote:How accurate is the AHI reading on my machine? It says I average around 2.5 AHI, which is MUCH less than the 115+ I was measured at during the sleep study. Do you believe this is accurate? I do not have the software for more detailed analysis of the data.

The machine shows only 7 and 30 day average AHI. It is about as accurate as an average can be.
Do you want the software so you can see nightly data that is more comprehensive?
You can also use Onkor online analyzer developed recently by cpaptalk forum member to view nightly details.
Gives a better idea what is going on.

W_HAMILTON wrote: I bought a plastic basin to do all my CPAP cleaning in. Should I pour out the water before washing a new item to prevent cross-contamination? Or would it be okay to, say, soak the hose for a few minutes, then use the same water to wash the humidifier, mask, headgear, and filter with?

No need to worry about "cross contamination" as the gear isn't loaded with germs. Just general light wash and rinse in one container all together is quite sufficient. I don't even soak. Just quick wash and rinse under running water is all I do and I don't do the hose or headgear routinely.

W_HAMILTON wrote: I have been having some of the same problems before CPAP treatment -- waking up every hour, waking up with a headache and dry mouth, being sleepy ALL the time, etc, so I was just wondering.

To really evaluate your therapy we need to look at the software reports. Make sure leak is not large enough to impair therapy. That AHI on the LED screen may not be accurate if large leak is present. Don't go by the Large Leak percentile showing on the LED screen because the large leak has to be monumental to register and leaks long before it get to that level will impair therapy. Again, software reports will show if leak is problematic.
Finally even with the best of therapy it can simply take some time to see improvement and often there are other factors involved. If you are waking frequently during the night, need to try to figure out why. Fragmented sleep itself will mess with how we feel the next day.
So we look at reports to see if something is showing there that needs work. If none, then we look at other possible factors contributing to feeling less than optimal.

Well, just went through and finally washed everything for the first time! I used the same soapy water like others suggested, but I did do it in a specific order: first let the hose soak for a minute or two, then washed the humidifier, then the mask, then the grey filter, then the headgear. Even if cross contamination is unlikely, I figured this "order" would make it even more unlikely

For anyone that is wondering, the Palmolive Pure + Clear seemed to work well. It wasn't harsh, it had a slight clean smell (nothing overpowering), and it washed off very easily. My hands also feel very clean (although a bit dry now)

I was worried that the upkeep of the system would be a pain, but it hasn't been too bad at all. Personally, I usually wipe down the silicon part of the mask everytime I wake up and rinse out the humidifier and let it dry. I'm planning to do this more in-depth washing each week, and it only took maybe ten minutes. Overall, not too much of a disturbance to my normal routine

OH YEAH..another question I forgot to ask: for anyone that uses the PR System One REMstar Pro CPAP Machine with C-Flex Plus, do you have a problem with the micro filter (white) and the larger filter (grey) falling out, or being blown out of the system? There seems to be nothing to hold them in -- you just stick them in their little hole. I noticed after the first few days that they had fallen out of my machine; rather, they were so far away -- they had fallen onto the floor about eight inches from where they would normally be -- that it seems as if they had been blown out. I fixed it by putting a small piece of tape along the top of the grey filter (just covering maybe 0.5cm of the filter itself).

W_HAMILTON wrote: for anyone that uses the PR System One REMstar Pro CPAP Machine with C-Flex Plus, do you have a problem with the micro filter (white) and the larger filter (grey) falling out, or being blown out of the system? There seems to be nothing to hold them in -- you just stick them in their little hole. I noticed after the first few days that they had fallen out of my machine; rather, they were so far away -- they had fallen onto the floor about eight inches from where they would normally be -- that it seems as if they had been blown out. I fixed it by putting a small piece of tape along the top of the grey filter (just covering maybe 0.5cm of the filter itself).

This seems to happen to a few people with any model of the new PR S1 machine. Nothing holding those filters in placed and they can get blown out. Others use rubber band around the filters. Not sure why they get blown out. I haven't had it happen to me but others have.

I use baby shampoo.
I normally wipe my mask off every morning (I use pampers thick wipes - no aloe or alchohol), then on Saturdays I scrub the mask and soak the mask in a plastic tub (large bowl) for a few hours, then rinse real well.

Hope this helps... Sheriff

My experience is that the filters pop out from the back-pressure if you cough with your mask on. A rubber band solves the problem. Looks dumb, but works. I know they were trying to streamline everything in the design, but the rubber band is rather unattractive!

Hold your hand in the airstream above the vent and feel the strength of the stream of air that's coming out of it. Get a feel for what's right and that will help you judge quickly what's right. You can also lift up the edge of your mask and feel the air blowing out to check.

It's normal to feel you're being blown away when you first use the machine. Then after using it for a while, you may not feel the pressure. Sometimes when I put mine on, I have to check it to be sure it's actually blowing because I don't feel any pressure.

You do know you can vary your humidity setting, right?

What is your pressure set at? It should be on the display when the machine is running.

Be happy if your AHI is 2.5. If you're wondering why your AHI is different from the sleep study, it's supposed to drop. A low AHI indicates CPAP is working. AHI=5 is "OK", 2.5 is "good." They usually shoot for 5 or less. I'm not sure there's really such a thing as "precise" AHI measurements since there's a gray area in terms of what is and isn't a hyponea.

I, too, check if the blower is working by waving my hand across the airflow coming out of the mask exhaust vent;
especially since I slept an entire night with the machine off--breathing through the anti-asphyxiation valve.
Guess what--I'm still here. A little bit smarter, I hope.