Nasal Mask Users

Still struggling to find the right mask. I have tried the Air Fit P10, F10, N10 and the Wisp . I thought the f10 was the answer until the desert appeared more often than not. I tried using the chin strap but that is in the way of bottom of the mask for a good seal. With my old flex fit 406 I didn't seem to have issues with air escaping through my mouth. My questions is for users who have tried the nasal mask and does any of them to seem to help hold the tongue in place to prevent the air escaping? I just got the N0 and while the size fits on the outside the inside of silicone seems to small and I feel like I am suffocating. I am thinking about the Lady Zest Q. Your good or bad experiences with nasal mask is appreciated.

I don't mouth breathe (that I am aware of) but the Fisher Paykel Eson seemed like a near perfect nasal mask to me.

Hello Princessbelle,

It can seem like an insurmountable task to find the right mask. I know it took me a few before I settled on the one I like and I certainly hope they don't discontinue it anytime soon. That being said, the one for you is the one for you. The mask fits and preferences are so individual that I don't think what works for one person necessarily works for most. You just need to keep trying them until you find the right one for you. This can be costly, however if you are willing to carefully clean a used mask and give it a try for a week or so, there are very generous people on this forum that will help you try almost any mask you have your eye on at a very reasonable cost to you. If you find the one you love, then you can purchase a new one next time.

This forum is full of people who have been where you are now, and do understand your plight. I do hope you find that one that you really can sleep well with soon.
Best wishes,

Karen

There's no nasal interface mask that I know of that does anything to the tongue.

If the mouth opening/breathing or tongue not keeping the door shut to prevent the air from entering the mouth (chipmunk cheeks) ....I don't think that can be fixed by just a mask change. That's a habit that the tongue needs to do no matter which mask is used and that's easier said than done.

Just how bad are the leaks from the mouth and are they waking you up often?
Are we talking half the night in big leak or half an hour out of the entire night?

Karen thank you for your kind words. I know every one has to find the "right" mask. My F10 with your liner worked great. The problem was waking with a desert in my mouth biotene didn't last, so I tried the chin strap with it that was just a disaster not only was uncomfortable it caused major mask leaks at the bottom of the mask. I have tried taping from the both sides of mask down under my chin. While this seems to work my skin doesn't like adhesives of any kind that I have tried.

Pugsy when I tried the wisp my husband left bed and slept on the couch because I snoring or the air rushing out woke him. He said with my old flex fit mask that didn't happen. I used to hear a noise when I moved my tongue upon waking with the old flex fit. When the leaks are bad I might as well not use the machine.

I just got the N10, I will take that back and try the Lady Zest. I was just looking for an idea of what worked and why they thought it worked for them. I had high hopes for the P10 and was so sad when that didn't work. The head gear was my main problem there. Straps would end up behind my head or on my face or both. I even tried those snap barrettes to hold the straps in place that didn't' work. I just hit the wonderful 50 last week so I will not complain about the amount of hair on my head, especially since my 2 older siblings have thinning hair and a younger one who lost all hair on top several years ago.

I was hoping for a few responses that would give me a direction to head.

The good news is my hours of sleep have improved with the new machine I went for 4-5 hours a night to an average is just over 7 now. That is an improvement I even slept almost 9 hours! The husband was up before me and that is rare. I told not to let me sleep that long again. My back doesn't like being in the bed that long.

You know if your mouth is coming open that much and hubby has to sleep somewhere else and you wake often with it...maybe you do need a full face mask because of the massive loss of therapy pressure through your open mouth.
While I don't expect perfection on that leak graph and I don't worry about short periods of large leak not matter what causes them...I sleep through them..they don't mess with my sleep or my husband's sleep.

If you are still wanting ideas on a nasal interface mask...have you tried the Swift FX nasal pillows and/or the Swift FX Nano cushion? I was able to successfully use the Nano cushion and it's the only nasal cushion mask that I have been able to actually sleep with. I didn't do well with the Wisp.
I know that my experience is just my experience and it doesn't guarantee anything but if you have tried either of those you might look at them.
If you liked the P10 well enough but just didn't like the headgear then you might like the Swift FX headgear...it's probably more stable and for sure more adjustable and the nasal pillows are very similar to the P10 pillows.
And the Nano cushion will fit on the Nasal Pillow headgear...and the other way around...the Swift FX nasal pillows will fit on the Nano headgear.

If you have not tried either of those masks...and they look interesting to you...get the Nano and I have some unused Swift FX nasal pillows I can send you to try with the Nano headgear.

princessbelle wrote: With my old flex fit 406 I didn't seem to have issues with air escaping through my mouth.

Is the Flex Fit 406 a nasal mask or a full face mask? Has it been discontinued or is there another reason you want to abandon it?

My questions is for users who have tried the nasal mask and does any of them to seem to help hold the tongue in place to prevent the air escaping?

As pugsy says: There's nothing in a nasal mask that does anything with the tongue. Keeping the tongue up on the top of the roof of the mouth is a habit. It's where most nose-only breathers habitually keep their tongues, and when the tongue is kept there, there is usually minimal or no air leakage into the oral cavity.

