tombilcze

This June I am embarking on an unsupported cycling tour with a pal. We will be camping most nights, many of them in primitive campgrounds. I have sleep apnea and use a CPAP. I lost a good bit of weight and my CPAP pressure is greatly reduced to ½ of its original setting. I still use it and notice a difference when I don’t.

What do others do that use a CPAP in these situations? I know I am going against medical advice in saying I am going to leave it home. It ius just so bulky and heavy. Plus, I can't see having electrical access on the trails and campgrounds.

My concern is with 9+ nights without it. I worry that the effects will become more evident as the days wear on. I wonder if it will tire me on the 50-60+ mile days. I've done one and two night trips without it. I've never been 10 days without cPAP in 10 years.

So, what do the other CPAP folks who tour do?

Tom

Gus Riley

At first I read the subject line incorrectly and understood a whole different meaning to the post! LOL!

I also have sleep apnea, but have refused to use the CPAP. My sleep definitly suffers due to my own decision. I'm taking several short tours and a couple medium length tours, then I have a summer long tour planned for 2012. I'm interested in the replies that come concerning CPAP on tour.

positron

I would not discontinue your CPAP if you can help it. It can be very important for heart health among other things. That said, maybe 9 days wont be bad? Do you use the mask or the nosepiece? Do you wake yourself if the mask falls off at night?

The best answer is to talk to your doc really, and maybe they can help you come up with a vacation plan...

bradtx

tombilcze, I too read the title incorrectly at first!

Last week after the Tour of the Basque Country a TV show on Universal Sports, I think titled Take a Seat had a rider with a solar powered CPAP unit. I wasn't paying too much attention to give any other details.

Brad

Altair 4

My mis-reading the title of this thread and jumping to the last entry talking about a show entitled "Take a Seat"...well, let's just say I was totally on the wrong track here.

Good luck with the CPAP thing - the advice about talking to your doctor is probably the best thing you could do.

dscheidt

Talk to your doctor, but also your machine suppliers. There are battery powered machines around these days (which is everything I know aout them.)

bluenote157

My dad has sleep apnea. Don't those tubes need to be meticulously cleaned every night prior to use?? If this is true, this sounds like a pain in the butt. why dont you ask your dr if you can do a trial run at home for 10 days without it. What are the chances of a stroke without it?? If you can do without it, then you can probably gauge during the day how sleepy or well rested you are.

*i'm not a physician by any means. just providing a scenario you might want to ask your dr about.

jaywbee3 

I use a CPAP and can't imagine how I would power one on a tour. However, the other advantage of using a CPAP is it stops me from snoring and that will bother the folks I am touring with. Anyone have any good stop snoring advise?

tombilcze

I checked out some of the battery powered units online today. They are compact, well under a pound and battery powered. The specs say a charge holds for 11 hours. I found a supplier that can rent one for 1 month at abut $100. The recharge time is 4 hours. I might consider camping every other night and charging at a b&B, Hostel or motel the other nights. I do need to talk to my doctor about this. I need to check with my DME supplier too. Perhaps the charge will be covered by my medical insurance.

late

IMHO, you'll be fine without it.

You'll be tired enough to sleep well, and
will prob sleep better as the tour rolls on.

bradtx

Looking at my reply I honestly hoped that nobody thought it was a TIC post.

Brad

xyzzy834

It's probably a question best answered by a discussion with your doctor.

One additional consideration may be that sleeping on hard ground with a thin foam pad and an inadequate pillow may exacerbate your problem. It's hard to get good back, neck, and head support in a camping situation, especially if you're a side-sleeper.

tombilcze

A home trail may not be a bad idea. Yes, the tubes need cleaned maybe once a week. In the outdoors, I suspect the filter will need cleaned daily.

tombilcze

No Brad. It's fine. LOL I read the title when I started getting replies and had to chuckle at what I posted. Now, a solar CPAP would be cool. I suspect it would need to be huge panel. I have a small one for my iPhone and it takes 4-5 hours to charge.

motobecane69

aside from your sleep apnea, are you in good health otherwise? how bad were your issues 10 + years ago prior to getting the cpap? How fit of a rider are you? Considering your sort of "on vacation" you'll be riding 50 miles but for the other 18 hours of the day, will you be relaxing around a campsite or will you be site seeing and doing other things that are going to wear you out more?

truman

I've given up my CPAP for this: https://puresleep.com/.

