That’s my mask as well. I was very skeptical at first because I really hated the nasal cannula during the sleep test. It took about a week but I got used to it and now I love it. It seals very well and has no problems handling my pressure of 14. I still wake up a lot during the night but that’s usually related to hip pain and I have to roll over. I also have to check to see if my mask is still on just because it’s so comfortable that I can’t tell until I touch my nose.
I’m gonna hijack this thread for a minute, because of all the CPAP users checking in here.
I’ve had a CPAP for almost two years, and find it vital to a good night’s sleep. Trouble is, I love to go car camping, and have not been able to find any reliable portable power source for traveling – something that can perhaps be ran off a car battery or somesuch, but will last a couple of nights and is rechargeable.
Sleep is difficult without the machine, so some sort of solution is needed. Anyone have any experience with this or can think of a solution?
An inverter would certainly work but could drain your car battery. You’d need to determine how much power your cpap consumes. You could also look at a computer UPS but you’d still need an inverter to charge it when the engine was running.
Check at apneasupport.org, there are several threads there that deal with battery power supplies for CPAP machines. At least one seemed to suggest that the manufacturers have power units available that would do what you need.
CPAP.com also has some listed.
We don’t camp any more, but if we did we’d get something like this. It might not be a bad idea to have around anyway in case of power failures.
As others have mentioned, there are some CPAP-specific batteries one can buy. The life of a charge on one of these will vary depending on pressure and humidifier settings, but are usually 1 or 2 nights, depending on the battery. They could then be charged off your car battery or some other source if available/needed.
I’ve also seen deep-cycle marine batteries suggested by some users and even some DME companies. These would be better for extended camping trips.
The big problem is that none of these solutions is particularly cheap.
Not at all. The only noise my partner had to get used to was when I would disconnect the mask hose to use the bathroom, otherwise he would hear category 3 winds from the hose. I learned how to slide that part under under the pillow and leave it there while I use the facilities. Now he doesn’t hear a thing. The newer machines make slight white noise, and that’s about it.
I just turn it off before I take the mask off. I have it set to not ramp up, so I get back to full pressure as soon as I put it back on and turn it back on. .
My wife’s machine has a cigarette lighter adapter; if you google Portable Jump Starter, you’ll get many shiny pictures of brightly-colored gadgets that, among other things, have cigarette lighter adapters. They can be recharged if you have access to AC, and most have an option to be recharged by a car if you hook them up right and have access to a car and sufficient gas to recharge it.
However, due to relative battery oomph, your mileage will probably vary wildly.
Thanks for the replies. Will use this info as a good starting point for more research.
Carry on.
I had moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea. I chose not to try a CPAP, and instead recently got a Somnodent oral device. My initial sleep study (before I got it) showed that I only got 12 minutes of REM sleep in an entire night. Since the very first night using the Somnodent, I’ve been dreaming tons, which I take as a good sign. I just had an at-home study to determine its success, but haven’t gotten the results back yet.
Please let us know how it goes. Was it very expensive?
Most of it was covered by insurance. There are dentistry practices that specialize in these and related oral appliances, but since it’s treatment for a medical condition, health insurance may cover it.
In my case, Medicare.
I’ve been a CPAP user for years. All I’ve ever had were Remstar machines and all of them from the very first one, ran off 12 volt power as well as 120v. I even used to backpack with mine, using a motorcycle battery to power the thing for two nights. I can get a week to 10 days off a 12v deep cycle marine battery.
I’ve also had to pay everything out of pocket all these years, so when I see someone selling a machine, I buy it! I’ve got at least two spares for backup and I know how to change the settings on them. Can you tell I love me some CPAP?
I have been using mine for about 20 months. I am required to by law because I drive trucks. The company sent me to get tested and I was diagnosed with 10 low oxygen incidents per hour. I got the machine free, with 2 power cords, one AC, one 12 volt. I need to average 4 hours a night, 70% of the time in order to remain in compliance with DOT regulations.
I don’t mind that, except the machine doesn’t do anything for me that is noticeable. I have a circulatory condition that makes my arms fall asleep, so every couple of hours, I need to wake up and turn over, unless I am really exhausted. Then I wake up and can’t feel or use my arms until I manage to move around enough that they can start to work again. Of course, if I lost about 30-40 pounds and kept it off, both the breathing and arm problems would be lessened enough that I would sleep better. 
After a month of use, my apnea index went from 28 to 11. I will continue to adjust the device every 2 nights and then retest, in order to get closer to the target index of 5. My REM sleep has improved so far, but not nearly enough.
Don’t get discouraged. My CPAP took a long time to get my AHI to around 5, close to a year in fact. When I first started on it I was still having around 25-30 central apneas/hour. Now, it’s around 5 unless I take an ambien, then it jumps up to around 20.
Interesting. I had to take half an Ambien to get to sleep with the test device on. I didn’t realize it could have that large an effect. The doctor thought I would be at about 9 without the Ambien. Despite the all the testing and numbers, it’s still just guesswork, since they had me take a full Ambien for my original,full sleep study.
Did you make changes to the settings or the mask to get to that point? Or was it just your body getting used to it?
My AHI tends to be in the 4.5 range or thereabouts, but has been since day one.
Lok: interesting, and of course it makes sense that if you have apnea you would need to use the machine to be able to keep your job. Was the testing something done routinely for all truck drivers? or was it indicated by an annual physical or something?
Most drivers are referred either because of their BMI or their neck size. Screenings may also include history questionnaires that ask about associated symptoms.