CPAP

[DAN-Y]

I purchased the Transcend on Craigslist for $45.00 I will be using it with my new hose and HME set-up.

[DAN-Y]

Those of us that wear glasses have had them fog up when we wear a mask and our breath escapes from under the edge of the mask. That shows us when we exhale, moisture from within our bodies comes out of our mouths. That moisture is what condenses on the walls of our tents under certain conditions.

Well the little discs inside the HME are designed to collect the moisture when we exhale. When we inhale, the moisture on the disc goes back into our nose and moistens it. The heat in our breath heats up the disc and then when we inhale it makes our noses feel a little warm.

[jscott]

A Transcend for $45.00 is a good deal! Congrats! Let us know how this all works out. Many here will be curious.

 

[DAN-Y]

Last nights sleep with the set-up went well….sucess#3

I’ll keep testing to determine weather or not the HME disc will fail before 30 days is up.

[DAN-Y]

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

I am shocked none of you have a ResMed Air Mini?

https://easybreathe.com/collections/travel-cpaps

Not cheap for sure. But considering how much we will pay for hiking gear, it isn’t expensive. And yes, I am a customer of Easy Breathe. They are a reputable by mail company.

I use a CPAP but I don’t need it now. Losing 3 pant sizes helped me a lot at night for sure – I don’t snore much anymore. But…I sleep better, and deeper, if I use it. It’s my comfort blanket for sure. Put it on and I am out. I track my sleep rhythms at night.

Anyhoo, just leaving you the link.

[AK Granola]

I also lost weight since my last post -about 20 pounds so far. Has made a big difference in my snoring, although i have no idea about my mild sleep apnea, because I’m not paying the outrageous cost to get it tested again. I have another 10 to offload, hopefully with this summer’s hiking.

[Jerry Adams]

“i have no idea about my mild sleep apnea, because I’m not paying the outrageous cost to get it tested again”

At the risk of stating the obvious, if you’re using a cpap it tells you what your AHI is.  AHI of 5 to 15 is mild.

Theoretically, a pulse oxymeter can measure ODI which is an approximation of AHI. https://snoringmouthpiecereview.com/articles/what-is-a-pulse-oximeter

They used a CMS50E to measure oxygen level over night and then calculate ODI.  Not a definitive medical measure, but it would give you an idea.

 

[Jerry Adams]

I’ve used this sleepon ring which is supposed to calculate AHI, but the oxygen level is way off compared to a pulse oxymeter so it’s totally useless.

There’s an Apple watch (or something) that’s supposed to measure O2, but they violated someone’s patent so I thing they discontinued that.

[AK Granola]

If the reply was to my post, no, I don’t use a cpap and never will (as previously stated, although this thread is getting moldy). I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea and the docs told me to lose weight. So I did.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

I honestly don’t get the hate of using CPAP machines. Sure it isn’t sexy. But if you get a good machine, a good hose and a well fitted mask it won’t make overall noise. And you get used to it. Yeah, every once in a while I wake up at 2 am freaked out that I have an alien face hugger on me….but that is rare. As for the sleep studies you can do them at home now and it runs $200 to 300 to do it, versus $10k overnight billed to insurance.

As rules change a lot more people will be using them (to get their CDL license for example). Mild sleep apena you might not die from, but it does cause a LOT of wrecks due to people falling asleep at the wheel. I feel a lot more industries will start requiring sleep studies to work. Just my 2 cents. I am glad I live in a time when I have an easy solution.

(In my case my sleep apena showed up after having 2 more kids. I had weight issues and then wasn’t sleeping well due to 2 young kids, so the effects were real. And yes, I was in a car wreck that I cannot tell you wasn’t partially caused by my severe sleep issues. Thankfully no one was hurt then. But it really drove home to me I had to get better, and I did.)

[jscott]

thanks Sarah, for the post above, and good on ya for taking action. I’m with you: using cpap isn’t a big pain, as depicted in ads. I use a nasal mask, which is small and light and simply fits under my nose. It’s not a big honkin’ piece of plastic. But I’ve also used full face masks, and again, they’re far preferable to essentially not sleeping, or anyway going into REM.

