Help on humidifier needed please

Hi everyone,

I have a question about the humidifier (or compressor). The humidified air delieverd by the compressor comes out with white smoke and smells not good. My baby Roger obviously doesn't like it. And when I put it onto his trach he has more coughing and sneezing. I called the company and the respiratory therapist said that is not white smoke, but moisture. But I can tell it is indeed white smoke. The company seems couldn't resolve this problem so I am considering to switch company.

I am wondering if you guys have or had any similar problem. I know in hospital the air is supplied through the wall pipe so there is no such an issue. But at home we have to use a compressor to drive the humidified air. I am afraid the smoke could cause some side effect to my baby since we have to use it for a long time. What company are you guys using? Any information and suggestion is high appreciated!

John

[erikall]

My advice is to call back the company and tell them you want someone coming out to check your machine NOW, and if they do not respond, you will find a different company. I did this the week my daughter came home, for similar reasons. If it really ios smoke, your trach baby DOES NOT need to be breathing it in, and if it is not, but is causing such a reaction from your son, something needs to be done!

Good Luck.
Erika

Thanks a lot, Erika. Somebody from the company did come but she thought it is normal. She said compressor couldn't produce humidified air as good as that supplied in hospital. But I doubt what she said. I just want to know if that is common and let it be. Or I need go ahead to switch company.

Thanks again
John

[cariaad]

I always thought the mist looked like smoke, too. What I ended up doing was adjusting the pressure on the compressor down and also the % of water going in, which produced less moisture and less of an appearance of smoke. Alli coughed a lot when the moisture was too high. You might try this. Deb

[Stefan & Jennifer]

I hate the home set up mist collars--they're loud, they don't work well, they are messy, they make a lot of kids more prone to infections, they make you suction more, they keep breaking down, etc, etc.....at least that's been my experience.

Maybe you could talk to your son's doctor to see if he/she would let you try to have him sleep with just an HME and a room air humidifier. We booted the mist collar after only two weeks and my son has slept with nothing else since then and done just fine.

We keep the air in the house at 50% humidity with a whole house humidifier and have an extra humidifier in my son's bedroom.

[twintotwin]

With space travel and cloning you would think we could come up with something better than the PSI compressor to administer humidification!

I experienced the white smoke with a regular room humidifier- I read it's caused by minerals in the water, it shouldn't be happening if you are using sterile water.

Check if there is any white dust residue around the room especially settling on electronics...then you know for sure it is white smoke.

If you don't get results from your DME company then report it to your insurance rep if they are paying for it- they won't want to pay for something that isn't working for you.