I switched over to a heated tubing hoping I could increase the moisture level a little without causing rain out. Well last night was my first night and I raised the humidity level just one point and woke almost 4 hours later with a tremendous amount of water in the tubing.
I had read to set the temp 78-82 so I only had it at 78 since I hate the idea of warm air blowing on me. There is also an auto setting but I wasn't sure how well to expect that to work. Does it take some adjusting normally to figure out the right temp?
I read a tip to put the CPAP on the floor so the water doesn't come up the tubing so I may try that also.
Any other useful tips to keep me from waking with a mask and tube full of water again?
Thanks!
I am having the same problems. I tried turning the hose heat off and humidity to 3 and woke up with water in the nose piece last night. I have tried so many settings and still cannot seem to find the special setting. I suffer from horrible drynessand yet i thought the whole idea around having the humidity was to combat this issue.... i was so tired Thursday this week i am not sure how I drove, this is starting to be an issue when it affect my ability to do my job. I wish there was a way to figure this out!!
There are a number of reasons for water excess in the tubing. First and foremost is that if you overfill the water tub you will be in for an unpleasant surprise. I only did this once as I got a snootfull of water. Second reason is that you have not raised the tubing up and looped over something (like a bed post) so that the water won't flow down or across as easily. Third reason would be that hot warm air tends to rain A LOT if the room is really cold. Suggest the heated tubing may not be a great weapon for dry mouth if it is raining in the tubing because of the temp disparities.
Hmm, well I tried looping the tube up over something and 5 hours into sleep last night water was spraying into my mask still. I increased the temp 1 degree each of the three nights hoping that would help but no luck. I don't get it, this was recommended as a way to help increase my moisture without the rain out and it's been worse with this tubing than the non heated tubing. The room is cool, but not cold. No AC on as the temp is dropping at night but it hasn't been cold enough to need to turn the heat on or anything.
I definitely always keep the water below the max line. But it uses up a lot of water so I have to fill it pretty close or it would be empty in the morning. I use my CPAP for as much as 10 hours some nights. This is so frustrating.
If you are using an inordinate amount of water perhaps you should monitor your mask leak rate. If you are leaking, water usage will be much higher. One thought... I tried a nasal mask. The exhale holes were not big enough and the mask filled with moisture and I about drowned. Could NOT wear the thing for more than a half hour. Not saying this is the case here but about all I can think of as far as the water in your mask. Not sure how warm the air is in your tubing but if there is a difference between that temp and the ambient air temp, that is always a suspicion. I remember my first RV... a truck top camper. First time we camped, temps outside were in the 50s with high humidity. Turned on the heater and the camper warmed to comfort BUT the water would drip off the emergency exit which was located right over my chest in the bed. I thought the roof was leaking till I figured out that condensation was causing the excess dripping.
Leakage has definitely been an issue on and off, but the water usage still seems to be a lot even on the nights when my score for leaks is showing up at a perfect 20. Last night, I put it on auto climate control and I didn't see any water in the line. My throat was a tad dry but I've got a little cold so that may be why. But I had the water filled to the max line (on a Resmed Airsense 10) and after 7 1/2 hours of usage the water is below the bottom line and just barely covering the bottom of the water reservoir. My leakage rate wasn't bad at all at an 18. So unless the readings are wrong leakage doesn't seem to be the reason. Or at least not the only reason.
I'll keep using the auto control for now and see if it's enough moisture for me. Considering how much water it's using I would think it has to be.
Thanks!
I use the Resmed Airsense 10 and have both the heated tube and humidifier on auto setting and have never had a rain out. I used to wake up with very dry mouth, but since having the heated tube, it is now the occasional slightly dry mouth. Having them both set to auto I do not notice any warm air as I was a bit wary in the beginning of using a heated tube thinking that heat=hot air.
Hi, thanks for the auto setting tip. I have both an air sense tn and a fisher packed sleep style. The fisher sleep style utilizes heated tubing but you cannot adjust the tube temperature separate from he humidity level. How can I combat this? I prefer the air sense but my sleep specialist recommended the sleep style, a device I dislike intensely.
http://padacheek.com/PAC_Hosecover.html
These completely got rid of my rainout issues
In case you are wondering, if your humidifier runs dry nothing bad will happen to your machine. So, if that was a concern for you, don't worry.
Really? When they gave me this machine one of the only things they told me was to make sure if the humidifier is on that there is always water in it. That if it was empty the humidifier has to be turned off or it will do something to wreck the heating plate. I can't remember her exact words. Wouldn't be the first time I've had inaccurate advice from a doctor's office though. Thanks!
#sleeptech Do you have any recommendations on hose temp settings and humidity settings for ResMed Airsense10? Last night i tried 80 degrees hose and 5 for humidity and tried using a hose cover and within 2 hrs i had water in my mask. I just cannot seem to get the right setting for my excessive dryness. I have taped my mouth shut so in theory if i am not opening my mouth why the dryness still. If I could figure this one last thing out i think I would finally keep it on longer than 4 hrs.