My brother’s wife resisted cpap for two years after the sleep study he made her get showed severe apnea–after all he slept in the same bed and heard her stop breathing 50 times a night. Finally she capitulated and now loves her cpap–as most do, if they just give it a try and get over the initial hump.

I think something like 30% of the population has some form of apnea. It’s certainly common. best to address it.

[Jerry Adams]

Yes AK, that was in response to your statement.  I wasn’t sure whether you had a cpap but the pulse oxymeter would give you an idea whether you have sleep apnea or not.  Not a substitute for the expensive tests though.

I agree Sarah, cpap has never been a big deal for me.  Rarely, ill have congestion from a cold and breathing through nose to cpap is uncomfortable, so I take it off.

I have mild sleep apnea when I sleep on my back, but if I sleep on my side it’s not a problem.  That’s what I do when camping.

I think it’s common to have worse sleep apnea when sleeping on back.

Don’t get medical advice from random people on the internet, but maybe you can run it by your doctor :)

[Axel J]

I was diagnosed with moderate Sleep Apnea a couple of years ago but probably been that way for 10 years. Given my life style, the doctor prescribed an oral devise. 18 months and 3 sleep studies later, the apnea is much improved but not gone so if the goal is to have zero episodes, he gave me 2 choices- CPAP or Inspire.

I elected to go with CPAP since MRI is not allowed with the Inspire devise implanted.

Of interest, I recently got an Apple Watch and started to use their sleep monitoring app and found the data informative. Now I will be able to compare my sleep info using the oral device and CPAP to see if one or the other is better. Regardless, I still plan on using the mouth piece when I go backpacking.

[Kevin L]

I have used a cpap for 20 years.  I have mostly central sleep apnea.  For backpacking I use a resmed airmini.  I carry 2 24v cpap batteries.  My setup is 6 lbs.  On a cold night I will use one battery.  The air mini is an auto-cpap.  I camp as high as 11k feet.  in warm weather I can get 2 night/ barrery.  I also carry a solar panel to charge the batteries.

I have used it in temps as low as 25F, battery and machine were in sleeping bag with me..

The Airmini, like most cpap’s is only rated up to 8500 feet.

[Wannabe Adventurer]

I have been backpacking for many years with a CPAP, this blog post I wrote a few years ago is still valid, still use same equipment, havent found anything to beat it yet.

https://www.wannabeadventurer.com/post/hiking-backpacking-with-a-cpap

[Alex (he/him)]

My setup is very similar to Kevin  L’s except I don’t have a solar panel. (No long trips, yet). I also have a little crate so the air intake on the AirMini doesn’t get blocked by the fabric of my quilt on winter trips.

[jscott]

I won’t get the Inspire because my long hiking trips are over due to age and other complications. Wait, that could be the subject of a poem, Age and Other Complications…

but, to resume: IF it turns out the Inspire is effective, and IF I had apnea and was forty or fifty years old, or younger…then the Inspire might be a good option for someone who’s a dedicated backpacker. because it essentially weighs nothing.

[Alex (he/him)]

The Inspire sounds exceedingly unpleasant to me (tongue twitching involuntarily). Anyone with experience or second hand testimonials?

[jscott]

“The Inspire sounds exceedingly unpleasant to me”

I understand. I’m not getting it for myself either. BUT, if after some years it proves to be effective with no side effects other than MRI interference, I see it as an option for backpackers with apnea. Hauling a machine and batteries and recharge equipment is heavy! the Inspire requires none of that. But it may have other side effects that I don’t know about, since I don’t follow reports on the device.

[DAN-Y]

My winter, spring and now going into summer use of the HME (heat-moisture exchanger) has shown me the HumidX works the best for me. The HumidX Plus was producing too much moisture during the colder months. Moisture was condensing in my mask and the N20 Connector.

N20 Connector for the Air mini:

[Author]

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