New Here - just introducing myself

Hi everybody. I'm new here, but not really a newbie. I was diagnosed back in 2003 & used a machine for years. I had another sleep study recently and because I don't have insurance the doctor sent my paperwork to the Reggie White Foundation who just sent me the new machine (listed below). I am hating the mask & pulled it off about halfway through the night. I had never known what my old mask was called, but found something very close to it on the internet today - it's the (discontinued) Breeze SleepGear (from Puritan I think). A few sites still have it & I'm hoping to buy one soon & just crossing my fingers that they don't run out of them before I have the money.

I'm wondering how important is it to use distilled water in the humidifier?

Anyway, pleased to meet everybody.

Hi, and welcome... The distilled water is mainly to keep your humidifier from a build-up of junk inside... insidious little stuff, often pink for some chemical reason, builds up and is hard to get rid of, plus you don't really want it in your nose or lungs, but it's otherwise not 'therapy' in itself and lots of people don't use it, but plain tap water, keeping an eye out for build-up and cleaning the tank regularly. Depends also I guess on what your water's like where you live and if D. water is unusually expensive for you.

Hi Julie,

Thanks for the information. I'm going to the store tomorrow so I'll pick up some distilled.

Welcome to the board

I have found distilled water saves my humidifier chamber from getting slimy, and I find my nose likes distilled water. When I've used filtered tap water, my nose felt like I had shoved sandpaper in the nostrils and gave them a good sanding

I get my distilled water in the 2.5 gallon cubes from the grocery store. The bottles with the spout. Makes it quick and easy to top up the humidifier tank.

Apneanderthal wrote:I get my distilled water in the 2.5 gallon cubes from the grocery store. The bottles with the spout. Makes it quick and easy to top up the humidifier tank.

What brand? I like the idea of the spout but I don't think I've seen that here in NJ.

DoriC wrote:

Apneanderthal wrote:I get my distilled water in the 2.5 gallon cubes from the grocery store. The bottles with the spout. Makes it quick and easy to top up the humidifier tank.

What brand? I like the idea of the spout but I don't think I've seen that here in NJ.

Here is Ohio the brand is Distillata http://www.distillata.com . The cubes are great and no waste/spill with the spout.

Speaking of which I have been using alot of water lately with the furnace running the air is so dry in my house.

Welcome AKinVA!

AKinVa wrote: I had never known what my old mask was called, but found something very close to it on the internet today - it's the (discontinued) Breeze SleepGear (from Puritan I think). A few sites still have it & I'm hoping to buy one soon & just crossing my fingers that they don't run out of them before I have the money.

Welcome!

If you look through the notes here, you will often find people willing to give away some gently used masks for the cost of shipping. Take a look around. You might see one similar to the mask you are trying to match at a low cost (or free).

John