I, and more importantly, my wife, have never slept better.

bktourer1

When i tour, I use Breath Right Strips and roll a towel under my head. I rarely wake up with any issues.
I make sure I also take my RX allergy meds to keep nasal passages open. This works for me but check with your DR too.

tombilcze

I know that sleep apnea is hard on the heart. I had a heart attack 5 1/2 years ago and triple bypass. I have come a long way and lost almost 100 pounds. Still I worry about the hereditary factors of heart disease. I am confident in my cycling 50 miles a day and I will be on vacation and relaxing. I definitely am running this past my respiratory therapist.

tombilcze

This looks promising.

tombilcze

Update: I checked with my respiratory therapist. Here is the advice she gave me. I should try to spend the night where I have electricity and use a CPAP. If it is not possible, she advised me to sleep on my back and use Breathe Right strips.

Here is the interesting thing she told me... I have a very big and heavy CPAP. She told me that they would lend me one of the small portable CPAPs for a few weeks with no charge. I did not expect that. I had told her that I was looking at options where I had power 50% of the time. She said that is better than no power and no CPAP. She stressed that the CPAP does a lot including keeping the heart from being overtaxed. She warned me that many continual days without it would be hard on the heart. She reiterated that she was not a cardiologist but reminded me that I was over-extending myself on the long riding days. It would almost likely put stress on my heart that could be complicated with overworking the heart at night.

I have a cardiologist appointment in early May. I I'll ask him for his opinion. Right now I will try for the every other day CPAP use with the borrowed smaller CPAP.

DCwom

Obviously talk to the doc since you have a history of heart issues.

In my case I am on the borderline between mild & moderate apnea and my pulmanologist says to just skip the machine if I can't carry it with me. I may become tired from lack of sleep but there should be no immediate dangers. My cardiologist considers apnea a risk factor like smoking and high cholesterol so as long as it isn't a prolonged suspension it shouldn't matter much. I can't imagine hauling the CPAP on a bike, I dragged my CPAP through the airport for the first time last month and that was a pain.

EKW in DC

I have sleep apnea as well. I haven't toured yet and I don't expect any bike trips of more than one or two nights this year.

A few times a year since I started using CPAP my wife and I have gone car camping for long weekends. I go w/o CPAP on those trips. My wife reports that I sleep well and relatively quietly the first night and then it starts to get worse. IOW for short trips it's not a big problem.

I am interested in the Pure Sleep or a similar system for these camping trips and bike trips I take in the future. I still hope some day to somehow lose enough weight, etc., to go CPAP free. That said I've snored real loud since teenage years, even before I packed on the freshman 15 and then some and then some and then some, etc.. I've dropped a few lbs. The last couple years cycling, but not sure it's gonna help too much. My dad, who is 6'0" and 180 saws some serious logs and may be apneatic as well, so in my case I'm afraid it's more than weight at work.

Anyway long story short I plan to check out the oral appliances for when I'm away from electricity. I don't have a history of heart issues though. If I did I'd be a little more worried about skipping the CPAP, esp. for 9 days.

Herb

There are oral jaw positioning appliances that you can get from your dentist that might solve the problem without electricity. But you should follow your MD's advice.

Altair 4

I was searching around CGOAB and found this journal about two guys on the GAP, one travelling with a battery powered CPAP machine. It looks like he didn't have too much trouble finding places to charge it.

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p...id=177756&v=5w

You might be able to track this fella down and see what he kind of machine he was using. https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p...d=177756&v=5we Hope this helps you out. What did your cardiologist say?

thestoutdog

I'm not sure if I'm strong enough in the tech/ electrical areas to pull this off https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p...id=171464&v=1H, but it might be worth a look see for someone who is.