New Swift LT mask expierence so far

oldtimer47 · Post by **oldtimer47** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:46 am

Well I just had to get one of these - I've been a Swift 2 user up to now but always had leaks when turning onto the side where the tube connected.

It's taken a few days to get sorted - medium pillows wouldn't seal in one nostril - large pillows tended to pop out some time in the night. Finally figured it was the 'trampoline' effect that Resmed are so proud of that allows the pillow to move away from the nostril. So being a bit creative I have fitted a support around the 'neck' of the pillow so that it can't move down as much.

Using this with the large pillows worked amazingly well - I have had leak free nights for 3 nights now whatever position I get into. This 'modification' may only be needed because of how my face/nose line up and may not work or even be necessary for most people. We are all different !!!

Noise level from the exhaust is less that the Swift 2 but I then found I could hear myself inhaling - so that got some getting used to. Surprisingly the straps don't seem to leave any marks.

All in all I'm impressed.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:21 pm

Oldtimer47,

I am pleased that you are tweating the LT to get it to fit better and that you are getting great results!

Can you post a picture of what you did to the pillows??

Thanks,

SleepyNoMore

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 2:19 pm

Sarah - those little raised dots on one side do need to be positioned a certain way (I cheated and read the directions - I'm rather obsessive about that )

I'm not "sold" yet but so far like what I'm seeing. If I can get it to seal and stay consistently that would be good. I previously tried the Opus (not the 360) and like the lightness but it leaked like a sieve for me. The LT feels as light as the Opus but seals better (for me, at least).

Stay tuned - I've had other masks I've liked at first and then hated later!

Mindy

Murphy · Post by **Murphy** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 3:16 pm

I have been using the LT for over a week and I am really starting to love it. I had alot of problems in the beginning but I am getting them worked out. I started with the medium pillows but had alot of leaks, so I went to the small pillows and I put ayr gel in my nares before I put on the mask, works great keeping the pillows in. I have also found the mask needs to be loose, the problem I had with that was that it slid up my head and the mask would leak, so now I pull my hair between the two sraps and let it hang over that keeps the strap in place. Another thing I found important is the hose clip, I have tried just letting the hose hang in front of me, bt the mask is so light everytime I touched it the pillows came loose, so no I just use the clip on the top strap and it keeps it stable. Keep trying, it takes some time to get used to this mask.

svh · Post by **svh** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 3:22 pm

That's good to hear. I have a feeling loosening the straps is going to help, and I'm going down a pillow size, too, tonight, plus I will use the clip, since the mask isn't held tight by the straps, and the weight of the hose may be enough to dislodge the pillows....

Keep the success stories/tips coming! I want this to work!

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 7:39 pm

Murphy is right.

If you don't anchor the hose to the headgear, it acts as a lever and dislodges the pillows from the nares. At least that's what happens to me with all nasal pillow masks (it is why the Optilife never worked for me) ... and I have pretty much tried them all.

Last night I only had to adjust once after I let the dog out and came back and didn't pay attention to how I put the mask on ... otherwise, had no problems at all. I also was trying the medium pillows and for every other mask I use large so tonight I will see what difference medium and large make for me.

rzr632 · Post by **rzr632** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 7:47 pm

I'm new and have only used the LT but in reading the posts I remembered what my DME told me when he sized it for me. I'm using a small pillow. And my head/nose is not small. But he said the smaller would be a better fit. It needs to feel loose but will seal when the machine is on. Also, the straps need to be loose on the head. At first I had them too tight and my head hurt and my nose hurt for almost the entire day afterwards. Now, I have it at a pretty loose setting that when its on, I hardly notice it. I'm still trying to figure out the leak number (what is normal, what isn't), but I'm pretty sure I'm not leaking.

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:09 am

OK, last night went very well. I achieved my goal of a zero AHI. It is the first time ever for me in CPAP mode ... a couple of weeks ago I went straight CPAP w/no c-flex just to compare with all of the options on my AFLEX machine.

Anyway, I used the large pillows last night ... they are a bit larger than the Opus or Breeze "large" size pillows. The Swift LT pillows are about 1/8 inch longer than the Opus and about 1/4 inch longer than the Breeze pillow (sorry pic is not better). From left to right:Opus 360, Breeze, Swift LT.

The leak curve below is showing mouth leaks ... looked better night before last though with the medium size pillows and AHI of 0.4 and as far as I can tell there have been no leaks from the pillows (they seal quite well for me). I have noticed that CPAP pressure of 12 seems to be my threshold for mouth leaks ... less than 12 I seem to be mouth leak free (my 90% usually betwen 11 and 12 cm which is why I chose 12 for CPAP mode). So tonight I keep CPAP mode and turn on c-flex till the end of the month and see if mouth leaks come back under control.

I will eventually go back to the mode I do best in which is APAP set to 11 to 13 cm w/ a-flex set at 3 starting July.

Over all, this mask works well for me and my toss-n-turn sleep style. I'll do a full blown review in a few weeks after I have tried it with APAP and a-flex.

JeffH · Post by **JeffH** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:23 am

Couldn't find the price of replacement pillows for this mask. Anybody know?

Thanks

JeffH

oldtimer47 · Post by **oldtimer47** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 12:20 pm

Anonymous wrote:Oldtimer47,

I am pleased that you are tweating the LT to get it to fit better and that you are getting great results!

Can you post a picture of what you did to the pillows??

Thanks,

SleepyNoMore

I have attached a couple of pictures showing what I have done. As I said before this is based on MY PERSONAL experience and I am not suggesting that this is worth doing for anyone else. The issue I had was that the large pillows can 'trampoline' about 4.5mm downwards - when I moved around this was enough to let one of the pillows move out of position and start to leak. What I did was make a 16mm diameter circular o-ring from 3mm diameter plastic (I sewed the two ends together). This is big enough to be a sloppy fit around the 'neck' of the pillow so it doesn't strangle it but it reduces the 'trampolining' effect to about 1mm. If it carries on working this well for me I will try to buy some commercial o-rings. The photo shows the ring in place on the right hand pillow and how it reduces the available movement compared with the unmodified left hand one. I am using the mask fitted with rings on BOTH pillows.

If anyone tries this on a different sized pillow then the measurements will be different. I may be the only person on the planet that this works for so I offer no guarantees !!!

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 12:51 pm

Hi Oldtimer ... when you post a picture, if you select it and then click the "Img" button above the "Message body" box, it will size the photos so the whole page doesn't get wide.

Thanks for the photos - that's definitely an option I'll keep in mind!

Mindy

oldtimer47 · Post by **oldtimer47** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 1:14 pm

My apologies for the huge pictures - I have replaced them with smaller ones

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 3:46 pm

No apologies needed - I wasn't aware of it either the first time I posted pictures! It's just one of those little details we pass along. No offense intended!!!!

Mindy

Flying_Norseman · Post by **Flying_Norseman** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:35 am

I am experiencing the same success/issues with this mask. I will try the small pillows tonight to see if that works. With the Swift II I ended up using the large, but I think this mask is a bit different.

Shilohcane · Post by **Shilohcane** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:53 pm

SleepyNoMore

Try using different size pillows and use something like KY jelly that dries and helps hold the tubes in place. Also, I tried a rubber O-Ring that I had left over from scuba-tank O-Ring seal over one of the tubes on the pillow and it took away some of the spring when it flattens out.

Mask

Additional Comments: Equipment isn't correct, S9 ASV w/H5i