Daily Battles: Airsense CPAP Machine Leaking Water

I just found out recently that my CPAP machine has been slowly leaking water onto my nightstand and ruining the surface of the nightstand.

For those of you who don't know, and don't suffer (good for you), a CPAP machine is a prescription machine that uses constant air pressure to help keep the breathing canal open for people who have sleep apnea, so they can get better sleep and better rest at night. According to sleepapnea.org, 22 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea (moderate to severe), which is 6.7% of the entire US population. Basically, if you snore pretty loudly at night, changes are, you have sleep apnea.

The model of my CPAP machine is AirSense 10 by ResMed.

After some research, again, turned out this leaking problem is actually quite common:
http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t107107/My-Airsense-10-Autoset-leaked-water.html

The problem resides in the water chamber for the built in humidifier. Probably due to low quality gluing work, after some usage (Your Miles Might Vary), the part where the metal is glued to the plastic would eventually start leaking. And because most likely the leak is very slow, you won't notice it, since there would still be water left in the tank in the morning, and the leakage is well hidden underneath the CPAP machine. 

Once I found out the exact problem, I gave my CPAP supplier a call to try to order a replacement. Turned out since I didn't order supplies from my supplier once a month, they deactivated my account. And in order to activate my account again, I have to schedule an appointment with my sleep doctor. I can't even just buy parts from this supplier, because it would require a doctor's prescription.

In my case, since I have already hit my high medical deductibles this year, it makes sense to get the prescription from my doctor, so my health insurance can help cover the majority of the cost on the replacement parts (which means I have to wait 5 weeks before I can see my sleep doctor and then order my parts).

If you have the same water leakage problem and just want to take care of it right away, you can visit CPAP.com to order replacement parts directly out of pocket. The web site does charge shipping if you don't order over $99 of products.

It is unfortunate that my nightstand now has visible water damage. But that's life and life has many challenges. So be strong and be ready for your next battle with technology and life in genera!

BTW: The easiest way to remember my blog address is http://lanny.lannyland.com