Is a nasel pillow worth a try?

[reffus1881]

Just finished a night of not being able to sleep. I talked to an RT at my DME,he looked at my nose(beat up from my mask)and told me to take a break from cpap for a night. So i did and woke up with a headache.(would someone please tell me why we get these headaches without cpap) Last night,back on the mask i could not sleep it was like starting over again. It was very uncomfortable. Finally i gave up and got up at 2AM. Maybe i did nap some i don't feel overly tired. Anyway for the first time i really feel like giving up. I am a mouth breather and don't see a way out of this. I know i need the therapy. I am going to ask my sleep Doc for copies of reports from my sleep studies,i read here on the forum that they have useful data. Anytime i have asked for help here my new friends have come to the rescue. I am begining to think taking that night off was the worst thing i could do.
Bill

[bdp522]

A nasal pillow is worth a try. I am also a mouth breather, but I tape my mouth closed every night. You should try a chinstrap first to see it it will keep you from mouth breathing, it didn't work for me but does for some. The RT should have offered you a different mask, they all seem to sit at slightly different spots on the nose. I also highly recommend the PADACHEECK mask liners. They work wonderfully and you just wash and reuse, they last a very long time! You also need to be sure the mask isn't cranked down too tight.

Every time you sleep without the mask you are telling your brain it's ok to not use the mask. This makes it much harder to get used to the mask and machine. The headache is your body telling you it doesn't like not getting enough oxygen due to apneas.

Brenda

[Lsfreese@fuse.net]

Don't give up! For two years I struggled trying to find a ffm that wouldnt leak and keep me awake, or wake me up constantly. I tried virtually every ffm on the market. I was a mouthbreather and even with a ffm I found my mouth horribly dry within a hour after finally falling asleep. I found that I needed a chin strap even with the ffm. I was just about to give it up after more than two years of struggle and finally asked my sleep doc to let me try a nasel pillow mask. He gave me a Swift FX, but didn't think it would work, and wasn't optomistic.
Well, I tried it and the first night I slept 4 hrs uninterrupted, the most in 2yrs. I had tried numerous chin straps over the two years, and most didn't work for me. I tried the white cloth one that is about 2-1/2in wide and although it's not perfect, it has done the job. It didn't work well with a ffm, but with the very small footprint swift fx it did a pretty good job of staying in place. After the last 4 mnths using this combination mask and chin strap I am doing well. The fx nasel pillows seal rather easily compared to a ffm, and if you break the seal, will reseat quickly. I am teaching myself to breath thru my nose and having some success with it, and am able to take a hours nap without the chinstrap. Don't give up. Keep trying.