mask troubles

Swordz wrote:As far as the lenght of the hose, cpap.com offers a 10' hose. I kept my 6' for now, and got a snuggle hose to cover it (I can't afford the Aussie cover). But the cpap.com description says, "The modest additional length does not cause a significant decrease in patient airway pressure."

Thanks, Swordz. I'll check out the link you provided & see if the price is worth trying it out.

momexp5 wrote:ha ha, you're Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer? lolol... My 3yo, with no prompting, calls the mask my Darth Vader ("Vader" for short).

Actually, my wife probably thinks I look more like Darth Vader than Tom Cruise, too, but hey, I can dream, can't I? After all, it's my imagination! No question though, I sound more like Darth Vader sometimes when I'm trying to breathe!

Love your 3yo's take on your mask. I have grandkids about that same age & we get to see them so infrequently, they haven't seen me yet with my mask on. I've been a little afraid it might scare them. What was your 3yo's 1st reaction? Did you have to let him (her?) try it on or do anything else special to make sure it was non-threatening?

Rol

He just wanted to know what it was. No big deal. I just told him I was going to use it so I wouldn't snore when I sleep. He got that <g> he does a pretty good snoring imitation...

My 3yo, with no prompting, calls the mask my Darth Vader ("Vader" for short). ....

I also get called Darth Vader by my brother....I guess it's a good name...LOL

Ok folks, I tool my mask to my Dr. appt. today and showed him how it fits. He agreed it is too big. I told him I might like to try nasal pillows so he wrote me a script. The only ones they had in stock here is the Breeze ones. I got it and tried it on. It is much less of a hassle to get it fitting right, and I like that I'm not going to wake up with marks on my face from all the stupid straps. The marks last an hour or so, and my hair just will not do what it's supposed to do all day long, when every night I'm cramming all these straps on it. The other worry I had about the mask is that the places where the straps go around my head, and the degree of tightness I have to maintain to get a seal, seems to put pressure on blood vessels in that part of my face or something. I feel like I'm being choked or something at times. The headgear with the nasal pillows is much easier to get adjusted correctly, and in a fraction of the time. I was fooling with that mask and headgear for hours every night. Tonight I sleep with the pillows, and hope for the best. It seems to fit great at the moment. I dreaded having to get up to answer nature's call in the night because I'd have to fiddle with that mask, and the amount of stuff on my head made me feel a bit like a mummy, and sort of claustrophobic. I never thought I was before. I guess you live and learn. I'll let you know how the Breeze works out. I told my Dr. about this place. He said he'd have to check it out.

I have been sleeping with my Breeze for a few nights. I like it. It is much more comfortable that the comfort gel mask. Of course I sleep on my side. If I am on my back sometimes the head gear is not positioned quite right. This thing fits my nose just right, and I don't wake up with red marks on my face. The places where the mask touched me on the face sometimes were red and raised for a while in the morning. I have a little bit of an allergic reaction to latex. I can't wear latex gloves and they don't use latex on me when I have to be antesthetized for surgery. Rubber balloons bother me too. The kids had some in the house a while back and they got mad at me for throwing them outside. I couldn't breath well! I thought the comfort gel mask is silicone. I don't know why it would bother me, but that blue gel part of the mask makes my skin sort of itchy. I don't know what that gel is. The Breeze has taken care of that problem. I love it, and when I have to answer nature's call in the night I can just slip it off like a cap and then back on. It was such an ordeal with the mask. I just took the hose loose from the mask and wore the contraption to the bathroom. I think I scared on of the kids in the middle of the night one time. The outrigger on the breeze I have seems to have been rather flimsy. My grandaughter fogured some was to get it off the headgear. I'll have to find a tiny screwdriver and some super glue (the holes are stipped out) to fix it. Right now it's taped on. I placed the straps for the headgear lower, closer to the nosepiece, and don't use the outrigger. However, that piece snugs it up against my head well. I have a little bit of rain out, but not bad. I figured out how to help that icky taste in my mouth in the mornings. I put a few drops of that liquid Vicks for humidifiers in my humidifier. I like Vicks because it really seems to help open my nasal passages. If you don't like Vicks I guess it won't work for you. The Vicks seems to mask whatever was causing the taste. I am still taking that antibiotic and that might be the cause of the taste. I'm almost finished with that though. I think I'll keep on using the Vicks. When I wake up in the morning I am so clear! Then I take off my mask and the cat dander and mustiness of my old house assail my nose and I start to stop up again. I'm allergic to cats and we own 4 of them (supposed to be barn cats!) It's the old plaster in my house that bothers me. As long as it's sealed up and covered with pain and all, it doesn't bother me, but when we cut the cieling to put in a whole house fan we haven't figured out how to seal off the plaster at the edges of the hole around the fan yet. That's what I get for buying and remodeling an 80 year old house. But this old house feel quite like home to me.