cpap stop worrking do i need a humidier

Hallo I'm new to this page

I'm 32 male and have had sleep apnea as long as I can remember..which is funny because my memories fuzzy due to having apneas...I've been wrongly diagnosed over the years with many different illnesses..such as deppression and anxiety problems...struggled for soo many years thought I was crazy...and not normal..looking at other people and wondering why I can't function like them....

I wake up with the biggest headaches..really drowsy..and no energy..so much anxiety..
But last year I read that a devieted septum can be a cause for depression..due to loss of air and bad sleep..never has a doctor ever mentioned about my sleep..because I used to over sleep..maybe 10-12 hrs...got the operation done..and felt better but after a couple of months everything came back..finally took a sleep test..and found out I have sleep apnea..was relieved after all these yrs of stress and heartbreak...I know my problem..but what's the solution..

O.k I was givin a cpap machine..a weinnmann somnibalance..I forgot to say I live in Germany..
The machine worked great through the summer months..felt like a different person..now it's winter and seemed to be waking up with really dry mouth and still tired..all the symptoms coming back

Now I'm really scared because I'm been told cpap is my only way...

My question is has anyone ever had this problem and would a humidifier help.
Or am I doomed...took me a long time to get used to the cpap machine and my nose has the marks to show it..

Hi - it sounds like a classic case of 'the mask is the problem' (as it so often is). It's likely your mouth opens when you sleep, and you lose the Cpap air that way plus your mouth will get dry of course. What you could do is get your dealer to let you try various types of 'full face' masks - just like nasal ones but extended to cover your mouth (with vents allowing you to breathe if power goes out overnight) so you can mouth-breathe but not lose therapy. Just make sure you're given the right size for you and have them fitted properly. Go to Cpap.com and look at the various types to see what you think might suit you.

Welcome to the board. Sorry you're having problems.

Please tell us what kind of mask you are using. Dry mouth is sometimes due to your mouth opening and letting air escape. This can cause you to lose the benefit of CPAP.

There is probably software for your CPAP machine that will tell you or your doctor whether you have leaks, whether you're having apneas, etc. Unfortunately, unlike ResMed or Philips Respironics machines, I can't tell you where to get that software.

You can get the clinician's manual here: http://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-p ... tup-manual

You may be able to read off some information directly from the machine without software, but I'm not sure.

In my opinion, every CPAP machine should be dispensed with a humidifier. You can always turn it off if you don't need it, but you may need it when the air is dry, cool, or when your throat is irritated. However, if you have mouth leaks, you need to fix that even if a humidifier keeps your mouth from drying out.

Thank you for your replys..have spoken Maybe I doctor today...
He said maybe the air is dry and they are sending a humidifier..
In Germany this is all paid for my health insurance..and they only deal with
Weinmann products..I was given a nasal mask before and have now a full face mask
Because I breathed through my mouth..the mask worked great until winter time started..

The mask is a Joyce vented full mask...
Mabye I will have to buy my own mask...but dont know if other masks will work with my cpap machine...
Will have to wait and see how the humidifier works out

Guest wrote: Because I breathed through my mouth..the mask worked great until winter time started..

The mask is a Joyce vented full mask...
Mabye I will have to buy my own mask...but dont know if other masks will work with my cpap machine...
Will have to wait and see how the humidifier works out

Other masks will work, sometimes you need to tell the machine what type of mask it is (also what type of hose since they come in 2 standard sizes).

If the nasal mask worked until the weather turned dry, then a humidifier might be all you need. If your breathing out of your mouth in the more humid months, the increased air pressure will dry you out. There are some cheap passive humidifiers that aren't much more than a water tank and two hoses if there is a time delay getting supplies but the heated ones do work better if your run your room cold at night.

But the point is not that your mouth is dry (and that maybe a humidifier will help), but that you're losing Cpap (therapy) air that way and it should be going down your airway to keep it open. Even if you solve the dryness, you haven't fixed the air loss.

Guest wrote: have now a full face mask
Because I breathed through my mouth..the mask worked great until winter time started..

OP says that they are now using a full face mask...so there shouldn't be any loss of therapy via mouth breathing unless leaks are large elsewhere.

Adding a humidifier is the next logical step to see if the added moisture will help the dry mouth symptoms but sometimes even the humidifier on max isn't enough to stop the dry mouth if there are other possible culprits.

