Regenesis Pillow for xPAP -- review

SleepGuy was kind enough to provide me with a trial Regenesis Pillow to try out. Here's a link to the product page so you can see what I'm talking about: http://www.pur-sleep.com/products/prodD ... arch=&page

Previous to this pillow, which I've now been using for about a month, I was using a foam CPAP pillow with cutouts. And here's my review of the Regenesis pillow. It's long. Enjoy!

Here's what I like:

Unlike the CPAP pillow, it is not foam. It is made of cotton; washable and natural. And not *stinky*! I really disliked the smell of the CPAP pillow. I am much more comfortable, both physically (no smell) and psychologically with a cotton pillowcase.

And it is filled with buckwheat hulls -- a natural material! The whole thing feels like a natural, organic, satisfying product.

The buckwheat hulls are refillable and the case is washable. I'm not sure why I would want to refill the hulls, but if I ever needed to, I could. This is very different from a foam pillow which, over time, will degrade.

And I can wash the cover! I like to be "hands-on" with things. This is a product I can literally take apart and put back together. And I can repair and restore anything that needs repair or restoring. It feels like a better economic choice for that reason - like "if anything goes wrong, I know what to do to make it better." The CPAP pillow is just a "thing" that either works or does not work. Your pillow is something that I can *make* work if I need to.

I love the sound and feel of the buckwheat hulls! They make a soft rustling in the pillow that is very soothing.

But the main thing, of course, is how the pillow works. I am able to sleep so much more comfortably, and in such a greater range of positions, than I was with the CPAP pillow! You know, of course, the problem with regular pillows - the need to accomodate the mask (I am not a back sleeper, and I use a full face mask, so I need the maximum accomodation for a mask possible).

With the CPAP pillow, I was essentially forced into two fixed positions, as the pillow is rigid except for two cutouts to accomodate my mask. I realize now that I had been waking fairly frequently because my position had become uncomfortable. I would have shifted on the pillow and the resistance from the rigid pillow was pushing my mask into or away from my face, waking me up.

Now, three nights with the Regensis pillow, I realized I am not waking at night. Instead, I am able to instantly (and essentially unconsciously) adjust the pillow to make any changes I need. This pillow is infinitely adjustable, because I can put the hulls any way I want. And, like I said before, I find it much more psychologically comforting than a rigid, off-gassing, foam pillow with fixed cutaways.

Here's the difference: with the CPAP pillow, I get a pillow with cutouts that I can conform to. With your pillow, the pillow conforms to ME. It is the complete opposite. You know? I can nestle down into the Regenesis pillow, confident that it will continue to support and soothe me through the night. I already have a big, strange intrusion into my sleeping - a CPAP mask and machine. It is important to me that I retain some control over the rest of my sleeping environment, and that it be comfortable, supportive, adaptive, and welcoming.

sonnds interesting, I think that springy foam pillows that fight back should be avoided

I first bought pure and large cotton covers for about 5$ each at Wall*Mart.

I then bought 2X20 kilos of bio buckwheat hulls (thats good for a LARGE number of pillows) for something like 19.00$ each from a bio mill.

Each pillow ends up to be less than 10$!

It is THE perfect pillow for all of us. Fresh in the summer, no humidity problem and you can give them the form you want. The only drawback is that a big one is quite heavy. Even then, I have buckwheat pillows at home now in every room, in the travel trailer, at my hunting and fishing camp. No need to carry them now! I also have a little smaller one for the SUV (my wife is 4'11" and sits on it!) and made 2 even smaller rounded ones ( C shape) for air travel!

My wife and I have been sleeping on those pillows for nearly a year now and we would not return to foam or feathers. One thing definitely settled.

I have had the same experience with my Regenesis Pillow. I love it. I actually tried to talk sleepguy into making a king size for me as I was so used to sleeping on a king size memory foam pillow.

Due to a debate that raged on and on when I gave my opinion of this pillow, I went to our local K-Mart and purchased a queen size zippered quilted pillow cover and since I had the extra buckwheat filled it. The pillow I made is not of the same quality as the one supplied by sleepguy. In sleep quality, I much prefer the Regenesis pillow over any I have used.

Another thumbs up from me on a wonderful product.

where do I buy buckwheat hulls?

I live in a rural area and couldn't find any locally and had to purchase mine off the internet. Do a google search for buckwheat hulls.

I went with the product from The Birkett Mills, a company that's been around for about 200 years (seriously) in upstate New York. They also sell bulk hulls:



The size is about 10" x 18 1/2" (buckwheat pillows need to be small so they won't be awkward in bed, they can get pretty heavy). For some people, that may take a little getting used to.



