Why the hell would I use a humidifier.

Guinges, don’t listen to these people

You are speaking the truth and your post is underrated

You are, of course, entitled to your opinion.

You are not, however, entitled to be rude.

I use a humidifier because I don't like the nosebleeds I get from going without the humidifier.

I use a humidifier to help keep my lungs clear when I'm dealing with a respiratory infection.

I use a humidifier because I happen to like it. Now I don't have to haul a humidifier with me when I travel, just my CPAP and its humidifier. I don't have to keep a humidifier running in the house in the fall and winter: just my CPAP and its humidifier.

If you don't want to use one, that's your business. But guess what: you do not get to dictate what works for everyone.

What nasty replies (on the whole). You people need to get more sleep.
My intention was only to start a debate. I wasn't sure if my position was a good one, but after unquestioningly believing humidifiers were a good thing for so long, I was beginning to wonder, especially when I stopped using one and preferred it.
Common beliefs aren't always right.

Guinges wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 06, 2019 7:07 pm

Why would you pass the air you breath through a heated bacterial culture/cesspool

That question is easily answered.
You were too ignorant and condescending to follow the manufacturer's instructions. They say to regularly clean the tank and use drinking water or distilled water, if readily available.

I have not read anywhere saying pond water or sewage is permitted by the manufacturer.

Guinges wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 06, 2019 7:07 pm

Excuse my rudeness but ... I am a GP.

You got nasty replies because you started with a nasty and abrasive tone.
Pretty simple. You got in return what you started with.
There are better ways to start a nice healthy debate than what you did.

And FWIW....this whole "use added moisture or don't use added moisture" has be pretty much beat to death in other debates/threads long before yours along with the "grow something in your water chamber" discussion as well.

As for any fancy letters you might have at the end of your name....they don't mean much here with this crowd.
Most of us are here because the medical profession has let us down. It's like waving a red flag in front of a herd of bulls.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 07, 2019 7:35 am

You got nasty replies because you started with a nasty and abrasive tone.
Pretty simple. You got in return what you started with.
There are better ways to start a nice healthy debate than what you did.

And FWIW....this whole "use added moisture or don't use added moisture" has be pretty much beat to death in other debates/threads long before yours along with the "grow something in your water chamber" discussion as well.

As for any fancy letters you might have at the end of your name....they don't mean much here with this crowd.
Most of us are here because the medical profession has let us down. It's like waving a red flag in front of a herd of bulls.

I get it now. Thanks. I wasn't trying to make out I was special, indeed I don't think I am. I was trying to point out that I had some scientific background that was leading to my questioning of the whole idea of humidification. Creating a warm moist environment in the tube was I think leading to an unpleasant odor (bacteria), despite regular washing, soaking in Hydrogen Peroxide, ozonating at the CPAP shop. That's all gone since I stopped doing that and bought a new tube.

I need to look it up, but at higher pressures is the evaporation rate lower? If so that would mean the mucus membranes In your airway would be less likely to dry out when using CPAP.

I also wonder Whether the need for humidification might be dependent on CPAP pressure used.

I always thought I was "extra special"!

Sheriff

Guinges wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 07, 2019 4:46 am

What nasty replies (on the whole). You people need to get more sleep.
My intention was only to start a debate. I wasn't sure if my position was a good one, but after unquestioningly believing humidifiers were a good thing for so long, I was beginning to wonder, especially when I stopped using one and preferred it.
Common beliefs aren't always right.

Is it your normal practise to start a debate by suggesting people are a bunch of suckers who need smartening up?

And then refer to those who respond in kind as nasty?

I don't know about mucous membranes but higher pressure will cause more water to be used than lower pressures if talking about water consumption evaporation. More pressure will equal more water being used. Logic tells me that the same thing will maybe happen to the nasal mucosa or airway membranes.

The whole idea for added humidification was designed for the nasal mucosa. People were getting vasomotor rhinitis from using cpap pressures of any amount. So bad they just would prefer to do without cpap than deal with the rhinitis.
I know that I tried a lower humidity setting once and man did my nasal mucosa ever tell me that wasn't what they wanted. It took a full 4 days to get past those ugly symptoms (typical allergy like symptoms)...and before you say it was an allergy attack....every time I have ended up using all the water in the chamber during the night because I forgot to fill the chamber those ugly symptoms have returned.
The symptoms have been directly related to what happens to the nasal mucosa without adequate added moisture.
I would go without the cpap before I would use it without the level of humidification that my nasal mucosa needs to be happy.