What can the other problems be...?
My wife keeps an eye on me and says the mask doesnt leak...
The last couple of weeks I have been having really dry mouth..
This is when the temperature dropped...so I'm assuming maybe it's different in the winter months..
Spoke the the specialist who works for the company who supplied
The machine has said a humidifier should help..as he's a specialist I'm trying to test his judgement
But I'm not sure...I appreciate the help people...and I'm glad I can speak to people who understand me
Not just judge....

Would love to know..if anyone else has a real loss of concentration and struggles to keep up a converstation...
I seemed to speak slower now and struggle to keep up with what I'm saying..that sounds strange..also really forgetful and simple tasks r getting hard..I spend the day trying to keep away from people...so I look like an idiot when I spk

Have to ask... Have you ever suffered a major head injury? I cracked my head really good and then went through almost exact shmptoms you describe with concentration and conversation. Affected my short term memory but not long term. Could tell someone what had for lunch every day last week but not if had eaten today. Really felt stupid for a while. Time and bipap helped a lot. Another big help was seeing an endocrinologist who got my thyroid and adrenal levels corrected. The head injury caused the brain to tilf all my autonomic functions. I can still do calculus and completly dissasemble then reassemble and calibrate a radar unit but cannot remember someones name 3 minutes after being introduced. I will remember their name in a few days for life. Losing your RAM and having to work from spooling up the hard drive is frustrating on so many levels.

No head injury...I thought maybe it was due to the lack of sleep...or big sleep debt..
I'm not sure...100 percent...but I hope your situation gets better...I'm just feeling my zombie self at the moment

Have you had a full blood workup by an internist or endocrynologist? Any 1 of these pesky little glands or organs we have go loopy and it can throw the brain into complete dissarray. Amazing how much it helped when they just got my testosterone correct. Then thyroid, adrenal and others were off. Dont be suprised if they adjust one with meds if others change. Took 2 years to get all my blood work correct and it still drifts and has to be adjusted. If you feel your brain going into freeze mode then something is amiss and the correct doc can find it. Just takes looking long enough.

I have had many blood tests..also cat scans and other tests...they always say everything is fine
Except my weight..and smoking..I don't smoke no more or drink..and my breathing has improved
But not the apnea..also had my deviated septum fixed...also no luck

The doctors in Germany r adament cpap is the only way..actually worked for a while and
I way really refreshed..my concentration levels improved by miles and my memory was sharper...but the last
Couple of weeks...slowly starting to feel the same...hence I ordered a humidifier

Also does anyone else who smokes..no of the real effects on sleep apnea..or is it just good to quit for health reasons
Because smoking was my only stress relief..I know that sounds bad

I actually smoked 4 years. Always was an athlete, even professional with sponsors and all that, but day came home to discover all furniture gone from house, bank accounts empty and wife gone I went and purchased a pack of smokes. Ended up with 2 pack a day habit unfiltered Camels or Lucky Strikes. While sure had apnea it was still undiagnosed. I was so healthy for so many years that the docs never even thought to look for apnea. I was racing bicycles with a 500 mile per week training regimine and rock climbing weekends of no races then ice climbing and high altitude mountaineering during off season for cycling. My body was processing so much oxygen in those days the smokes nor apnea seemed noticed. But the smokes did help with the stress of a nasty divorce and then being thrust back into single life. Would have gone nutts without my smoking to deal with the stress so I completely undedstand. Four years later met good woman and laid them down. So yes, smoking can be a huge stress manager for some. In 4 years it did start getting into my health. Since I dealt with results based sports when i quit my times went down in races and watts of power, even lifting in gym got better. So I am sure the smokes have to be bad for health but good for some of us mentally. Luckily it was just a stress thing so once filled that hole laid them down. So I am now 50 years old and smoked only 4 years. I still have 3 distinct spots on my lungs that can only be attributed to smoking. It was more but time has cleared a few. 20 years since I quit and still shows the evidence on CT and MRI scans from only 4 hears. I cant imagine how bad a lifetime of sedintary living and smoking actually is on the body. Know it killed my dad and one uncle who were both professional baseball players thus active for most part. Smoking put my grandfather in an early grave too. So if you are far enough ahead of them then by all means do not pick them back up. Find some other stress relief if possible would be my suggestion. What that is would be up to each persons individuality.

