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BDP87

BDP87
Joined Jun 2018
BDP87
Joined Jun 2018

I posted here several days ago about using a humidifier with the CPAP and getting some sort of cold/bronchitis not long after starting it. I was told to use the humidifier because I was waking up stuffy (from the AC's cold air). I was told by the tech that gave it to me to use the humidifier to prevent the stuffiness. I kept using it even though I continued to have chest pains, which lasted most of the day.

It got to the point that I went to the hospital yesterday to make sure I wasn't getting sicker or something else was happening. I was told that my lungs were clear and from the x-ray everything seemed alright. Still, last night, I decided I wasn't going to use the humidifier anymore. I woke up this morning, stuffy again, but have almost no chest pain. My apneas also have seemed to go down and I got a pretty good sleep as well.

Other than being stuffy for a while in the morning, are there any risks involved with just NOT using a humidifier? I feel as though I have had problems with humidifiers in the past long before using one with the CPAP. As I said, this morning I have almost no chest pain, just stuffy, which I can deal with until it subsides. I have posted on another forum and gotten so many conflicting opinions on what the heck the problem is.

I was using bottled water with the exception of one night where I had to use tap water. Some people, including my tech, told me it was no big deal. Others told me it was a major problem. I decided to just eliminate the humidifier entirely and not have to worry about it at all.

Will I be alright NOT using it, aside from the stuffiness in the morning?

So a little over a week ago I called a CPAP tech about some issues I posted on here (dry mouth in morning, API's went up, nasal congestion). He thought maybe the cold air from the AC was making the air too dry and interfering with my breathing a bit. He suggested I start using the humidifier on the lowest setting (1). I have the ResMed AirSense 10.

The first night or two, I felt some relief, and the APIs actually went back down to what they normally were. It seemed to be working out well. Fast forward to about three days ago. I started feeling some chest congestion. Thought nothing of it. Then yesterday, woke up and it was considerably worse, and I even started hacking up some nasty, green mucus, which eventually subsided over the course of the day.

I've already started a dose of antibiotics to rid myself of whatever the heck this is, but I can't help but correlate using the humidifier to suddenly hacking up thick, green mucus. I was told that in the event of a cold, it's actually BETTER to have a humidifier, to "loosen up" the gunk in your chest. Still, I am now afraid to use it. I used it reluctantly last night after cleaning out all the tubing and water tank, and then convinced myself that the tubing needed to be cleaned again today because I am sick, so I did it all over again and now I am leaning more towards not using it at all.

Now, I don't know what to do. I am scared that I may get pneumonia or something else nasty, and I really want to avoid this situation again. What do I do? Do I stop using the humidifier? Do I stay the course? I have had a bit of a history in the past with upper respiratory infections, but have not had any trouble in quite some time until this issue.

Can someone offer some advice?

So, I am fairly new to the CPAP machine. I was told I have minor obstructive sleep apnea, and that as long as my number of AHI's is under 5, I'm OK.

I started treatment with the machine May 15. Since then, I have basically averaged about 2 AHIs a night. No more than 3. The last few days, however, my AHI's have begun to jump. It went from like 2.7 a few nights ago to like 3.6, and then 4.3 this morning. I have the ResMed MyAir 10 app and check the scores and information on there frequently. I can't really explain why this is happening. Sometimes it does register that my mask seal isn't at 100%, but this morning especially I woke up with a very dry mouth which I haven't for some time. I always check the machine data first and then the app once is syncs. I have been keeping an eye on the "Central AHI" also and that looks to be slightly increasing but I can't tell if it is because maybe there is a leak or if I am really having some Centrals as well. My machine is set to anywhere from 5-15 for pressure and I have noticed that the leaks MAY be getting higher but I don't understand how. I was averaging a lower number but I checked the leak from last nights sleep and it's at 23L/min. Is that way too high? Like I said, I am new to this and don't know.

The scores on the MyAir app seem sort of misleading which annoys me because even if something is off, you can generally get a decent "score" just for sleeping long periods of time and dumb stuff like that.

I am worried that I am approaching the "over 5 AHI"s and I do not want to get into that territory. I can already feel the affects of having more AHIs this morning as I am more tired and anxious.

I do want to note that I DO take Clonazepam, but I have even before I had the sleep study. The only thing that has changed for me recently was that I was given a different brand than the one I had the past 3 months, but it looked like the trend may have already been starting before I started taking the new ones.

Please help!