Too much humidity

[MadEddie]

I've recently bought a CPAP machine from F&P, the SleepStyle 604, which has a built in humidifier. See it here
i have the machine about 10cm off the floor which puts it about 30cm lower than my head (as instructed) but I find that I get a lot of water/condensation collecting in the mask and along the heated tube. I can raise and lower the temperature of the heated pipe which I believe is supposed to control the level on condensation. If I set the temperature to 4 Degrees then it burns through about half of the water used for humidifying in one night. This seems a little excessive. Does anyone have experience of this problems or can suggest things to help ?

Thanks

[Waggy66]

Hi - I was supplied with exactly the same model (by nhs) because I am having problems with my sinus's etc- when it is set to 4 it does use about half the quantity of water. Having the temperature set to high makes my sinus's etc worse so I have tried much lower settings but it seems that when setting the temperaure to 0 no water is used - is this right surely some water must be sent through the tube and mask if not how do none heated humidifiers work.
Contrary to that guy from nuneaton I am a guenuine cpap user from January this year and I am having real problems with nose bleeds, sore eyes and ear aches - I thought the humidifier would sort all these problems out, but it seems not.

[retsyo]

Hi Waggy66 - sorry to hear about your problems - are your sinus symptons occurring during daytime?

If so it may be that your mask is leaking or the humidity setting is too high. I suffered similar problems but not nose bleeds thankfully. I use a Resmed APAP which is wonderful after a fixed pressure machine originally loaned to me by my sleep clinic.

My ears also ached from time to time which I thought was due to the pressure being too low. Had the wax removed and they seem much better.

Another tip for helping the sinuses at night is to put a few drops of Olbas oil on to a small piece of cotton wool and place it on top of the filter. This tip was given to me by the sleep clinic and it works a treat.

On the humidity side you may have to adjust the control frequently to get just the right setting. In the beginning I would wake during the night and adjust it, particularly when I could feel water running down by face. My water reduces by just over a cm during the night which I am told is quite normal. I have tried using my machine without the Humidifier and on one occasion forgot to put water in it completely and had the best nights sleep for years. Have not done it again for fear of damaging the machine. My humidifier is now set to just under 3.

Is your sleep clinic supportive?

You will see from many of the threads that sufferers take a few weeks to settle into the treatment and quite often try several masks before they are absolutely happy. It took me a while to adjust but now cannot sleep without using the mask and machine. I also have to admit to using the Olbas oil frequently.

Good luck guys

[MadEddie]

Hey Waggy,
Thanks for the reply, am somewhat relieved to hear the problem doesn't seem to be with me or my machine. I woke this morning with a pool of water in the mask which I had to tip out. I have also noticed the same high water usage on higher settings. I have re-read the manual but its rather unhelpful and mentions how the heated tube is supposed to stop any condensation...I wonder how people without a heated tube and humidifiers cope? Also am I right in thinking that you can only set the temperature of the tube and the water is heated to that temperature too?

[Waggy66]

After problems with full face mask and nasal masks I am using mirage swift II nasal pillows and I find them OK - don't think there is much leakage but the machine does not register leakage so can't be sure.
Never seem to have any problems with water in the pillows in fact sometimes wonder whether any humidification is actually reaching my nose.
Nasal passages always seem OK when pillows are in use however it is during the day I get problems with the sinus's which also seem to affect my ears and eyes - all areas feel really "uncomfortable" although I have tried a couple of nasal sprays and eye drops suggested by GP.
Now set humidifier setting to 1 as 0 didn't seem to use any water - not sure whether temp seeting controls both the tube and the heater - not really convinced humidifier is doing much good.

[retsyo]

Hi Waggy

I suffered terrible cold like symptoms during daytime hours just over a couple of weeks ago and finally put it down to not cleaning my pillows each day so I have gone back to washing them daily, in pieces, in warm water with one drop of Johnsons baby shampoo.

My congestion was so bad that I took decongestion capsules to dry it up. Thankfully it stopped almost over night and all is OK again now. I had similar symptons in the early days and the sleep clinic told me it was caused by leakage.

This leakage may not be from the mask. Do you open your mouth whilst using the mask? I tried talking, in early days, with the mask on - I soon found out this caused problems. My leakage was from my mouth so now use a chin strap with the pillows. Works well but does not look so good.

My sleep consultant told me that the nose is extremely sensitive and if masks are not kept totally clean it is possible to get infection. I am sure that I did not have an infection and your symptons sound identical to mine.

I hope this info is useful as I was also at my wits end just two weeks ago.