CPAP Machines

[The Stig]

Mrs Stig uses a CPAP machine (if anybody here rats me out for sharing this I will unleash the hogs of war on them).

One thought I had was that in a SHTF event that includes a power loss she isn't going to be getting restful sleep without the CPAP machine. Just as critical is that I won't be getting restful sleep due to her dull roar. It will be a hard enough time as it is without the complication of poor rest.

Anybody thought about their power draw and if a solar charged deep cycle battery set up would be enough to run a machine for a night's sleep? I can't imagine they draw like a toaster or hair dryer but stranger things have happened.

I'd hate to have an entire system designated solely for a stupid CPAP machine but if it's the difference between some sleep and zero sleep maybe it's worth it.

Thoughts?

[gunbuilder69]

Hey there lil brother, I had almost gotten CPAP dependant until I was given this mouthpeice device about 3 yrs ago. I hav'nt bothered Mrs Gunbuilder since then.
(sure is nice to sleep in the same bed again,lol)
GB69

[RedJohn]

Doctors were talking about making me use one ... when I stopped smoking. Since, no more apnea.

That being said, what does the label on your machine says about watt and such?

[Idaho Corsair]

With the disclaimer that only when and where legal...

Distilled mother tinctures of the opium plant have been very successfully used for years to completely eliminate snoring and sleep apnea. In nearly all people who have sleep apnea, the portion of the throat that is supposedly "too large" (which collapses against the opposing wall, making breathing a struggle) is actually inflamed on a permanent basis, the tincture eliminates the swelling allowing normal breathing while sleeping, and when taken consistently in some people, it eliminates the need to continue taking the tincture.
And no, it's not hallucinogenic, mind altering, or anything of the sort that is negative for your body. I believe it is LEGAL when taken under prescription, but I do not know of any doctors who currently prescribe this in the USA.

[The Stig]

Interesting stuff there Idaho. Thanks for sharing it with us.

BTW: Thanks for making your first post here. Lifetime premium membership and "first 100" tag incoming.

Thanks for supporting us.

[RedJohn]

Hey Idaho, apparently you got our email. Welcome.

[Idaho Corsair]

Thanks RedJohn. It spurred me into revisiting this site. Thanks!

[RedJohn]

Thanks RedJohn. It spurred me into revisiting this site. Thanks!

And we're glad that you did.

[alpmco]

I’ve been tethered to a CPAP nightly for eleven years. In that time I’ve never not used it. I have a problem with forgetting to breath when I sleep and my oxygen levels were dropping to 57% at night. My old CPAP would take either 12VDC or 120/230VAC but my new one is strictly AC unless I spring for the $99 attachment.

I’m active in Boy Scouts and love to camp out in remote places. I have a small hand truck with a deep cycle battery box on the lip and a plate across the upright frame where I have my power distribution panel. On the panel is a volt meter, 12VD cigarette lighter outlet and a 300 watt AC inverter. I can run the CPAP, a florescent bulb and a 12” 120V fan or full size electric blanket (depending on the season) for three nights without recharging.

I’ll have to get some photos to post.

I used it for 6 nights after hurricane Charlie blew through. Ran a TV, fan and CPAP but the fourth day I had to hook it to a generator and recharge it. (I did not use the genny at night.)

Since then I have built on to the house and added a 12VDC circuit to the office (radio shack) and master bedroom. I now have two larger deep cycle batters in a box mounted to the outside wall of my office. The DC power goes to my radios and a 600W inverter in my office. Another small gauge pair of wires goes to the master bedroom where I have a homemade double outlet installed with one side a cigarette lighter outlet and the other side a positive & negative DC thumb screw post. I have a 150w inverter mounted there just for the CPAP.

Currently the only charging system is either a marine charger that runs off the grid or my little 1200W two stroke generator. The generator put out both 120VAC and 12VDC 10 amps. I have a small Harbor Freight solar panel (45W I think) and I want to get a few more and link them and get of the marine charger.
When I go camping I pull one of the deep cycle batteries from the box outside my office and put it in the cart.

[The Stig]

Would love to see pics of that battery cart. That's a thread all by iteself.

[alpmco]

That cart was my best invention since I mad the 12VDC generator out of an old edger and truck alternator way back in 1984. Old alternator even needed an external voltage regulator. But it kept the deep cycle battery charged on those four day camping trips in the backwoods of Ocala National Forest and ran the fans, lights and TV. I didn't need the CPAP back then. :) I'll have to get photos of my junk ... NOT that junk .. you pervert!

