Short Trip -not taking CPAP

I am flying on a short trip and going to be away three nights.....
I don't want to be luggaging the CPAP equipment around - if I were to be away for an extended period that would be a different matter.

I have only been on CPAP for 3 months and am not a long time user --

I realize each of us have varying degrees of issues with Sleep Apnea but I am wondering if any of you folks have travelled for very short periods without your Equipment....

I can't recommend it, but I have. About a month-ish after I started CPAP I got a call from my mother that my great grandmother wasn't doing well and would probable pass soon. I booked 3 plane tickets less than 24 hours after that call for myself and 2 special needs kids. CPAP wasn't even on my radar.

If an emergency trip were to be required now, I wouldn't hesitate to pack my CPAP with the rest of our medical things.

Why would you want to feel like crap every day, if you have been using cpap and worked at getting your therapy right? Why would you want to create health risks by not bothering with your therapy? It's a small inconvenience, when you put it in perspective! I was also not amused by the initial prospect of traveling with my cpap. But it really is amazing how easy it is if you keep the right attitude, and just think through the steps involved. Really. Don't look for rationalizations to leave it behind. Just don't even go there!

Thanks Singlemom for your comment.......

Just let me clarify my original post - I am not looking for a lecture on the sins of not using the CPAP for a few days..
I am just wondering if any members have not taken equipment for a few days.....

I know we have had two partial nights since I started using my cpap that we didn't have power. Believe me, I felt it the next day. My sleep was so fragmented and disrupted by NOT using the machine I felt like I had been hit by a truck.

I always take it with me.

What is your biggest objection to taking it?

90% of my flights are 1 night away from home the other 10% is 2-3 night trips. I take my CPAP everytime. I don't go without.

You came to the wrong place to ask your question if you were not wanting a lecture. I think that place that won't tell you how to get your data is the place for questions with the thought of no lecture.

diboja wrote:Thanks Singlemom for your comment.......

Just let me clarify my original post - I am not looking for a lecture on the sins of not using the CPAP for a few days..
I am just wondering if any members have not taken equipment for a few days.....

Oh--well then! Sorry to have not given the response you were hoping for. No "sins" here. Just go ahead and skip the cpap and take your risks. I think you already knew that. Not meant in a mean-spirited way. Just can't figure why you would post a question for which you only wanted a confirming response.

I would not even think of considering not taking my CPAP with me, even if it were for only one night.

plr66 wrote:

diboja wrote:Thanks Singlemom for your comment.......

Just let me clarify my original post - I am not looking for a lecture on the sins of not using the CPAP for a few days..
I am just wondering if any members have not taken equipment for a few days.....

Oh--well then! Sorry to have not given the response you were hoping for. No "sins" here. Just go ahead and skip the cpap and take your risks. I think you already knew that. Not meant in a mean-spirited way. Just can't figure why you would post a question for which you only wanted a confirming response.

Thank you, I couldn't figure out how to say it without sounding like I was lecturing.

sleepycarol wrote:I always take it with me.

What is your biggest objection to taking it?

Flying today is a pain at the best of times and then lugging a CPAP unit along through security and to the hotel is an annoyance. The less I have to lug along the better.

I know, I know - that it is a "religion" on this site to not use a CPAP.... I think I will run a test at home and not use it for a few nights. I think that most of you who cautioned me about not taking it along will probably be right.....

pir66 wrote:Just can't figure why you would post a question for which you only wanted a confirming response.

I didn't want a "confirming" response I just don't want lectures from the avid hosers who have not travelled without their equipment. I simply wanted to know if any members have travelled without a CPAP and how it effected them - a few have responded with info and I appreciate that.

I went on a 3 day trip shortly after starting cpap. I made it just fine but just had a very very hard time sleeping. I have learned to pack it with me now. They let you take on plane as medical equipment. They might want to give it a look over at TSA but I have never had trouble traveling with it. Your choice do what ever ya want I say.

I can't sleep without it..at all. Fragmented sleep at best. I have only slept without once in 15 years and that is because it was accidentally left at someon'es home when we were packing up. We had driven 2 hours away to our next stop before we realized it was not with us. I got it back the next day and we have been very careful to never do that again!

diboja wrote:Flying today is a pain at the best of times and then lugging a CPAP unit along through security and to the hotel is an annoyance. The less I have to lug along the better.

My notebook, cpap equipment and room for some odds 'n ends all fit in ONE carry on that I can carry as a briefcase or over my shoulder.

Personally I would rather bring the machine along than not sleep at night... because without sleep life's little annoyances become MAJOR annoyances.

diboja wrote:I think I will run a test at home and not use it for a few nights.

Uhmm... you've already done that. Think back to your pre-cpap days.

diboja wrote:I simply wanted to know if any members have travelled without a CPAP and how it effected them - a few have responded with info and I appreciate that.[/color]

See above... you already know how going without a cpap is going to affect you.

I went to Alaska a few months ago and of course CPAP was the first thing packed. This was not a short trip, but we did go camping a few days and there was no generator allowed after 10pm. Needless to say as much as I love camping, I felt like crap the entire 3 days. Its hard to enjoy things when all you want to do is sleep. I take mine everywhere, regardless of time frame. But thats me and I like to feel refreshed, not over work the heart and keep everyone else up with my snoring.

I didn't have my cpap for one night when I accidentally managed to not grab it when hopping in the car for an overnight trip. Scariest night of my life, because I knew the risks of sleeping without it. I learned on these boards that once you start therapy, your body loses all the coping mechanisms it's learned for keeping you alive through apneas - making it even more dangerous to go a night without it. One night is all it takes to kill you (just ask deceased NFL player Reggie White, whose death was due to OSA. His wife said when he passed that he used CPAP, he just hadn't used it that one night). Knowing all that... no way in heck was I sleeping at all that night.