[Q] New to CPAP, how are my charts looking?

zoomzoom · Post by **zoomzoom** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 12:16 am

My original RX was for 6-10, with ramp on.

With some guidance, it was recommended I try 7-11 pressure, ramp off, EPR to 3 all the time (which I didn't need to change as it was the same before).

While I am not necessarily feeling any significant better, I understand this may take some time. And even if it doesn't, it's still probably good for me in the long run.

This is a chart from when I had it at 6-10: https://imgur.com/bnEpB8c

And then this is after I set it to 7-11 (I think I lost Saturday or Sunday there for whatever reason as SH thinks I only slept for about 45 minutes, for whatever reason).

The 11th: https://imgur.com/TH0c6Lh

The 12th: https://imgur.com/IOtuNko

Any changes you guys recommend?

I'm in the SF Bay Area, which can get somewhat dry (although we have a lot of rain right now). I feel like I'm going through my distilled water pretty quickly. About every 2.5 nights, I feel like I need to refill the humidifier chamber pretty often. Distilled water is only $1.10 near me, but that cost will still add up pretty quickly, I think. Our tap water is hard, I believe.

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 12:26 am

zoomzoom wrote: ↑
Thu Mar 14, 2019 12:16 am
Any changes you guys recommend?

I recommend reformatting your charts the way you've been asked to, repeatedly, so they're not an unreadable mess.

Simple, step by step instructions, and examples: wiki/index.php/Sleepyhead:Organize

I also recommend not starting a new thread for everything, as recommended in the pinned READ THIS BEFORE POSTING up in the announcements section.

zoomzoom · Post by **zoomzoom** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 12:53 am

palerider wrote: ↑
Thu Mar 14, 2019 12:26 am

zoomzoom wrote: ↑
Thu Mar 14, 2019 12:16 am
Any changes you guys recommend?
I recommend reformatting your charts the way you've been asked to, repeatedly, so they're not an unreadable mess.

Simple, step by step instructions, and examples: wiki/index.php/Sleepyhead:Organize

I also recommend not starting a new thread for everything, as recommended in the pinned READ THIS BEFORE POSTING up in the announcements section.

Sorry about that. I changed my original post to reflect the correct order and I made the charts a little bigger (and got rid of one value).

What about now?

zoomzoom · Post by **zoomzoom** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 1:21 am

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑
Thu Mar 14, 2019 1:02 am

zoomzoom wrote: ↑
Thu Mar 14, 2019 12:16 am

I'm in the SF Bay Area, which can get somewhat dry (although we have a lot of rain right now). I feel like I'm going through my distilled water pretty quickly. About every 2.5 nights, I feel like I need to refill the humidifier chamber pretty often. Distilled water is only $1.10 near me, but that cost will still add up pretty quickly, I think. Our tap water is hard, I believe.
I'm in the Bay Area as well. I usually have humidifier on setting 3. A full tub lasts at least 3 days. It holds about 12 ozs. so say no more than 4 cups or 32 ozs per week... Or about 1 gallon per month... So that's pretty cheap at $1.10 per month, no??? Nothing in the Bay Area is as cheap as that...

I think if I drop my humidity setting to 3, I can probably get 3 days. I would be OK with 3 days, I think. Currently, at 4, I have to refill basically after the second night. On most weeknights, I don't even get more than 8 hours of sleep. On weekend, though, I do get between 8-10 hours of sleep.

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 2:25 am

zoomzoom wrote: ↑
Thu Mar 14, 2019 12:53 am
What about now?

Your pressure is spending the whole night trying to get back down to that 7, and then having some kind of issue that's causing it to bounce back up. (mainly flow limitations). It's spending all the time in between FL's trying to get back down to your minimum pressure, which gives you that roller coaster looking effect.

I'd like to see a smoother pressure chart... I'd suggest, probably, a minimum pressure of 9

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 6:43 am

It's not just the humidity outside (raining or not) that will affect water consumption...it's the humidity inside.
Most of us this time of year won't be sleeping with the windows open to allow the inside humidity to take on the higher humidity to match the outside when it is raining. Raining will affect things a little but not a whole lot unless the windows are open and the furnace (or A/C) isn't running (both of which lowers humidity inside the house).

A lot of people are doing good to have the tankful of water last one night. It was designed to last one night hopefully. Some people can't even get that because of needs of their nose and their dry climate.

If the cost of distilled water takes food off the table....you can use tap water even if it is hard water.
But the cost for doing that is you need to clean the water chamber every so often to remove the water build up in the chamber (or buy a new chamber which would cost a lot more than the distilled water). Mineral deposits are easily removed with a solution of vinegar or lemon juice though and a gallon of vinegar will last through a large number of cleanings.

So you do have some options...and bear in mind that your nose may or may not be happy with using less moisture.

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:47 pm

I use whatever water is handy, sometimes distilled, sometimes sterile (in the hospital, if they can find it, sometimes tap water there)... sometimes tap or filtered water at home... but I do suggest dumping out tap water every day to cut down on buildup...

it doens't matter... a quick acid soak (vinegar, citric acid, lemon juice... ) and it's clean as new again.

zoomzoom · Post by **zoomzoom** » Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:44 pm

palerider wrote: ↑
Thu Mar 14, 2019 2:25 am

zoomzoom wrote: ↑
Thu Mar 14, 2019 12:53 am
What about now?
Your pressure is spending the whole night trying to get back down to that 7, and then having some kind of issue that's causing it to bounce back up. (mainly flow limitations). It's spending all the time in between FL's trying to get back down to your minimum pressure, which gives you that roller coaster looking effect.