[TheBigTexan]

I guess I'm opposite of everyone else I use a c-pap but not while I'm a sleep. I've had mine since December and I have tried to sleep with it (I really gave a honest effort).The only reason I still have it is that I'm forced too by dot (be compliant or don't drive so I "use" it 4-5 hours a day to be compliant). I've never had problem sleeping I feel rested when I wake up I do snore but only when I don't sleep on my stomach. TBT

[alpmco]

At first I didn't think I had a problem sleeping either but after a few years it got really bad. I wish I had been diagnosed sooner but in typical make fashion I ignored my wife when she told me I stopped breathing at night.
Snoring is not an indication of needing a CPAP. Although about 25% of snorers do have sleep apnea. It is when a snorer stops snoring there is a problem!
For me the problem is I don't breathe unless I get a kick start.
There are two types of sleep apnea ... obstructive caused by an obstruction of the airway, which makes up the majority of those with sleep apnea. Then there is the other (called ????) It is caused by the brain forgetting to tell you to inhale. I have this type.
It used to scare the hell outa my wife and me too when I would wake up gasping for air or with the contents of my dinner in my mouth. She would sometimes lay awake to poke me when I stopped breathing … which was about ever other breath.

I watched the video of me in a sleep study and it was freaky. I would breath normal, then take a breath and hold it several seconds before letting it out. Or I would take a half a breath or no breath at all. At home if I didn’t breath I would wake up with my stomach in my throat and there is no way to breath until you clear the obstruction. No pretty and after the third time that happened I went to the doctor. I was also always tired and would sometimes fall asleep at my desk. I had to chew sour gum to keep awake driving on trips.

I was while out of town with the family that I woke up choking and then the next morning fell asleep at the wheel. I came home and went in for a sleep study. My oxygen levels would drop to 57%. Blood oxygen levels below 86% are considered dangerous and the threshold where brain cells begin to die. No doubt that is why I now suffer memory problems along with adult attention deficit disorder (My diagnosis not a doctors) and probably why I can’t keep my mind off food and sex. :p :cool:

[dragon5126]

To revive an old thread... I am also a sufferer of apnea. The problem I have is I cant use the CPAP unit as it's too difficult to breath against the pressure it generates, and when it is dialed down to the point that I can, it isn't sufficient to keep my airways open. For me the solution was two fold. First off was treatment for my asthma, with Singulair which helps keep inflamation of the epiglottis, uvula, surrounding tissues and airways down, and using a raised head of the bed (either the bed or pillows) to prevent gravity from closing off my throat. I've found this preferable in a long run to using a cpap in that I am always a "restless" sleeper, awake at odd noises and so forth so the sound of the cpap alone was an additiona irritant.

[Jerry D Young]

I'm on a BiPap, rather than CPAP (alternating high and low pressure as I can't breath out against the higher pressure needed to get the air into my lungs). And the docs told me to use it or else. It could be, and has been, a matter of life and death for some people, not just a matter of a good sleep vs poor sleep.

[ladyhk13]

I'm on a BiPap, rather than CPAP (alternating high and low pressure as I can't breath out against the higher pressure needed to get the air into my lungs). And the docs told me to use it or else. It could be, and has been, a matter of life and death for some people, not just a matter of a good sleep vs poor sleep.

Isn't not being able to exhale properly a sign of COPD? My dad and grandfather had it and I know that was one of the symptoms that I was told about.

[dragon5126]

It's not the same thing when using a cpap machine. essentially its a compressor that is used to pressureise your airways, but does not breathe for you like a ventilator does, so while you are trying to exhale, its blowing air into your mouth/nose or just nose depending on the type of mask you are using,so you have to exhale harder than the pressure of the air the machine supplies. As for COPD, it depends on the cause of it, for example if it's due to fluid build up in the pericardium, no, but if its emphysema, yes. COPD has become a catchall for multiple conditions that cause breathing issues on a cronic basis, hence Cronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. So it can be a condition toat prevents inhaling or exhaling, however Apnea doesnt fit in this catagory as it isn't technically cronic, since it's positional (doesnt happen when the body is vertical, only horizontal or close to it) as gravity causes the structure at the back of the mouth to close off the airway.

