If your spouse/partner uses a CPAP machine, where is it during the day?

[Anonymous]

My spouse uses a CPAP machine, and each morning he tries to tuck it under the bed as much as possible. It still sticks out some though (he leaves it all plugged in, so just the way all the wires/tubes go, it makes it pop out from under the bed.)

I am the one that makes the bed each morning, and it is in my way. This morning, I almost tripped on one of the tubes that was basically in a "loop" form. If I had tripped, it would have probably caused a lot of pain and injury, because our furniture has sharp corners and we have tile floors.

I think he should put the machine fully away each day--in a basket or drawer or case or whatever. I don't care where, but not just halfway tucked under the bed where it's a tripping hazard.

FWIW, my sibling also uses a CPAP and I know he's told me that he has a machine that cleans it each day-so during the day his CPAP is with that machine being cleaned. Apparently that's what you're supposed to do, but my husband doesn't do that. He says it would waste too much water (the distilled water he buys in a jug) to do that.

[Anonymous]

Tile floors in the bedroom? Get a rug.

[Anonymous]

Why doesn't he just leave it on the bedside table where it's ready for use the next night?

I agree that leaving it on the floor is a tripping hazard, and will just expose it to more dust, but putting an item you use every single day out of sight seems ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tile floors in the bedroom? Get a rug.

We will soon. We just moved in a few weeks ago.

But the rug won't help me if my face plants on the sharp corner of our bed.

[Anonymous]

My husband's stays between the bed and his bed side table. I don't trip over it because it's not in a place I step. Pushing it under the bed would seem to increase the risk of tripping.

It's not my machine, but I would never ask him to put it fully away. That seems crazy to me, like putting away the toaster every morning. Ultimately it's my responsibility not to trip anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't he just leave it on the bedside table where it's ready for use the next night?

I agree that leaving it on the floor is a tripping hazard, and will just expose it to more dust, but putting an item you use every single day out of sight seems ridiculous.

I worry that water could leak out of the machine and damage the wood nightstand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't he just leave it on the bedside table where it's ready for use the next night?

I agree that leaving it on the floor is a tripping hazard, and will just expose it to more dust, but putting an item you use every single day out of sight seems ridiculous.

Yeah, mine is on the bedside table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tile floors in the bedroom? Get a rug.

We will soon. We just moved in a few weeks ago.

But the rug won't help me if my face plants on the sharp corner of our bed.

You sound like you have anxiety that needs treatment. That's the problem. Not the location of this cpap machine.

[Anonymous]

The CPAP should not be on the floor, it’s drawing in the filthiest air in the room at floor level, air filled with dead skin cells and all other sorts of yuck. Yes it has a filter, but it’s still not a good choice.

CPAP should be elevated, on a bedside table where it lives all the time. If for some reason you don’t want to see it during the day, lay a towel or other decorative linen over it. But don’t let it live on the floor.

I’ve been using a CPAP for nearly 20 years and I don’t clean my machine daily, I don’t know many who do. The mask should get wiped daily and rinse the hose at least a few days a week, but a thorough cleaning of the machine’s interior isn’t necessary. The machines that hook up to the CPAP are actually warned against by many manufacturers because they can potentially damage the CPAP.

If you don’t want it on the bedside table, you could purchase a little cart for it that goes into the closet during the day so your bedroom can look like Better Homes and Garden in case the queen drops by.

[Anonymous]

omg

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't he just leave it on the bedside table where it's ready for use the next night?

I agree that leaving it on the floor is a tripping hazard, and will just expose it to more dust, but putting an item you use every single day out of sight seems ridiculous.

I worry that water could leak out of the machine and damage the wood nightstand.

So ... if it's on the nightstand you are fretting over water leaking and damaging the nightstand (fwiw, I've had a cpap machine for 2 years and this has never happened), and on the floor you are afraid you will trip "and cause a lot of pain and injury"? Again -- this is a "you" problem, namely out of control anxiety; it's not a location-of-the-cpap-machine problem.

[Anonymous]

FDA says you don’t need to hook your CPAP up to a costly device for daily cleaning: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/do-you-need-device-claims-clean-cpap-machine

And again, some manufacturers warn that using such a device voids the warranty on the CPAP itself.

[Anonymous]

Since you know it is there, how about you just don't trip on it?

[Anonymous]

Bedside table.

If you are worried about water damage, put a plastic tray under it.

[Anonymous]

CPAP user here. Good advice and information from 10:40 and 10:44.

My doctor recommends:
clean the mask and empty humidifier daily.
Full cleaning of the above plus air tube weekly.
Change the filter every couple of weeks.