The 'stress' relieved by smoking is actually stress you have when the nicotine lessens, so another smoke raises the amount again!

kal81 wrote:Hallo I'm new to this page

I'm 32 male and have had sleep apnea as long as I can remember..which is funny because my memories fuzzy due to having apneas...I've been wrongly diagnosed over the years with many different illnesses..such as deppression and anxiety problems...struggled for soo many years thought I was crazy...and not normal..looking at other people and wondering why I can't function like them....

Doctors seem to be very good at missing the true physiological reasons for disease (they do not find the cause) and then end up shipping the poor people off to the psychologists who seem to have no objective data of cure. We end up not only getting sicker but more discouraged as well.

kal81 wrote:I wake up with the biggest headaches..really drowsy..and no energy..so much anxiety..

I am suspicious of CPAP induced ventilatory instability.

kal81 wrote:But last year I read that a devieted septum can be a cause for depression..due to loss of air and bad sleep..never has a doctor ever mentioned about my sleep..because I used to over sleep..maybe 10-12 hrs...got the operation done..and felt better but after a couple of months everything came back..finally took a sleep test..and found out I have sleep apnea..was relieved after all these yrs of stress and heartbreak...I know my problem..but what's the solution..

O.k I was givin a cpap machine..a weinnmann somnibalance..I forgot to say I live in Germany..
The machine worked great through the summer months..felt like a different person..now it's winter and seemed to be waking up with really dry mouth and still tired..all the symptoms coming back

Winter in Germany. No UVB!!! Vitamin D3 levels drop! You should have your vitamin D3 levels checked.

Dr. Stasha Gominak has noted that many of the areas in the brain which deal with breathing stability are sensitive to D3 hormone levels. Those who are working with the D3 hormone (A.K.A. Vitamin D3) (e.g. Dr. Stasha Gominak, Michael F. Holick, Ph.D., M.D., Vitamin D Council) seem to be finding that the very low side of the “normal” range of 30-100 ng/L produces a range of symptoms including OSA, pain, and infection. All believe that a level lower than 50 ng/mL is not good and Dr. Stasha Gominak recommends 60-80 ng/mL for good health.

It takes about six weeks of supplementation to affect a sufficient change to note a difference.

kal81 wrote:Now I'm really scared because I'm been told cpap is my only way...

One thing you can do right now is to spend some quality time with your machine during the day. Some of the time in bed learning to breath quietly. Some of the time with light distraction (book, music, radio, light TV). With your conscious mind involved I think that better breathing reflexes can be made which do appear to help me when I find myself with symptoms such as yours.

Anything that you do to reduce stress will likely help. Perhaps this is a good time to take up some good form of meditation. Perhaps a new hobby. Perhaps a new sport or dancing.

Exercise is very likely to help. In the states during winter times the shopping malls open up very early for the “Mall Walkers” who use the large runways in the mall to grab some miles out of the cold. I used to have a treadmill in my home and I used it a lot. Now I have no TV at home so I am tempted to use the Gym where they do have TV along with the cycles I need to keep arthritis out of my knees. When you exercise I think your force your breathing systems to work a bit better. Right now I am using long term exercise (2-3 hours a day) to help me get to sleep. Looking at my data for the last month it appears to have made a notable difference in my breathing stability. Minute volumes are lower and the maximum minute volumes are much lower and the trend started with the long term exercise.

kal81 wrote:My question is has anyone ever had this problem and would a humidifier help.

I believe that ventilatory instability is the main reason why people end up giving up on CPAP. And a whole lot of people end up giving up on CPAP.

When you use more air you dry the airway. A humidifier might help with some of the symptoms of a dried out airway but will do nothing to help with the excessive arousals, high stress hormone levels, changes in blood chemistry and circulation, and other malaise from the over and under breathing going on.

Since getting many of my ventilatory stability issues under control I no longer use a humidifier. A dry airway now is for me an indicator that ventilatory instability is present and so I know that I need to do something about it.

kal81 wrote:Or am I doomed...took me a long time to get used to the cpap machine and my nose has the marks to show it..

Well first I got CPAP and things were a bit better. Then I got attacked and ventilatory instability wrecked my CPAP therapy until I learned how to deal with it.

I have given you some things here it took me a long time to learn while enduring many bad sleep nights. Please take them and use them well.