[dragon5126]

This is an irony of modern life. Conditions such as this are becoming more predominant as technology progresses, but not due to cause but due to effect. In the past before medicine could do anything about such conditions, people with them tended to die from them. Limiting the spread of the genetics that carry the condition. Had it been allowed, there is no doubt, through natural selection, the condition would eventually disappear. Thanks to medical technology, there is no need for people to pass from something so simple. but in turn, that means that the genetics for it become more wide spread. Irony at it's finest.

[ladyhk13]

My grandfather and dad both had emphysema (but over the past couple of years the dr's started calling it COPD). DH uses a CPAP machine and he uses the lowest setting (with a pillow) which is usually ok except when the "seal" gets broken and then the thing sounds like a freight train. He doesn't wake up from it but I'm always nudging him to adjust his "face"...he snores and stops breathing so this is a good thing to think about...I'm sure he would have no problem just not using the machine but I would get less sleep than I already do now!! LOL.

[dragon5126]

Just for grins and educational benefits ask him to let you try it on for a few minutes to see what its like...

[ladyhk13]

Oh yeah, that would be funny. You should hear him try to talk with the thing on...it's kind of a joke with us. He says something and I'll hold my nose and say something back...yup! I'm making fun of him!

[izzyscout21]

Wife calls me "elephantface" when I have mine on

[Jerry D Young]

I have several things wrong with me, but COPD doesn't seem to be one of them. Yet.




Isn't not being able to exhale properly a sign of COPD? My dad and grandfather had it and I know that was one of the symptoms that I was told about.

[ladyhk13]

Wife calls me "elephantface" when I have mine on

That's funny. Ours goes something like this:
DH: Ah uv u (I love you)
Me; Ah uh u oo. (I love you too)
DH: ahh u akg un a e? (are you making fun of me?)
Me: uhh? ah uudn't oo a ing ike at!!! ((huh? I wouldn't do a thing like that!)
DH: AT'S OT AIR!!! (THAT'S NOT FAIR!)
Me: HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, yeah I guess it's a little mean but it is fun!

[ladyhk13]

I have several things wrong with me, but COPD doesn't seem to be one of them. Yet.
Thank God. Take care of those lungs...

[Jerry D Young]

Had whooping cough when I was six. Didn't know just how much damage it did to my lungs until recently. I've always been short of air when highly active. That damage, I know now, was part of it.

[Dropy]

Ok, so i been eyeballing this thread some. And...WTF IS A CRAP MACHINE!?!?!

It obviously isnt my rearend. But my Fiancee would disagree with that. I am pretty sure it aint my dog either... Again she moght disagree.

But what is it in the context of this discussion??

[Gunfixr]

It's not a crap machine, it's a cpap machine. Cpap is an acronym for "constant positive airway pressure".
For those with sleep apnea, which I also am one, the pressure in the whole breathing system keeps the throat open where it normally will close as the affected person enters REM sleep. This is because the throat valve area relaxes too much, allowing the valve flap to close off the esophagus, stopping breathing. Then, your brain starts to "freak out" because breathing has stopped, and you start to awaken. As you do, this valve muscle tensions back up, and the airway reopens and breathing resumes. Often, you don't even become fully awake, so you don't even know this is happening. But, you never get any time in REM sleep, which is where your real rest and rejuvenation occurs.
I spent years waking up feeling worse than when I went to bed, and sore from my wife elbowing and pushing on me to get me back breathing. I could go to sleep anywhere, anytime, during anything. She says the longest time she counted was not a breath for 3 full minutes. At my sleep study, for 8hrs in bed, I got 40 minutes of REM sleep, divided between two sessions. The equipment only registers of the breath stoppage lasts longer than 10 seconds. It registered an average rate of stoppages for 10 seconds or longer of 68 times per hour.
Since I also have a bad deviated septum, I must use the full face mask.
We do the "I love yous" before I put the mask on. However, there is no "spur of the moment" romance when one of you uses a cpap.

[Dropy]

o wow why was i reading it as "CRAP" all this time??? grrr getting older sux..... So does this Diabetes type2.

Sowwies.

[faster]

sleeping pills. Stimulants for when you need them, too. She probably won't make it, if shtf. Nobody will who can't move like hell,and doesn't need power or to stay in one place.

[Gunfixr]

Uh, wow.

