Wondering if these will help with breathing, if they get sick.

The answer is yes, but the down side is it can help spread the virus to people near you. Here's a link that I think explains it pretty well:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/27/822211604/cpap-machines-were-seen-as-ventilator-alternatives-but-could-spread-covid-19

Quote:

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In the U.S., emergency plans developed by states for a shortage of ventilators include using positive airway pressure machines like those used to treat sleep apnea to help hospitalized people with less severe breathing issues.

While that measure could stretch the supply of ventilators and save lives, it has a major drawback. Officials and scientists have known for years that when used with a face mask, such alternative devices can possibly increase the spread of infectious disease by aerosolizing the virus, whether used in the hospital or at home.

Indeed, that very scenario may have contributed to the spread of COVID-19 within a Washington state nursing home that became ground zero in the United States. First responders called to the Life Care Center of Kirkland starting Feb. 24 initially used positive airway pressure machines, often known as CPAPs, to treat residents before it was known the patients were infected with COVID-19.

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Thanks for posting this. I have one, but no longer have to use it after losing a lot of weight. But I still have it in the closet.

And if I need it due to COVID - my wife is sleeping at the other end of our estate anyway.

If anyone does use these, make sure you were using distilled water and keep it clean per the manufacturer recommendations. Very easy to get yourself sick by breathing in dirty air from a dirty machine. You'd be surprised how many people come to the hospital with their CPAP machine looking like a petri dish.

I don't use water in mine anymore. Makes my nose a bit dry in the morning but no biggie.

Guess that is why distilled water is so scarce. Haven't seen any in pharmacies or grocery stores for at least two weeks. Fortunately, we keep enough around that we should be alright. I can also distill it myself, but it takes a while

Moxley said:

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If anyone does use these, make sure you were using distilled water and keep it clean per the manufacturer recommendations. Very easy to get yourself sick by breathing in dirty air from a dirty machine. You'd be surprised how many people come to the hospital with their CPAP machine looking like a petri dish.

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Guilty

I bought a SoClean for mine about a year ago. Couldn't be happier.

revvie said:

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Guess that is why distilled water is so scarce. Haven't seen any in pharmacies or grocery stores for at least two weeks. Fortunately, we keep enough around that we should be alright. I can also distill it myself, but it takes a while

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That, and golf cart batteries use distilled.

Tx-Ag2010 said:

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I bought a SoClean for mine about a year ago. Couldn't be happier.

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You don't find that charcoal odor unbearable?

I had a So Clean for about a week and sold it

mm98 said:

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Tx-Ag2010 said:

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I bought a SoClean for mine about a year ago. Couldn't be happier.

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You don't find that charcoal odor unbearable?

I had a So Clean for about a week and sold it

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It bothered me a little bit the first few times I ran it but I think that was just because there was a bunch of organic material that was reacting with the ozone. Also, I only use it every 3-4 days. It seems to do the trick with cleaning and doesn't have an overpowering odor (at least for me, but I've been told I have a terrible sense of smell).

Moxley said:

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If anyone does use these, make sure you were using distilled water and keep it clean per the manufacturer recommendations. Very easy to get yourself sick by breathing in dirty air from a dirty machine. You'd be surprised how many people come to the hospital with their CPAP machine looking like a petri dish.

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You can also use RO water in a pinch. I installed an under the sink RO unit at my house a year or so back and used that without issues. (I did dump the water every morning though and replace with fresh RO water to prevent the minerals from concentrating.) I have since added a DI polishing stage to my RO system and am back to just topping off the water as needed.

Definitely don't mess around with dirty CPAP's. I had really bad congestion that pretty much went away when i started using the SoClean.

Moxley said:

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If anyone does use these, make sure you were using distilled water and keep it clean per the manufacturer recommendations. Very easy to get yourself sick by breathing in dirty air from a dirty machine. You'd be surprised how many people come to the hospital with their CPAP machine looking like a petri dish.

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Yeah we have had peeps bring their personal ones to the hospital and roaches started bailing out of them.

Unless I feel a cold coming on I only use my SoClean 2 or 3 times a week. But I do use it daily if I start to get the sniffles. I always do it not long after I wake up because the smell when it is on and for an hour after it's done it's job is somewhat irritating. By bedtime I don't notice it anymore. I'm a big fan of and believer in SoClean and always use distilled water.

On a side note: Apparently not many people are aware that William Shatner has sleep apnea and uses SoClean. BFD - I hate his commercial. I have not liked the pretentious ahole since sometime in 1975 or 76 when I was a grad student at A&M. My wife and I, along with several hundred other good Ags paid a pretty good price to attend "An Evening With William Shatner" at an auditorium on campus.

A good many students, etc even wore Star Trek costumes expecting a lot of good Star Trek stories from the good Capt Kirk. All we got was a few words about Star Trek and a short slide show and then Shatner reading a lengthy poem that was awful. It was a complete ripoff of college students who most likely didn't have a lot of spare change to spend on what turned out to be a complete waste of time and money.

revvie said:

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Guess that is why distilled water is so scarce. Haven't seen any in pharmacies or grocery stores for at least two weeks. Fortunately, we keep enough around that we should be alright. I can also distill it myself, but it takes a while

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That's strange, distilled water was all they had left at the LaGrange HEB the other day.