If you are a CPAP user (Constant Positive Air Pressure) you might appreciate this article.
My story . . .
I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea 7 years ago. According to the Mayo Clinic, "Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. If you snore loudly and feel tired even after a full night's sleep, you might have sleep apnea.
The main types of sleep apnea are:
Obstructive sleep apnea, the more common form that occurs when throat muscles relax
Central sleep apnea, occurs when your brain doesn't send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing
Complex sleep apnea syndrome, also known as treatment-emergent central sleep apnea, occurs when someone has both obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea
If you think you might have sleep apnea, see your doctor. Treatment can ease your symptoms and might help prevent heart problems and other complications.
My condition was serious. I would stopping breathing for a minute or longer about 38 times an hour. I don't know how I got any sleep at all! I was crabby and tired all the time.
When I finally received my CPAP machine I thought my sleep problems would be all over!
Boy was I wrong. Adjusting to the CPAP machine and learning how to breathe while using it was no treat for me. I am a mouth-breather and learning to breathe through my nose so that the machine would work was torture. I felt like I was suffocating all the time! For a long time, I was getting less sleep than I had been before because I spent the first four hours trying to sleep just fighting the machine!
After four hours, I usually gave up, threw off the mask and hose in frustration, and tried to sleep the "old-fashioned way"--CPAP-free!
Then there was cleaning the apparatus...
As I may have alluded to in previous articles, I am not a person who enjoys cleaning. I enjoy the "after it's all done" look but not the steps I have to take to get there.
The recommended cleaning of the CPAP machine was a lot of piddly stuff and since my bedroom was upstairs and my nearest water source was downstairs, I have to admit that I didn't give my CPAP the TLC it needed or required.
I found myself getting sick more often because I wasn't cleaning the machine like I needed to be doing.
I checked into one of those machines that would clean the CPAP hose and mask (nose piece), but it was hundreds of dollars and I would still have to either carry the parts downstairs or carry the other machine upstairs full of water and cleaner...
I figured my hundreds of dollars could be better spent elsewhere, so I continued the trudging up and down the stairs.
Today . . .
After COVID-19 struck, I took more care to keep my CPAP clean because I didn't want to get any illnesses.
It wasn't long after the emergence of COVID-19 that I started using products from LastGerm. It never occurred to me to try using Vital Oxide to disinfect my CPAP machine, though.
That is, not until about three months ago.
Because the CPAP machine is a medical device, I recommend that you talk to your doctor or medical supply dealer about using Vital Oxide to disinfect your machine. What I am writing about next is my PERSONAL experience of using Vital Oxide to disinfect and sanitize my equipment for my CPAP.
I still use the baby shampoo to gently clean my equipment. I am still using the same machine as when I started using the CPAP 7 years ago, so apparently, I did something right.
But about three months ago, I started to question whether I could use Vital Oxide to disinfect and sanitize my breathing hose, nose mask piece, and the water basin.
I did some research online and found that there were some other Vital Oxide users that did indeed use the sanitizer to disinfect their CPAP machines.
Knowing what I did about Vital Oxide from using it on many different cleaning/sanitizing projects, I figured it would be safe and effective to use on my CPAP equipment as well.
If you are not familiar with Vital Oxide here's a brief summary.
Vital Oxide is an EPA-registered hospital disinfectant cleaner, mold killer, and odor eliminator. Its formula contains a unique form of stabilized chlorine dioxide that is very effective at killing bacteria, viruses, and mold yet is non-corrosive to treated articles and gentle enough to handle without causing skin irritation. It is ready to use with no mixing required—just spray, wipe, or fog right from the bottle.
That all sounded like something I could use on my CPAP.
I also knew that Vital Oxide killed 99.999% of bacteria and other microbes. I knew it was safe to use on food prep surfaces, in air ducts, and more, so I decided to give it a try on my CPAP.
I also liked the part about it killing odors. If you have breathed through a CPAP hose/mask, you know that even with diligent cleaning, it can get an odor.
So I gave it a try . . .
The results have been very good. I have only used Vital Oxide about once every two weeks when I do a more thorough cleaning of my machine, but so far (a total of six times) I have not been disappointed!
The whole thing smells better! I know feelings don't mean a lot in the cleaning/disinfecting game, but I "FEEL" safer. I haven't gotten sick since I started using this process of using Vital Oxide to disinfect my equipment every couple of weeks. It doesn't take much either. A few sprays of the stuff and my work is done!
Again, I recommend checking with your doctor before using Vital Oxide on your CPAP but since hospitals trust it for disinfecting their equipment and surfaces, I feel pretty good about using it everywhere in my house including on my CPAP. Again, I can't provide medical advice. The views expressed in this article about using it on a CPAP machine are mine.
Questions...
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