I'd like to see a smoother pressure chart... I'd suggest, probably, a minimum pressure of 9

I wanted to start to move up my pressures slowly. I made it 8-12 for last night. What do you think?

https://imgur.com/4uwOOTa

zoomzoom · Post by **zoomzoom** » Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:45 pm

Pugsy wrote: ↑
Thu Mar 14, 2019 6:43 am
It's not just the humidity outside (raining or not) that will affect water consumption...it's the humidity inside.
Most of us this time of year won't be sleeping with the windows open to allow the inside humidity to take on the higher humidity to match the outside when it is raining. Raining will affect things a little but not a whole lot unless the windows are open and the furnace (or A/C) isn't running (both of which lowers humidity inside the house).

A lot of people are doing good to have the tankful of water last one night. It was designed to last one night hopefully. Some people can't even get that because of needs of their nose and their dry climate.

If the cost of distilled water takes food off the table....you can use tap water even if it is hard water.
But the cost for doing that is you need to clean the water chamber every so often to remove the water build up in the chamber (or buy a new chamber which would cost a lot more than the distilled water). Mineral deposits are easily removed with a solution of vinegar or lemon juice though and a gallon of vinegar will last through a large number of cleanings.

So you do have some options...and bear in mind that your nose may or may not be happy with using less moisture.

Wow, a tank a night?! Guess I should be thankful. I bumped down my humidity level to 3 instead of 4, and I think I can get 2 more nights out of the remaining amount!

katestyles · Post by **katestyles** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:54 am

palerider wrote: ↑
Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:47 pm
I use whatever water is handy, sometimes distilled, sometimes sterile (in the hospital, if they can find it, sometimes tap water there)... sometimes tap or filtered water at home... but I do suggest dumping out tap water every day to cut down on buildup...

it doens't matter... a quick acid soak (vinegar, citric acid, lemon juice... ) and it's clean as new again.

Another way to take the minerals out of the water is to boil it. Get a tea kettle, and boil the water. Let it cool, then use it in your CPAP. The white mineral crust will be in the tea kettle, not your CPAP.

Dog Slobber · Post by **Dog Slobber** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 10:03 am

katestyles wrote: ↑
Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:54 am

Another way to take the minerals out of the water is to boil it. Get a tea kettle, and boil the water. Let it cool, then use it in your CPAP. The white mineral crust will be in the tea kettle, not your CPAP.

This will not reduce the minerals in your water, it will actually increase the density of the minerals within the water that has not evaporated.

babydinosnoreless · Post by **babydinosnoreless** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 10:08 am

zoomzoom wrote: ↑
Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:45 pm

Pugsy wrote: ↑
Thu Mar 14, 2019 6:43 am
It's not just the humidity outside (raining or not) that will affect water consumption...it's the humidity inside.
Most of us this time of year won't be sleeping with the windows open to allow the inside humidity to take on the higher humidity to match the outside when it is raining. Raining will affect things a little but not a whole lot unless the windows are open and the furnace (or A/C) isn't running (both of which lowers humidity inside the house).

A lot of people are doing good to have the tankful of water last one night. It was designed to last one night hopefully. Some people can't even get that because of needs of their nose and their dry climate.

If the cost of distilled water takes food off the table....you can use tap water even if it is hard water.
But the cost for doing that is you need to clean the water chamber every so often to remove the water build up in the chamber (or buy a new chamber which would cost a lot more than the distilled water). Mineral deposits are easily removed with a solution of vinegar or lemon juice though and a gallon of vinegar will last through a large number of cleanings.

So you do have some options...and bear in mind that your nose may or may not be happy with using less moisture.
Wow, a tank a night?! Guess I should be thankful. I bumped down my humidity level to 3 instead of 4, and I think I can get 2 more nights out of the remaining amount!

I'm in Phoenix so we are really dry. My humidity is set to either 1 or 2. I don't remember but I think I turned it down to 1. My machine uses a tank a night.

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 2:01 pm

katestyles wrote: ↑
Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:54 am

palerider wrote: ↑
Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:47 pm
I use whatever water is handy, sometimes distilled, sometimes sterile (in the hospital, if they can find it, sometimes tap water there)... sometimes tap or filtered water at home... but I do suggest dumping out tap water every day to cut down on buildup...

it doens't matter... a quick acid soak (vinegar, citric acid, lemon juice... ) and it's clean as new again.
Another way to take the minerals out of the water is to boil it. Get a tea kettle, and boil the water. Let it cool, then use it in your CPAP. The white mineral crust will be in the tea kettle, not your CPAP.

This is absolutely false.

impure water is a solution of water and not water stuff (minerals, among other things). When you boil water, some of the water leaves as steam, what stays behind are all the contaminants. more concentrated since there's just as many minerals and less water, so then you pour that higher concentration of water and minerals into your cpap.

Think of it like reducing something on the stove. you pour something fairly thin into the pan, simmer it for 20-30 minutes... much of the water goes away as steam, and you're left with a much thicker sauce.

That's the *exact* same thing that happens when you boil water before using it in the cpap, it's just not quite as thick, but ounce for ounce of water, you're putting MORE minerals in the cpap tank.

This bad idea is pretty prevalent, I'm interested in where it comes from....

[Q] New to CPAP, how are my charts looking?

[Q] New to CPAP, how are my charts looking?

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Re: [Q] New to CPAP, how are my charts looking?

Re: [Q] New to CPAP, how are my charts looking?

Re: [Q] New to CPAP, how are my charts looking?

Re: [Q] New to CPAP, how are my charts looking?

Re: [Q] New to CPAP, how are my charts looking?

Re: [Q] New to CPAP, how are my charts looking?

Re: [Q] New to CPAP, how are my charts looking?

Re: [Q] New to CPAP, how are my charts looking?

Re: [Q] New to CPAP, how are my charts looking?

Re: [Q] New to CPAP, how are my charts looking?

Re: [Q] New to CPAP, how are my charts looking?