If you’re someone who does struggle with respiratory problems, has trouble with maintaining good oxygen levels in their blood as well as having sleep apnea then you may want to use oxygen with your CPAP machine. You will add an oxygen concentrator to your CPAP machine which can be connected in two locations - via an oxygen port on the CPAP mask or between the CPAP machine and the tubing of the CPAP.
Follow these steps to securely hook up your oxygen to your CPAP machine:
1. If your mask doesn’t feature an oxygen port then you’ll need to use an oxygen bleed-adapter. However, some masks that do have oxygen ports may be covered by a cap that needs removing
2. Connect your CPAP tubing with the tubing of your CPAP mask
3. Get your bleed-in-adapter and secure it to the opposite end of your CPAP tubing by pushing it as far forward as possible
4. Once your tubing, mask, and adapter together you’ll need to connect your cannula to the oxygen concentrator to the small end of the bleed-in-adapter by pushing it over the nob until it is secure
5. Your final step is to connect everything to your CPAP machine and then you’re ready to turn everything on to use
You should always have your CPAP machine on before you turn the oxygen machine on and then you should always turn the oxygen off before you turn the CPAP machine off.
Your doctor should show you the way that you should connect your CPAP machine to an oxygen concentrator so you can do it yourself at home. Some CPAP machines and oxygen concentrators will differ so you’ll need to read the user manual to find out how to effectively put everything together.
If you are using an oxygen concentrator with a CPAP machine then you may experience some nasal dryness or a dry throat, so you could use a heated humidifier to moisten the air so you feel more comfortable.