Taking your CPAP breathing machine to Italy

Cheryl: On the broad blue band at the top of this page, enter CPAP Machine in the "search" space. You'll be glad you did.

Thank you so much! I have lots to read and educate myself with this wonderful information!

We draveled with a friend who uses the machine last year and he had no problems. The device does not count toward your carry on limit. The only problem was that his machine was supposed to be used with distilled water, but he was using bottled mineral water so it had to be cleaned out after the third week.

I think you can get distilled water at a pharmacy.

CPAP works in Italy just like it works at home. You'll probably need to run it off an electrical converter, however. I would suggest you buy a very high quality converter. Don't forget to take an extension cord, as European rooms often don't have accessible electrical outlets. I too am on a CPAP, however I'm not going to carry mine to Italy next month. Some need it worse than others. Many users don't really get that much benefit, as they'll often rip their masks off in their sleep. I'm just going to use a chin strap to keep my mouth closed.

Cheryl, if you are taking along a humidifier, with a separate electrical plug, make sure that it also says (110/240,) on the back. 110 for the US and 240 for the EU. Other than taking along an extension cord, I also take a little "3 into one" adaptor. (Allows me to plug three plugs/cords into one outlet.) Many rooms have only one outlet, and you will want to be able to run your CPAP and the room light at the same time. Of course you will also need a couple of plug adaptors, so that your US cord will fit in the EU socket. Make sure that you have both types of the Italian adaptors; the one with the small plugs, and the one with the larger plugs. In some rooms you may find both types of plugs. A good travel store will stock both of these.

Thank all of you for taking the time to respond. I can NOT sleep with out my CPAP. So all the information is timely and useful. Have fun traveling all of you.