Self confessed CPAP hater trying CPAP again. How do you clean your CPAP?

[dorlow]

Ok, I've hated CPAP for ever since I've heard of them.  I've fought having to get one for years.  Then about 7 years ago, I got another sleep study and got a CPAP.  Used it for about 5-6 years and, the whole time hated it and looking for a different solution.  I went to the extent of getting braces to try to widen my jaw... misunderstanding.  ortho told me he could do it when he put the braces on and then informed me 2.5 years later that my jaw bone can't be moved by braces... I'm like that was the whole point of the braces!  When I first got a sleep study, the doctor that read the report told me I had one of the worst sleep apnea cases he's ever seen.

But, since then, I got braces... I had the lower retainer removed from my teeth (which I think might have caused some of the sleep apnea... less room for my tongue.)  When I got my braces off, I told them not to put the retainer back.  

I've been making health a priority.  2019-2020 or so, I was like 250 pounds or something like that.  I'm now less than 180.  I get up almost every morning and work out and I have a strict diet I follow everyday.  Rarely cheat.

Went to the ENT doc a few years ago where he ordered another sleep study to see if he could justify surgery to fix it or that thing they put inside you that is electrical.  The sleep study came back.  He calls me on the phone.  He kind of avoided giving me a straight answer.  He knew I wanted the answer that my sleep apnea was gone.  He was saying stuff like my sleep apnea still is there, but it's so low that most people that have my severity of sleep apnea don't even know they have it and never get it checked out.  I kept on asking him, so I don't need to use my cpap, and he would avoid the answer to that and just talk about how low my sleep apnea was.  So, his unofficial answer is no I don't need it, but as a doctor he couldn't say that because I technically do. 

But, it's been a few years.  I've had some anxiety and depression I've been trying to work on. And, I'm always tired.  I've been on TRT therapy.  My doctor called about that a few months ago.  Said my testosterone is too high and I need to cut back on TRT.  (The TRT is what makes me feel good.  It was by far the best fix for my mood issues.)  They asked me to cut it in half.  Few weeks ago, called back again after another test and they said it's still too high, but gave me the choice to stay on it or go off.  I guess with the complications of TRT, I said I'll go off.  I'd rather not need it.  Means my eating right and exercising is working.  But, anxiety and depression is there still.  So, I'm googling what can I do.  Of course, high on the list is sleep apnea.  So, I'm taking another look at it.  Last night, I dug the CPAP machine out of my closet and used it for the first time in years.  I do feel like I feel more awake today.  Granted, it's only one day and I know it takes some time before you realize the full benefit of cpap. 

But, I guess now I'm trying to figure out how to clean it.  I cleaned it over the years, but I'm looking for easy.  Something that just has it maintain itself.  I have a So Clean, but I don't like the ozone smell.  I was thinking, since soap and water is the recommended way to clean the hose, why don't they have some device I could just plug both sides of the hose in and it would force circulate some kind of liquid cleaning solution through the hose.  Seems like they could make that almost as easy as the So Clean, minus disconnecting it from the machine and probably having to remove the mask itself...  Or, what else is people doing?  Please give me a good suggestion that makes it super clean, smell clean and sterile, and one less reason to absolutely hate the thing.

[mesenteria]

Dish soap and hot water on the exterior.

Dish soap and hot water inside the hose.  Pour some in, maybe two full cups, take the ends and alternately raise and lower one end at a time until water runs out the low end. Do this four times, more if you are inclined.  Empty.  Rinse twice at a minimum.  Drape over the shower curtain rail for about five hours.

I sterilize my mask and the hose each time I do this.  After rinsing, I pour a full cup of potassium meta-bisulfite into the hose and do the same lifting and lowering swish.  Let stand for one full minute, then empty and rise three times.  (Meta-bisulfite will cost you $3-4 for a 50 gm packet at your U-Brew-It wine outlet. It's a white powder.  Mix one heaping tsp in about one liter of water, and store it in a tight jar, Grolsch bottle with the replaceable stopper, that kind of thing.  Don't get your nose in it once it has 'aged' a few days/weeks.  Great for clearing the sinuses, though...). 

New filter in the machine.

Inspect the cords carefully for brittle, flaking, cracked insulation.  I imagine your power supply is still good.

Soap, hot water, meta-bisulfite in the humidifier reservoir, same general idea.  Let the bisulfite stand and make sure you swish it thoroughly inside the sealed reservoir. Rinse well.

Other than that, I don't see why you shouldn't enjoy its extended use, provided your original prescription is still reasonable/valid.