I haven't had water in the tube since switching it to automatic climate control either. I was having a bad problem with dry mouth as well, but it's been a bit better since tightening my chin strap and getting it positioned right. My mouth is closed and my teeth can even be touching but my tongue still drops and can allow a lot of air to circulate through my mouth drying it out. No amount of moisture seems to help that, so I just have to position myself and use the chin strap, etc. in a way to minimize this. I have found I definitely can't lay on my back, for example, or it gets extremely bad. It still gets a little dried out once or twice a night but I keep water next to my CPAP and take a sip and go back to sleep. Others have suggested using a mouth guard of sorts to fill in the gaps. I haven't tried it since I did have some improvement, but it sounds like a good idea.
There is no one combination of settings that will work for everyone. There is too much variation in bedroom micro-climates, general weather patterns, personal preferences for humidity, etc. In theory, if you are dry you turn up the humidifier temperature until dryness stops. If you start to get rain out (excessive condensation in tube or mask), turn the tube temp up until the rain out stops. However, it may well be worth trying it all an auto first because, if it works then yay!
I'm giving up on the heated tubing. Of course I'm not sure insurance will cover anything else just yet so I may be stuck with it for now. But it's filled with water every night no matter what setting. I'm not overfilling it, only change is maybe room temp but it's driving me crazy. Leaks are awful because of the water in the cushion. The other night I didn't feel the water coming through and I turned off the machine and started to pull the mask off and it poured out all over my head. This is with putting the machine on the floor and hooking the tube up over something also.
I didn't even check but I guess I can try and lower the humidifier setting and keep the heated tubing off so it works just like regular tubing?
I could try the cover but I hate paying OOP for stuff that may or may not be helpful or necessary in the end. I'm trying to see if insurance will at least pay for liners as I do seem to need them to help control the leakage.
I don't think the cover will solve your trouble, but I will say that I got a great cover for $15 on Amazon. It made a huge difference in my comfort level. The hose goes under the covers with me, and no longer feels like a hollow tube of noisy plastic zip-zipping around every time I move. Super happy with it. Check your insurance-mine covers a new hose every month!
@Sleepymommy703, I hear you. I'm so dry as I'm a mouth breather, it's terrible. I have to have my heated tubing at 73 degrees F or 23 degrees c as I can't stand the heat either. I got some rainout last night but it's better than being so dry, my tongue sticks tot he roof of my mouth.
I use the auto humidity mode on my AirSense 10 with a heated hose, and set my temperature at 27 deg. C. I find the temperature and humidity comfortable. Be aware that as you lower the temperature the capacity of the air to hold moisture is reduced. That is why there is dew formed at night outside. Temperature goes down and the moisture in the air drops out to form dew, once the temperature drops below the dew point.
Something is going on besides rain out. If you can soak your head taking your mask off I suspect it is time to call your DME and explain the PROBLEM. There may be some flaw in the controls that is causing this. I would think your tank would be dry pretty darn fast if you had this much water in the tubing. I think this thread has gone over all common reasons for having rain out in tubing and your example goes well beyond anything in my experience or I have heard of. Just for grins, turn off humidity and heat for a night and see if the issue persists. If it does, the equipment may be faulty in some fashion. You might also drain the tank when you do this. I don't use heat and humidity personally as it makes no difference to me as far as comfort goes so each person is sensitive to heat/humidity differently I am guessing.
If this turns out to be a faulty machine I'm going to be 3 for 3 here with my CPAPs. First one was blowing excessively high pressure levels (attempted use for a month before bringing it in to find out it was a dud), 2nd one I used for about 10 months it sat on a shelf for over a year then when I went back to it, after 1 week the pressures were all over the place and hitting me with sudden bursts so intense I couldn't breath and the humidifier appeared to stop working entirely because literally no water was being used at all even after 9+ hours of use.
I agree from everything I'm reading it seems really bizarre to have such an excessive amount of water, but I thought maybe I was doing something wrong.
I'll call them today. Thanks!
Let us know what you find out. I, personally, love the heated hose. It’s helped so I no longer have a dry mouth and no water in the tube. I’m not sure about putting the machine on the floor. I always have mine on my nightstand so it’s a little higher than my bed. I’ve had my house up for sale and whenever there is a showing, I started putting my COAP under my bed rather then unplugging and moving it. I discovered that I would get water in the tube when I did that. That’s the only time I get water in my tubing.
Interesting. I started with it on a table next to me and tried putting it on the floor, running the tube up and over something, at the suggestion here that perhaps gravity would limit some of the water coming through. I had one night it wasn't bad so I thought it worked but it only got worse from there. I'm waiting to hear back from the supply company so I'll share if they have some useful info.
When my tech brought me the heated hose he indicated that I had to put it on the floor - well yuck I just didn't like the thought, but finally found a night stand with a shelf that is 4" off the floor - problem still existed. I have a bit of a language problem as I live in France and the tech that comes to bring me equipment speaks almost no English, but I keep learning French and we get by. But I have figured out the machine has caused fluid retention, which cause high blood pressure that I never had before and breathing problems from all the fluid retention. But I do sleep in a very cold room in the winter, my heat is always turned off as I overheat during the night once I lie down so maybe that creates my rainout.