[bacpacker]

Faster, I just love your positive attitude.
WTF

[izzyscout21]

Faster, I just love your positive attitude.
WTF

+1

[Stormfeather]

sleeping pills. Stimulants for when you need them, too. She probably won't make it, if shtf. Nobody will who can't move like hell,and doesn't need power or to stay in one place.

Damn, interesting take on it. . . maybe OP should head to the caves and bunker in underground. It very well possibly could be, the only way, they survive.

[izzyscout21]

Damn, interesting take on it. . . maybe OP should head to the caves and bunker in underground. It very well possibly could be, the only way, they survive.

don't forget the helmet made out of aluminum tape.......... and the .22's.....all of them

[mitunnelrat]

all that's missing is a tactical wheel barrow! lol

[izzyscout21]

all that's missing is a tactical wheel barrow! lol

AH! The return of GUNKID!!

[spirit]

I'm on a BiPap, rather than CPAP (alternating high and low pressure as I can't breath out against the higher pressure needed to get the air into my lungs). And the docs told me to use it or else. It could be, and has been, a matter of life and death for some people, not just a matter of a good sleep vs poor sleep.

I have the same problem. (came home from Afghanistan with it, along with PTSD and brain trauma) I've been using a BiPap for a little over a year.

[Echo2]

Did you ever come up with a solution for your power set up?

I've been using a 100 AH Northstar battery with a 1000w inverter....will run it for at least 3 days + w/o charging.(depending how long I sleep)

I have 2 extra batts for backup...and a 2 HF 40w solar panels with charge controller to maintain charge.

I have found that they offer a 12v power plug for my machine....and will probably get more life from batt with out running inverter.

[Gunfixr]

I hadn't come back to this thread after posting in it last, had forgotten it, actually.
Gunkid, wow.
Amazing how some people just never seem to really go away.

Funny this should come back now. After having nasal surgery last July, I had commented to the doctor that had done it that it seemed I was sleeping better. I had stopped using my CPAP about 4yrs ago, after having two surgeries back to back, and it breaking my habit. So I was sleeping better without it after nasal surgery than I had without it before. He suggested I go back for a new sleep study, so I did.
It has become a nightmare. I went back to the same doc, however, it didn't go anywhere near the same. They decided that since it was known that I had sleep apnea, we could just skip to the CPAP test, to see what changes, if any, were needed. They came to the conclusion that I now need about 2-3 times the air pressure I had before, even though I was getting more rested than before.
First off, I don't think the test was done right, as there wasn't a whole lot that went like it did the last CPAP test I had, to determine the first machine settings.
I explained to the doc my feelings when I went in for the results and to get the new machine, but I guess he wasn't listening.
I only used the machine one night, and an hour or so another night. It was like being strapped to the tailpipe of a school bus and firing it up, then trying to breathe against it. I was unable to get the mask tight enough to eliminate leaks, and my cheeks were puffed out like that guy that was famous for playing the trumpet. My face was puffed out so much my wife could see it without any lights on in the bedroom, and was puffed out inside the mask, with my upper and lower lips puffed away from the teeth and gums. An hour into the second night, it hurt to breathe, with my whole diaphragm area aching. My cheeks were aching as well, and my forehead from the tightness of the mask.
When I went in for the follow up, I explained all of this, and reiterated what had happened at the test.
He said he would turn it down, and to retry it.
Well, knowing the first several nights I wouldn't sleep from trying to get used to it, I had waited, finally getting to it tonight.
It's 4 am, and I'm up now. Went to bed just before 1, haven't slept, got out of bed just after 3. I used it almost 2hrs. My face hurts, and I have a headache. If he turned it down, it isn't noticeable.
I'm going to just give the machine back. I have the head of the bed elevated slightly, due to the Barretts disease anyway, and that, coupled with mostly sleeping on my side, has reduced the apnea quite a bit. I don't wake quite as rested as I did when I was using the CPAP before, but fairly rested, better than before I started using one. I don't fall asleep just anywhere, anytime, like I did before.

[howlingwolf]

I use a cpap. A car battery ha lasted me 4 days when camping without a recharge...Maybe not quite a much pressure at the end but still enough to get by...

[Twitchy]

I use a cpap. A car battery ha lasted me 4 days when camping without a recharge...Maybe not quite a much pressure at the end but still enough to get by...

Nice to see you here HowlingWolf!