Anyone gone back to a nasal mask after pillows?

[Pillowtoss]

Ok here it goes, So I started out with a nasal mask from fisher and Paykel the Zest which I got bruised pretty bad from. I think I had a wrong fit but I swiched to a nasal pillow. I currently have the Resmed swift fx for her which I loved until I had a rainout and my most recent worst rainout. I have been waking up to a rainout quite a bit and it's really scarey to wake up snatch your mask off hacking and coughing trying to catch your breath after breathing water into your nose with a nasal pillow mask.

I'm not sure what to do. I've tried adjusting my humidifier and my heated hose so many times. It works well then a temp change in the house and I have a rainout again. This last time was pretty bad, I had to go back to sleep without my mask because I couldn't stop coughing from the rainout. My machine is positioned lower than the bed. I was afraid to put it back on.

My machine has always been positioned lower than my bed. I route the 6ft hose from the machine up and through my headboard then down to my pillow where I lay. Because of the design of the headboard it kept most of the hose from hanging and pulling down to the floor. That's why I route it through the head board I can turn through the night without getting tangled in the hose or it messing up my seal from the mask.

I am kind of at the point now I'm nervous to sleep with my nasal pillows and have that happen again. I'm not sure if a rainout may be a little easier to handle with a nasal mask where it only may splash in your face a little vs. the nasal pillows where you actually breath the water up your nose and into your lungs. That's not good but I'm not sure what to do. If I go with another mask I have to start all over with the best mask for me search. I'm also claustrophobic so this mask worked perfect for me. I'm at the point now where it's time to replace my mask. So I can go with the same again or something new.
In need of help or suggestions. Thanks all for tips and suggestions.

[Julie]

Hi - if your machine is sitting somewhere higher than you, then you'll get rainout, so try to put it just a bit lower - water won't run uphill... if that's the problem, and if that doesn't work come back and get some other ideas.

[Pillowtoss]

I have my machine positioned lower than my bed.

[redjoe]

I know you have a heated hose but, with the Swift FX, you still have about a foot of hose that is not heated. If the room air is cold enough, that may be the cause of the rainout. If you cover it with a hose cozy, that may just stop the rainout. Good luck!

[Pugsy]

Cover the short hose with some sort of insulation.
Consider the barrel cozy to help insulate the nasal pillows.
http://www.padacheek.com/PACSwiftII_Barrel_cozy.html

Most likely condensation in the nasal pillows from the moisture in your breath. Are you routing the hose overhead? If so, might lay it down on the bed...water doesn't run uphill...and only place to go is up the nose when the hose is routed overhead.

[Issac]

Pillowtoss, I can't believe I didn't think of that.
There's no rain out with a Hybrid, but some of the other masks were a nightmare.
Thanks for the tip.

[Pillowtoss]

Pillowtoss, I can't believe I didn't think of that.
There's no rain out with a Hybrid, but some of the other masks were a nightmare.
Thanks for the tip.

Yes, breathing water up your nose is not normal nor does it feel good. But it can happen with nasal pillows I guess and I never though of that before I bought them. I love the fit of my nasal pillows I have no scars or sore/ tender spots what so ever. But I hate water up the nose and in the lungs. I wonder if that could cause pneumonia... I suppose not, it's probably more like swallowing liquid the wrong way when it goes into the lungs causing you to cough to expel it back out of the lungs. But I don't like it.

[ozze_dollar]

1. Have your machine as low as possible. I have mine on the floor.
2. Dont fill the humidifier to the top.

If you do this you wont get rainout.

I switch between Nasal softgel and a swift FX pillows.

[Papit]

Hi, Pillowtoss. See redjoe's and Pugsy's remarks below. Their comments are right on.

I had the same rainout surprise that you had the first time I suspended the air hose from overhead. I was using the top section of a fishing rod connected to my headboard and was also using a humidifier and heated hose. As redjoe pointed out, the foot or so of hose from the Swift FX (and all other masks I know about) are not heated. Neither are the pillows. I concluded that my warm breath caused condensation in the unheated ELEVATED section of hose and that droplets of condensed water ran down and accumulated in the barrel between the mask hose and the pillows; --and once the barrel was holding as much water as it could, the next drop went down my nose, caused me to suddenly move, and suddenly a lot of the rest of the accumulated water then entered my nose.

