Leaving the CPAP at home whilst travelling??

[Laevelder]

I am a happy APAP user for the past 2 months and have seen improvements in my Sleepyhead stats (decreasing average pressure & AHI). This is encouraging and I wonder if it is an option to leave the CPAP at home when I travel for 1 or 2 days? I like to travel light and it is a nuisance to pack and unpack the unit. Is it possible that regular CPAP usage decreases apnea occurance and makes it possible to accasionally skip a night? Can you feel a difference (less alert, awake etc) after a night of non-use? Is the downward trend in CPAP pressure (from 8.5 to 7.5) a typical experience?

[eplantz]

I had the same thoughts last year when taking a vacation out of the country.

I found I reverted to the old sleep pattern (waking every hour and feeling awful in the morning) right away. So, in my case, CPAP solved my issues WHEN I USED IT but not permanently.

[SuperSleeper]

Take your CPAP with you, unless you want to experience tiredness and lack of energy during the trip. CPAP is generally not something that should be used "only occasionally", The minute you stop using it, you revert back to the old sleep patterns. CPAP doesn't "cure" sleep apnea. If you don't use it your sleep apnea returns immediately.

On the downward trend on your pressure, it depends, but yes, sometimes patients acclimate to CPAP and require less pressure over time, sometimes more pressure - it depends upon a lot of different criteria.

The sooner you get used to the fact that your "friend" (CPAP machine) is going to be with you for life, the better off you'll be, health-wise. Would you stop eating while on a trip? How about stop drinking water while on a trip? No? Then don't stop CPAP either.

[PaulaO2]

If you want to feel good during your trip, stay awake, and feel decent when you return, then yeah, take the machine. But if you don't care about these things, then leave it at home. That way when you return and want to do nothing but sleep, you don't have to go through the bother of unpacking it.

Yes, I am being sarcastic.

And yes, it is a PITA to take the machine with you. But it is a part of your life now and you must accept that. If it is humid where you are going, you may be able to leave the humidifier at home.

CPAP is not a cure, it is a treatment just like medication for hypertension or insulin for diabetics. Stop taking the medication and your blood pressure rises. Stop using the CPAP, and your apnea events increase.

An apnea event means you are not breathing in oxygen and letting the body expel CO2. Every cell in your body needs oxygen to function so each apnea event means every cell is not able to do whatever it is it is doing. It is a systemic thing and the entire body suffers as a result of each apnea event. An AHI of 30 means 30 times an hour, you stop breathing at least 10 seconds. That's once every two minutes. The body barely has time to recover when you have another event. And another. And another. The CPAP stops this cycle. You've been good to yourself for 2 months.

Early in my time with CPAP, I opted to leave it at home while I visited my brother and his family. I didn't want to pack it, unpack it, hope their house had a plug nearby, etcetera. I was only there a week. By that time, I was miserable and cut the visit short. I had chronic headaches and my blood pressure was rising. On the drive home (a 12hr trip), I hit the guardrail on the PA turnpike. Even though that "woke me up", I had to pull over five times just to try to nap. I was worse than drunk. I was acting stupid, doing stupid stuff. Years later, during a power outage, I went 5 nights without my machine. I was grumpy, twitchy, ill, all that. Now we have alternative means of powering my CPAP at night.

In the end, though, only you can decide what to do.

[Paptillian]

I had a morning where after I woke up (from a night of using CPAP) I decided to go back to bed for an hour but I skipped the mask. Would you believe me if I told you that I felt worse when I woke up the second time?

[big_dave]

I wouldn't dare leave my machine home. Before starting CPAP, I've been woken up on numerous occasions by various people beating on the wall when I snore. Even now if I doze off without it, my own snoring wakes me up.

[cbramsey]

I would not leave my machine at home.

I did experience a failure of an old CPAP I had while on vacation visiting relatives.

I found myself to be extremely fatigued during the drive back home.

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Quick answer - NO!

I once forgot to pack my S8 before a four night trip to Vegas. Take it - meant to, intended to, just forgot to. One of the most miserable four nights I've ever encountered. And four worst days. Ruined the entire trip.

OSA does not get better with CPAP use. For some, it might with significant weight loss, but I would not want to test that away from home without access to PAP therapy. PAP is a life support therapy designed to do something your body doesn't do well. Like hemodialysis for kidney patients. Or insulin for a type 2 diabetic. Those treatments do not fix the underlying problems or make them better. They are just a way to deal with/overcome the effects of the underlying problem. Quit the therapy and the problem is still there. And usually, I think, more disruptive than before therapy started.

Suck it up and accept that you need to wag a bag.

OMyMy

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Would you stop eating while on a trip? How about stop drinking water while on a trip?

Sometimes is more wiser to stop drinking water on a trip. Stick with beer or soda OPENED IN YOUR PHYSICAL PRESENCE. And never over ice.

Trust me. Don't ask how I know this. Details are classified. Or should be.

OMyMy

[skyler]

I agree with the majority- take your machine. You could leave the humidifier at home for a few days. That's what I did on a recent trip. I just put the unit minus humidifier into the backpack where I had my meds and a book.