I don't know why your hose smells bad when adding moisture and doesn't if you don't...but a bad smell doesn't automatically equal bad stuff growing in the water.
Bad smell doesn't necessarily mean bad stuff growing in the hose either.
And even if it did...there are ways to mitigate the risk.

Humidity needs are highly individualized and personal. What one person needs can be entirely the other end of the spectrum from what the next person needs. I know of 2 cpap households where one person needs maximum humidity and the other person needs minimal to none added moisture. Both are breathing the same ambient air so it can't be that which is making the difference...
The nose wants what the nose wants and everyone's nose is different.
Just one of the many, many things pertaining to cpap treatment that comes with a big YMMV sticker.

I have been on cpap over 10 years now. My hose has NEVER smelled bad and I have one hose with over 15K hours on it. It got retired because it was a heated hose and I changed model machines and it wouldn't fit the new model.

You found a solution to your perceived problem....don't assume that the rest of the population has the same problem that you do and would be happy with the same solution even if they did. Doesn't work that way. There's always that YMMV sticker.

Dog Slobber wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 07, 2019 8:15 am

Guinges wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 07, 2019 4:46 am

What nasty replies (on the whole). You people need to get more sleep.
My intention was only to start a debate. I wasn't sure if my position was a good one, but after unquestioningly believing humidifiers were a good thing for so long, I was beginning to wonder, especially when I stopped using one and preferred it.
Common beliefs aren't always right.

Is it your normal practise to start a debate by suggesting people are a bunch of suckers who need smartening up?

And then refer to those who respond in kind as nasty?

Not my normal practice but I thought I would give it a try

We are all suckers. Was it Henry Ford who said "There's a sucker born every minute"? I think I was sucked in for sure and I include myself in that category. That's why it is important to question things. I googled whether humidifiers were really needed and got the same old spiel repeated over and over, anecdotal stuff, no hard data that I could find. It's a bit like the "Big Endians" and the "Little Endians" in Gullivars travels who went to war over which end you should open your boiled eggs.

Thanks for your useful post Pugsy.

I’m curious, do you use distilled water? The only time the air I was breathing has smelled was when I used tap water, as I had run out of distilled. Our drinking water is perfectly clean and has no noticeable smell. But, breathing it in such concentrated fashion, one can certainly smell that it is not distilled.

Guinges wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 07, 2019 8:44 am

Dog Slobber wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 07, 2019 8:15 am

Guinges wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 07, 2019 4:46 am

What nasty replies (on the whole). You people need to get more sleep.
My intention was only to start a debate. I wasn't sure if my position was a good one, but after unquestioningly believing humidifiers were a good thing for so long, I was beginning to wonder, especially when I stopped using one and preferred it.
Common beliefs aren't always right.

Is it your normal practise to start a debate by suggesting people are a bunch of suckers who need smartening up?

And then refer to those who respond in kind as nasty?

Not my normal practice but I thought I would give it a try

We are all suckers. Was it Henry Ford who said "There's a sucker born every minute"?

No, it was P.T. Barnum.

I think I was sucked in for sure and I include myself in that category. That's why it is important to question things.

You really should take a little time and read the content of this forum before being so judgemental.

Most of us are here, *because* we question things. We are self managing our own treatment. We didn't just take a machine home, plug it in and accept what your alleged profession told us to do.

And experimenting with the humidity settings, to find what works best is encouraged and probably has been done by most of the suckers you want to debate.

Guinges wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 07, 2019 4:46 am

What nasty replies (on the whole). You people need to get more sleep.

We don't like jerks coming in and crapping in our pool, like you did.
And your lame and stupid "need to get more sleep" is the stupid sort of thing trolls spout.

Guinges wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 07, 2019 4:46 am

My intention was only to start a debate.

Bullshit

Guinges wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 07, 2019 8:44 am

Dog Slobber wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 07, 2019 8:15 am

Guinges wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 07, 2019 4:46 am

What nasty replies (on the whole). You people need to get more sleep.
My intention was only to start a debate. I wasn't sure if my position was a good one, but after unquestioningly believing humidifiers were a good thing for so long, I was beginning to wonder, especially when I stopped using one and preferred it.
Common beliefs aren't always right.

Is it your normal practise to start a debate by suggesting people are a bunch of suckers who need smartening up?

And then refer to those who respond in kind as nasty?

Not my normal practice but I thought I would give it a try

So, how does abject failure taste?