Should I get a humidifier??

[snoreslikeatrain]

I have been using a ResMed S8 Autoset Spirit II for around a month and it generally seems to be doing the business.

So far I am not suffering from an excessively dry mouth, but around 50% of the time I have some sort of nasal congestion. I'm using Breathe Right nasal strips and sometimes put a few drops of Olbas oil on some tissue near the CPAP air intake.

Will I see any benefit from getting a humidifier (would probably be the ResMed H4i)?

Are there any downsides to humidifiers (eg. extra cleaning, mask fogging up, condensation etc)?

[Tigers Fan]

Yes to both - unless ......

Most people will tell you a humidifier is essential, benefits to health of airway and membranes. Many will tell you it is much more comfortable to breathe moist air; some hate it.

We are now leaving the problem season - cold bedrooms causing condensation of the humidified air, rainout.

The way round rainout is an Oz heated hose - not inexpensive. I love the moist warm air that results, some hate it.

Some seem to have problems with cleaning the water chamber of the humidifier. White vinegar once a week seems to be a popular cleaning method; I use Hagen Blue descaler much less often but I use water from a Brita filter and so get very little scale at all; some use distilled water and presumably get none.

A humidifier is a must-have as far as I am concerned.

TF

[snoreslikeatrain]

Anyone else find a humidifier makes much of a difference?

[Tricia]

I don't have one as I'm fine with out it. Sorry I can't help.

[Samm66]

Heated hose

Yeah!! Not been here for a while. I hope you are all well???? I am getting my payout this month and will be buying an oz hose. I can't wait!! The cold air will be lovely on those hot summer nights but as we don't get that many......warm air will do just nicely.

[Poppy56]

My health authority gave me a humidifier automatically so have never tried without. I have never had any of the bad side effects mentioned by patients who don't have one so assume the humidifer is a good thing! Water chamber gets horribly messy - and I have tried every remedy suggested. Sleep clinic recently sent me one a water chamber with a removable base last month - much easier to clean.

[snoreslikeatrain]

Hi Poppy and everyone else who's commented.

I can now report that I bought an H4i humidifier when I paid for my CPAP (Autoset Sprint II) at the end of my trial. They offered a discount if it was paid for at the same time.

So far, it's been pleasant but not a huge change from the results I was already getting. However the care & cleaning were more of an overhead than I'd expected (sorry Tigers Fan - you did in fact point all this out). We use a Brita water filter but have quite hard water and I got a layer of limescale after the first night's use (only on a medium setting too). I was able to clean this out with lemon juice but didn't fancy de-scaling regularly. For now, I have decided to:

- Use de-ionised water (£1.20 per litre from our local garage. Lasts up to a week). Not cheap but helps my laziness....
- Turn the humidifier settings down slightly (the first night it actually ran dry by the morning).

Final question
If I followed the recommended cleaning regime for the mask & humidifer, I would be cleaning them as often as daily. So far I wipe the mask over daily and wash in soapy water weekly. Since the humidifer isn't scaling up, I usually just rinse it every day or so.

How often do you clean each part of yours?

In fact, given that filtered air is being blown over the surface of the warm water (at least in my model) are there any risks in just leaving the unused water in it each morning & topping up before the next use?

Thanks, again

[jackyk]

only reccomendation i was given was to use cooled boiled water to stop it scaling up. so far so good, just rinse it out at night before re-filling. have used this for 4-5 weeks now, but do live in a soft water area

[Tigers Fan]

Oh no! not again .....

There is a lengthy and occassionally heated discussion about using de-ionised water somewhere in the forum. Thing is, from a garage, it is not sterilised for human consumption (breathing, in our case) - it is fit for batteries, not us!

If you let the humidifer run dry, you'll get all the hardness salts left as a deposit. Experiment till you find the maximum setting that leaves you with some water after an average night's sleep.

The remaining water contains all the hardness salts from the whole charge and so must be discarded. Rinse the chamber and fill with fresh water. As you use Brita water, you'll have minimum scaling - until the next time you sleep in and go dry.

Your washing schedule sounds a lot like mine.

TF

[dravidio]

Couldn't do it at all without a humidifier and a heated hose. Cooled boiled water has a greater concentration of minerals than tap water. I invested in a distilling machine - £150 and I can use the water for my steam generator iron as well.

[ElleCee]

Hi Snores,

I used to use sterile water and topped it up each night as the hospital said but it got to smell musty so now I use tap water. I rince it out every night when I go to bed. Because I like my air cold so that I can feel it, I run the cold tap for a while and use that. I tend to have the humidifier on very low so that it doesn't get warm. It uses hardly any water but enough to stop me getting a dry mouth. If I do wake up dry I just notch it up a little.
I use white vinegar about once a month to descale what little deposit there is.
I clean the mask daily with mask wipes (from Intus)and wash in pure soap once a week along with the hose.

I guess it is all trial and error as the water in each area is different. I have very little running costs and found my way works for me.
Regards
Lorraine

[snoreslikeatrain]

...I use water from a Brita filter and so get very little scale at all; some use distilled water and presumably get none.

The first time with the ResMed humidifier it actually used up all the water overnight and this then left limescale on the heating plate. I'm now running it on a lower setting and there's always water left and hasn't been any limescale.

I'm just using water from a Brita water filter and that seems to be working fine.

To confirm TigerFan's recommendation, I think this combination is more comfortable as without the humidifer, I found the jet of air that lands on my face feels slightly on the cool side. Hopefully the "exit blast" from the mask is also less chilly and so less disruptive for my wife

[tonybrentwood]

I personally don't like the warmth of the air from my humidifier, but I still use it sometimes when I have mouth dryness.
Although some people have said that it is wasting NHS resources proper distilled water can be provided on prescription, I can have 15 litres a month without problem, and can be confident that it is the proper stuff, not treated water for batteries. I just explained to my GP why I need the water and he was happy to provide a repeat prescription. Very easy to clean the humidifier when using the proper water.
Regards,
Tony

[silvercarper]

What if you pay for prescriptions!!!
I will stick to filtered water

[Tigers Fan]

Stickin' to your guns!

Hi Tony

Good to know you are still out and about, keeping an eye on us.

How's the campaigning going? or are you resting on your well earned laurels for a bit?

TF