Question about heated hoses

[Melman]

My AHI numbers have been very good thanks to advice from this forum. I generally sleep well and am not uncomfortable hooked up to the machine or with the pressure settings. I seldom have rain out in spite of a cool room and a humidity setting of 5. My only comfort issue is dry mouth. It has improved since I've pretty much eliminated large mask leaks but it's still worse than I would like. Will a heated hose help? The Resmed Climateline is available on amazon for $37 which seems like a great deal compared with the online CPAP shops I have checked.

The other issue is weight and flexibility. I'm sure the heated hose is a little heavier than the standard slimline. Is it also less flexible? The hose for my Respironics machine was heavier and stiffer than the Resmed slimline and I found that uncomfortable. It seemed like I was always fighting the hose. I'm not sure which would be worse, fighting the hose or dry mouth.

And, yes, I know someone will respond with the recommendation that I switch to nasal pillows. That's under consideration, and from what I have read here it appears that the heated hose may be a big help with nasal congestion.

For now I'm just interested in improving comfort with the FFM by reducing dry mouth.

[Hydrangea]

Hi Melman.

I have both hoses - heated, and non-heated. In my observation, they are identical in look and weight. The only way I can tell any difference between the two is the heated hose has electric prongs on one end, and a tiny thermometer probe on the other end.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Melman,
The heated hose might be just a bit heavier, but it is still very flexible.
Another thing you could try is to change your machine to have your humidity on manual, so that it, and your temperature are separate, and you can set them independantly of each other. Then you can set your humidity higher.
I hope this makes sense.
Do hang around for more ideas,.

[Mosquitobait]

I have both heated and slimline and they are roughly the same weight, and both lighter than the Respironics.

As to dry mouth, my first question would be are you taking any meds that can cause dry mouth? Are you diabetic? Just checking on that because sometimes that turned out to be the problem and not the mask at all. The heated hose will increase humidity just a bit more. My brother, whose dry mouth is mostly attributed to meds (but he uses a full-face mask too), uses a dry mouth spray from Walgreens and found that it did help some.

[Melman]

Not diabetic. Was just tested two weeks ago. I'll have to take a look at the side effects of my meds but don't recall any that listed that. I only have it in the mornings after using APAP so I suspect it's the source.

Thanks for the info on the hoses.