The fix was easy. I made myself a hose cozy sleeve by cutting a 3-inch wide strip of towel. I wrapped the mask tube with the towel strip by taping it on for the time being and that ended the rainout. If you don't necessarily have to have the hose elevated, Pugsy's idea works too. Let the mask hose lie next to you on the bed so your warmth will prevent the cooler room air from causing condensation in the mask hose; and if any might still occur (which isn't very likely), the water will stay in the tube at mattress level as gravity will prevent it from climbing up the hose to the pillows on your nose. --papit

[Pugsy]

Padacheeks makes a really nice short hose cozy for those who aren't handy.
A scrape of light fleece from WalMart wrapped around the short hose will work well and can be secured with rubber bands or even plain wrapping paper tape (I did this for the long hose until I got a nice hose cozy). Old fuzzy socks work well also, just cut a hole in the toe and slide it on. If a bit loose again rubber bands or tape to secure it.

Condensation in the barrel from our own breath is more problematic. Barrel cozy will help greatly. I didn't try to go the DIY way for the barrel cozy...instead I bought the cozy from Padacheeks. No way could I make something fit so snug myself. I still have (and use because it feels so good) the barrel cozy that I bought in Feb 2011. I used it all last year even just because it felt so good against the skin.
Not that the silicone of the nasal pillows feels bad but just because the material was so much more pleasant.

[avi123]

If you keep your room temprature at near 75 F then there should be no condensations and rainouts.

[Pugsy]

If you keep your room temprature at near 75 F then there should be no condensations and rainouts.

And no sleep for me
Even in winter during the day I never turn the furnace up that much. My mother does (74 degrees) and I nearly roast at her house..
Just what a menopausal woman needs is more heat at night. No thanks. I am grouchy enough.
I can't sleep at all when I am too warm. It just isn't comfortable.
So I elect to deal with the rain out. It can be controlled fairly easily. Much easier than I can get to sleep in a hot house.

[avi123]

If you keep your room temprature at near 75 F then there should be no condensations and rainouts.

And no sleep for me
So I elect to deal with the rain out. It can be controlled fairly easily. Much easier than I can get to sleep in a hot house.

Comment,

If warm moist air enters a air hose situated in a colder room then the air inside the hose condense inside the hose. If you place the XPAP lower then the bed level and the air hose hangs downward then the water inside the hose will flow back down but not into the water chamber (in Resmed H5i Humidifiers) but down to the floor of the humidifier. And then it will make lots of crackling sounds. Next, you'll wake up b/c of the sounds and look around for its source. Next, you'll need to wipe the bottom plate of the humidifier with paper towel, or something else to remove the water.

If you hang the air hose on a hanger that lifts the hose close to its center length then some of the condensed water would accumulate at the mask, cause the non rebreathing valve to make crackling sounds, and also could go into the lungs thru the nose of a nasal pillows mask, or other type of nasal mask user.

[Pugsy]

If warm moist air enters a air hose situated in a colder room then the air inside the hose condense inside the hose. If you place the XPAP lower then the bed level and the air hose hangs downward then the water inside the hose will flow back down but not into the water chamber (in Resmed H5i Humidifiers) but down to the floor of the humidifier. And then it will make lots of crackling sounds. Next, you'll wake up b/c of the sounds and look around for its source. Next, you'll need to wipe the bottom plate of the humidifier with paper towel, or something else to remove the water.

Avi...I had zero issues with rain out this past winter. November to February I used the Hybernite heated hose and the barrel cozy on the PR S1 machine. Mid February I got the S9 and ClimateLine hose and used the barrel cozy....zero issues with rain out. There are ways to limit rain out without sleeping (or lack of sleeping) in an oven.

[Elle]

I used nasal pillows the last two nights (Aloha) and will go back to my nasal mask tonight for a break. I love the Aloha. It feels great and keeps a good seal but I wake up feeling like my nose is hot and very dry. I can almost smell sauna heat since the last time I felt this dryness in my nose was in a sauna. I have my humidity at 4 so I don't think raising it to 5 would make that much difference. I think I will just switch back and forth.