[Nightynite]

My method is just clean the chamber with dish soap and air dry about every 4th day. Previous days I just top off with distilled water.

My nasal mask cushion just gets the cushion massaged under running warm water daily, and on the 4th day gets a soap bath like the chamber.

The hose gets filled with a mixture of warm water and soap and air dried about once a month.

It’s really not a problem or time consuming.  Keep it simple.

[Phaleronic]

I use mask wipes to wipe out my mask every morning with this spray: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011AJ...UTF8&psc=1

I put my humidifier in the dishwasher once a month and rinse the hose out in the shower once a month then air dry.  Anything else is overkill IMHO....

I used distilled water or purified water with low TDS rates and replace my filters regularly though.

[jeffpack1957]

Dish Soap is not advised by Resmed.

https://www.resmed.com/en-us/sleep-apnea...equipment/

Nor is Vinegar except for the humidifier once a week.

just use baby shampoo in a tub, then rinse out hose, I suggest using the bathtub faucet as it has a very large flow of water for rinsing.

I recently picked up a CPAP dryer off of ebay, and hose is dry in a few hours

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I use mask wipes to wipe out my mask every morning with this spray: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011AJ...UTF8&psc=1

I put my humidifier in the dishwasher once a month and rinse the hose out in the shower once a month then air dry.  Anything else is overkill IMHO....

I used distilled water or purified water with low TDS rates and replace my filters regularly though.

Just an FYI, the standard resmed reservoir is not dishwasher safe.  They make one specifically for in a dish washer.  Can you get away with it, I guess, but I wont use dish  any cleaner for breathing equipment.  CPAP or Deep Water dive gear.

[fly by night]

Dish Soap is not advised by Resmed.

https://www.resmed.com/en-us/sleep-apnea...equipment/

Dish "detergent" is not recommended, which I understand that to be the stuff used in dishwashers.

I believe dish soap is fine.

[jeffpack1957]

Since anything for dishes has to have some sort of grease fighting proprieties, I'd avoid it simply because I dont need to clean grease out of my tube 

I would lean more towards a sterilizer, than a cleaner myself, like steramine or virkon. Thats what we use on our rebreather loops for deep diving and they are far far worse than any CPAP tube will ever get.

First thing that popped up on a search. I hadnt given it much thought

https://lifehacker.com/the-difference-be...1848753401

[mesenteria]

I should have specified liquid dish detergent.  Dawn.  It's used on waterfowl to remove crude oil.  If it's safe for ducks, it's safe for the inside of a PAP hose. 

The filters do a great job of filtering what gets into the machine, down the hose, and into our lungs. But, they're not perfect.  That fan runs a lot more air down the system than our lungs do over the same length of time, about three to four times as much.  Eventually, the hose will have something in it that shouldn't be left there.  Liquid dish soaps, with their surfactants, will help to spring those things from the surfaces inside the hose and flush them out with the rinse.

Using meta-bisulfite is cheap, literally pennies for a full liter of it, which should last you several months.  Then, you still have another 20 liters worth in the sealed sachet.  The sodium or potassium versions of meta-bisulfite are lethal to molds, viruses, and bacteria.  Full spectrum sanitation for $0.05/pop.  Meta-bisulfite doesn't have surfactant properties, so it must come AFTER using the liquid dish soap.  Also, your mask should definitely be sterilized.  Again, washed with hot water and soap, rinsed well, then swished in sodium meta-bisulfite.

[jeffpack1957]

except resmed says specifically not to use that. (Dish detergent)

[PeaceLoveAndPizza]

Long time CPAP user and forum reader, first time poster…

This is a much discussed topic with differing opinions. For me I wash my Resmed ClimateLine hose maybe twice a year in a warm water bath with a few drops of Dawn dish soap. I figure the only thing that goes through it is filtered humidified air, so no reason to clean it more often. I have never seen any mold or detected a smell, so I maintain that schedule. My current hose is around 3 years old and still works fine.

For my Resmed P10 mask I wipe it every day or so with a baby wipe and wash it and the connecting tube assembly when I wash the hose. My current mask is about 3 years old same as the hose. Still works fine, though I have noticed it is a bit softer than when new so will likely replace it soon.

For the humidifier tank I refill daily with homemade distilled water and wash it along with the hose and mask. I have never seen anything floating in the tank nor seen anything strange, so figure it is fine. It is about 3 years old as well.

BTW, I change the filter when I see it is dirty. Maybe 3 times a year.

Your mileage may vary and we all manage things differently. 

-PLP