Sleep Apnea, CPAP Cleaning, and COVID-19

Earlier, I was still recovering from having hernia surgery. But it has now been a full month. Or so I thought!!  Worse than ever, I just wanted to sleep. Faithfully, I was using my continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine every night during this time. All of the sudden, I started sleeping 16 hours at a time – with each hour being logged on my CPAP machine. This is my experience with sleep apnea, and CPAP cleaning with COVID-19.

Is this sleep apnea and COVID-19?

Then, one afternoon I got up and realized:  I had no sense of taste or smell! (My husband had just tested positive for COVID-19 3 days before.) The funny thing was, that's about the same time that I was sleeping 16 hours a day. Yet, I was not showing any symptoms until then.

Imagine me just thinking I was needing more rest all this time. Surgery is hard on a body, along with having myasthenia gravis too.

Emergency room visit #1

Because I was having a hard time breathing, we went to the emergency room so I could get tested for COVID-19. Especially when using my CPAP machine, exhaling was difficult.

After getting a positive test for COVID-19, along with x-rays, it showed I had pneumonia in my right lung. I was already using an inhaler, along with prednisone for the myasthenia gravis. Lucky me, right? I was also prescribed an antibiotic. And, I was scheduled for an infusion the next morning.

CPAP cleaning and COVID-19

Getting back home finally, the first thing I did was wash my CPAP machine – thereby, hoping to stop some germs.

Emergency room visit #2

The day after the infusion. Ugh, I was back in the emergency room. It was because my lips were starting to turn blue. I was having more problems breathing. The doctor ordered a CT scan. Which now showed I now had pneumonia in both lungs!  Just that quick even with the infusion.

Upon being released from the hospital, I was told, if I got worse, that a larger hospital would be best. They were not prepared to deal with everything that could possibly happen between COVID-19 and the myasthenia gravis.

Again, I got back home. Immediately I washed out my CPAP machine. Only this time I let it soak in really hot soapy water for about 45 minutes. (I use a real lavender dish soap; it helps kill germs. Also, the lavender smell helps me sleep). I decided to go ahead and replace the nose pillows again. Along with the filter so I had everything new.

The turning point On COVID-19

Beginning the next morning: Bingo – a huge improvement after an obviously long soaking time. Along with the fresh nose pillows and also the new filter I added, it really made a big difference.

Now, I am a little more diligent in keeping my CPAP machine clean. Not that I ever let it get bad. But I didn't always clean it out every day. You know like you're supposed to. Yeah, I won't be making that mistake again. Especially with COVID-19. Not to mention, all the variants going around also.

Lesson learned: Clean my CPAP

From the start of COVID-19, I never once gave a thought about how important it was to keep my CPAP cleaned on a daily basis. Just 1 more step to help keep COVID-19 a little more in check.

Careful CPAP cleaning with sleep apnea and COVID-19 is important to prevent the virus from reinfecting those trying to recover. Tell us about cleaning your CPAP machine after having COVID-19. Please share a comment.