whisper swivel exhalation port noisy

I just changed masks from nasal venting (which I've used for 15 years) to full face non-venting. This setup includes a Respironics Whisper Swivel exhalation port. The problem is that when the CPAP machine ramps up to 12 (my setting), the air coming out of the valve is noisy, making it hard for my wife to sleep -- plus I think I'm waking up myself a few times a night from the noise. Has anyone else encountered this and have any solutions? (My wife wears earplugs. These block the noise but she finds them uncomfortable so ideally we'd figure out how to reduce the noise itself).

What FFM are you using?
Is it a mask to which you have added the swivel device?

JDS74 wrote:What FFM are you using?
Is it a mask to which you have added the swivel device?

It's a Resmed Airfit F10 and I added the swivel device. It is venting but based on the advice of my physician I made it non-venting by putting "ear plug putty" around the vent in the mask and added the swivel device.

I gather that you doctor wants to increase the dead space of the mask and this modification accomplishes that by making the ventilation path just a little longer. It may be that the particular that you have is a little noisy. I have a spare that I don't use that I would be willing to send to you. If you would like to try it, send me a PM with your snail mail address and I'll send it along.

jefffrommass wrote:

JDS74 wrote:What FFM are you using?
Is it a mask to which you have added the swivel device?

It's a Resmed Airfit F10 and I added the swivel device. It is venting but based on the advice of my physician I made it non-venting by putting "ear plug putty" around the vent in the mask and added the swivel device.

I am curious about the reason you are doing this. Is it a central apnea/CO2 thing?

archangle wrote:

jefffrommass wrote:

JDS74 wrote:What FFM are you using?
Is it a mask to which you have added the swivel device?

It's a Resmed Airfit F10 and I added the swivel device. It is venting but based on the advice of my physician I made it non-venting by putting "ear plug putty" around the vent in the mask and added the swivel device.

I am curious about the reason you are doing this. Is it a central apnea/CO2 thing?

Yes. I hadn't had a sleep study in years and decided to have one. Instead of a full study, I sent in my SD card and doc diagnosed central apnea on top of CSA so prescribed non-venting mask, theory being that the CO2 buildup signals your brain to breathe.

I use the same mask and haven't noticed any serious noise from leakage except when only one side of the swivel elbow is clipped into the mask. It looks like it clipped in but there's a gap where the one clip doesn't engage, therefore air can come out, not a lot but enough to make a ssssss sound. It happens to me quite a bit so I'm used to double checking that both snaps are snugly clipped in before I lay down. It's a bad design flaw that ResMed needs to fix on the following revisions. EDIT. READING YOUR ORIGINAL POST AGAIN, I'M NOT ACTUALLY CLEAR WHAT YOU DID TO MODIFY YOUR MASK OR WHY... CAN YOU BE MORE CLEAR.

jefffrommass wrote:

archangle wrote:

jefffrommass wrote:

JDS74 wrote:What FFM are you using?
Is it a mask to which you have added the swivel device?

It's a Resmed Airfit F10 and I added the swivel device. It is venting but based on the advice of my physician I made it non-venting by putting "ear plug putty" around the vent in the mask and added the swivel device.

I am curious about the reason you are doing this. Is it a central apnea/CO2 thing?

Yes. I hadn't had a sleep study in years and decided to have one. Instead of a full study, I sent in my SD card and doc diagnosed central apnea on top of CSA so prescribed non-venting mask, theory being that the CO2 buildup signals your brain to breathe.

Very cool. That's called EERS (enhanced expiratory rebreathing space). It's very promising. Let us know how it works out for you.

Realize it's very dangerous to use an unvented mask without the the separated exhale port. I presume your doctor explained this. If you ever dispose of the mask or give it away, remove the plug or destroy the mask so someone else doesn't end up with it.

BTW, please sign up for an ID and fill in the equipment on your profile. If you have the right CPAP machine, you can track your own results yourself in the home.