Pugsy when I tried the wisp my husband left bed and slept on the couch because I snoring or the air rushing out woke him. He said with my old flex fit mask that didn't happen. I used to hear a noise when I moved my tongue upon waking with the old flex fit. When the leaks are bad I might as well not use the machine.

Again, I agree with Pugsy: If the leaks are so bad that hubby left the bed because of the noise of your snoring and/or the air rushing out of your mouth, then there's a real problem.

Again, since this wasn't a problem with the flex fit, why are you trying to find a new mask? Has the Flex Fit been discontinued? Or is it just that the DME doesn't want to order it for you?

I had high hopes for the P10 and was so sad when that didn't work. The head gear was my main problem there. Straps would end up behind my head or on my face or both. I even tried those snap barrettes to hold the straps in place that didn't' work.

So did the P10 basically slip off your head/face?

The Swift FX and FX Nano's headgear is more adjustable, and hence more stable, than the P10. You might want to give those masks a try. As pugsy says, you can use the Swift FX pillows on the Nano's headgear. I believe you can aslo use the Nano on the Swift FX pillows headgear, but I'm not positive about that.

robysue wrote:I believe you can also use the Nano on the Swift FX pillows headgear, but I'm not positive about that.

It's confirmed. I did it myself. The silicone part the headgear for each mask is identical as well as the back strap.
The main difference is the short hose assembly on the Nano...it's a wee bit lighter and more flexible than the nasal pillow hose from the Swift FX packaging.
When I tried the Nano I only bought the short hose (just to see how it would compare) and the cushion.
I used my old Swift FX headgear. Worked fine.
I also tried the Nano cushion on the Bella Loops. Worked great. I slept all night with it that way. Surprised the heck out of me because I just knew the cushion would be too heavy and tug on the loops too much but it wasn't a factor at all. The Nano cushion is really, really lightweight compared to a lot of the other nasal cushion masks.

Since I have some free unused Swift FX nasal pillows...if someone is wanting to try the Nano and the pillows...I suggest getting the Nano and I will mail some pillows to try with it. No sense in spending more money than we have to. I don't have any unused Nano cushions though..hence buy the Nano package and I will send some nasal pillows to try with it.

I personally use the Swift LT, premium chin strap from CPAP.com and also a stretchy head band, first I put the chin strap on, then the Swift, then the head band from chin to top of head, tried full face masks, didn't work for me, the Swift along with chin strap, and head band works great for me, This treatment shouldn't be so problematic but it seems no fix is universal, just keep trying you can fix it, it can't fix you.
Ed

My nose didn't take well to pillows at all, not sure that was because of the issues with the head gear I had. I was wanting to try the latest and greatest in mask as the last mask I had gotten before this journey with trying to find a new mask was around 2008/2009. I think I will try a "new" flex fit mask, maybe that is the mask that works best for me and it leaked no matter what I did because it was just worn out. I liked the F10 but the desert it creates is not good for oral health.

I also went through several masks before I found the one I like. Pillows were uncomfortable on my nasal passages. The Active LT has worked really well and I'm sticking with it. AHI is always under 1. The feature that really helps me is that the silicone is soft and pliable, almost accordion-like, so that it adapts to me flipping from side-to-side and back, without leaks.

Chin straps also bothered me, with red skin marks, etc. I settled on the tape method from recommendations I read here.

Pugsy wrote: The silicone part the headgear for each mask is identical as well as the back strap.
The main difference is the short hose assembly on the Nano...it's a wee bit lighter and more flexible than the nasal pillow hose from the Swift FX packaging.

I understand that the short tubes are slightly different (the Nano has a more flexible ball joint), but are they compatible? Can you, while giving up some flexibility, use the FX Nano cushion on an FX tube? What about an FX nasal pillow on the FX Nano tube?

Sleep87 wrote:

Pugsy wrote: The silicone part the headgear for each mask is identical as well as the back strap.
The main difference is the short hose assembly on the Nano...it's a wee bit lighter and more flexible than the nasal pillow hose from the Swift FX packaging.

I understand that the short tubes are slightly different (the Nano has a more flexible ball joint), but are they compatible? Can you, while giving up some flexibility, use the FX Nano cushion on an FX tube? What about an FX nasal pillow on the FX Nano tube?

The Nano hose WILL fit on the Swift FX nasal pillows just fine.
The Swift FX hose will fit on the Nano cushion just fine.
The main difference is that more flexible ball joint on the Nano short hose...I actually stole it and used it on my Swift FX pillows mask because I liked it better.
Everything is pretty much totally interchangeable between the 2 models. I even used the Nano cushion with the Swift FX Bella loops...slept all night with it fixed up that way. Worked great, slept well, no mask issues waking me up at all. Totally surprised me because I thought that the Nano cushion would maybe drag the loops too much but it was totally a non issue.

When I was experimenting...I used all the possible combinations to see if something wouldn't work and they all work together just fine.

I also use the Activa LT and am very comfortable with it. In case you still want to experiment with taping, you might want to look online for "Hypafix" tape, it's a surgical dressing tape, and very sticky, yet easy on the skin.

I have been extremely pleased with the Mirage Activa LT! I have used it with complete satisfaction for over 6 years.

It is very adjust and extremely comfortable to wear. I strongly recommend it.