Humidifier Attached but No Water.

Since I've come back from Perth I'm now using my BiPAP again. While I was away I took my PR560 APAP with no humidifier and had no apparent problems.

The BiPAP has the humidifier attached but I haven't put any water in it as the climate on the Gold Coast is quite humid at this time of year anyway.

My question is, should I remove the humidifier and run straight from the machine or go back to at least using some water? One of the reasons I ask is that I did appear to suffer from something like hayfever while I was in Perth, something I've never had before. This has continued since I've been home so I'm wondering if it's the lack of humidification that could be causing the problem.

You can remove the humidifier if you wish but it hurts nothing to have it attached with no water in it as long as there is no heat going to the heater plate.
The humidifier will sometimes act like a noise buffer though so you might hear the motor noises more...then again you might not.

The allergy like symptoms you experienced when not using the humidifier in Perth where things were drier could very well have been from the nasal mucosa not liking the lack of added moisture.

When the nasal mucosa get unhappy for whatever reason they will respond in a manner that mimics an allergy response.
They will swell up and get congested and maybe have the other allergy like symptoms....runny nose, itchy nose, sinus pressure, sneezing, etc.

I learned a long time ago that my nasal mucosa don't like being dried out. First time was when I made the mistake of reducing the humidity level down to 2 in what was back then a Classic Mode machine...didn't have all those fancy humidity sensors in machines back then. A few other times the nasal mucosa have given me a not so gentle reminder as to how ugly they can be when I have forgotten to fill the water chamber and it has gone dry for a significant portion of the night.

What makes it all so confusing when trying to help people is that the nasal mucosa can react the same way when they are getting too much moisture...so it's not always too little moisture. When we say humidity needs and preferences are highly individualized we mean it.

I wouldn't use my cpap/apap machine without a humidifier...simply wouldn't do it. The problems I would have with the nasal mucosa would last longer and be worse than the sleep apnea problems. I would go without cpap first before not using a humidifier with it.

Now I know that some people are okay with minimal or none added moisture but I am not one of them.
It might be that you are okay with minimal to none added moisture as long as the ambient humidity is high enough.