Price was $25.95 ($33.55 with S&H). Arrived in 2 days. In review, hulls look uniform, no dust inside (the hulls have been "triple-cleaned"). The pillow is overstuffed, you're supposed to take some hulls out to "fine-tune" it. I ended up taking out a heap o'hulls (now have extra hull in the lunch bag there), apparently you shouldn't have too much product in there to achieve "The Hull Effect".



100% Cotton muslin tight-weave zippered pillow. No spillage noted anywhere, zipper seems secure. Comes with a pillow case. No discernible odor. Interesting tidbits of information all over the place, including the carton. Buckwheat is a fruit. Who knew? The need for home-grown hulls is noted, so they don't need to be fumigated (as opposed to their being imported). No herbicides or pesticides.

Since I have a baseline that consists of a very short sleep latency, no recalled awakenings and arising after awakening (essentially immediately after final REM period), personally, there really wasn't a sleep issue that could be objectively improved.

Proper bedding is one of the tenets of sleep hygiene, but whether or not a buckwheat pillow could be the deal-maker to overcome a prolonged sleep latency would be a question that should be examined individually.

Which begs the question, what are the problems that buckwheat pillows could actually help? A subject that seems to come up most frequently is neck discomfort/pain, but a blanket claim of "buy a buckwheat pillow and your neck pain will be cured" belongs in the spam bucket.

Further, the principles and design of the buckwheat pillow (BP) would make one think that it is not CPAP user-friendly, since the semi-rigid wall of the recess created during BP adjustment would seem to create an obstruction to sideways movement and side-sleeping for those sporting a PAP interface.

Presently, I am using the BP on top of a regular pillow, thus raising the overall height several inches and creating an interesting effect. The unsupported BP was much lower than what I was used to sleeping on, and an excellent rule of thumb is not not make wholesale changes to the sleep routine (lest it cease to be a "routine", and "if it ain't broke...").

Muffy

You want buckwheat hulls and don't know where to get them?

Stores that sells vegetables, fruits, flour and natural products stores can get you organic buckwheat hulls at a very low price. As mentioned I got them at 19 $ for a 22 kilos (44 pounds) bag. And they made their "standard" profit with me! I first contacted the mill by phone but they were 50 miles away (heir price was 12$ for the 22 kilos bag). They, themselves, suggested me to buy their buckwheat hulls from the vegetable store as that store was part of their "run". Don't pay more and give your money to USPS for a small quantity in a nice cardboard box.

Mills don't know what to do with buckwheat hulls it is also used for gardening mix. Buckwheat pillows at 60$ or even 90$ each are a "ripoff" and as mentioned don't believe those who promise heaven, neck pain absolute cure, improvements in blood pressure, allergy reduction etc... All this is marketing and b.s. that justify asked price and let you dream of a miracle cure. Same as for the pillow cover. As mentioned, I got organic pillow covers from Wall*Mart and also standard ones. Both are perfect, well made, don't leak etc... What is said about pillow covers is also part of their marketing and hooking process.

By the way king size pillows are quite heavy which is a drawback. Even if I have king size, I prefer the standard ones which are more easily "manageable".

My over all conclusion is simply that they are very comfortable and easily individually adjustable for us with special needs. And this is exactly the key points.

Each of us is very unique in our needs and comfort zone.

As I stated in my post, I tried using a similar pillow protector from our local K-Mart store, filled it with buckwheat, and tried using it for a few nights. It is NOT as comfortable as the Regenesis Pillow!!

On the pillow protector I purchased, I gave $6.00 for a queen size. It is a quilted cotton cover with a zippered end. I took about 9 pounds of hulls to fill it, making it very heavy. It generates more noise and at times, you can feel the edges of the buckwheat. The long edge seems to smush down flat leaving my neck in an uncomfortable position. I tried adding more hulls, that didn't seem to solve the problem, only increased the weight of the pillow. The zippered end, has a tendancy to creep open just enough to let some of the buckwheat trickle out. This makes for a mess, and is uncomfortable when they creep down into the bedding poking you. I have it tossed on to my cedar chest and do not use it.

On the other hand, the Regenesis pillow is quieter and more comfortable. It has a four inch gusset allowing it to comform more to my neck area. Although it is smaller in size, I have found I can adjust it to suit my needs easier at night. In my opinion, the Regenesis pillow wins hands down in the area of comfort, durability, and over all construction.

Until you have tried both pillows, you can't really do a comparision as you have nothing to compare it to -- meaning if you don't own a Regenesis pillow how can you know the comfort level, quality of workmanship, etc.?

It is comparable in price (the Regenesis pillow) to the other speciality pillows made for cpap use. I have not had a problem using it, even with a full face mask (used when I have a severe cold).

The two design differences with my pillow are:

1. The use of a four-inch vertical side panel. Instead of sewing top and bottom panels together, forming a V shape along the edge of the pillow, the pillow ends up with a nice horizontal U shape. This works surprising well with the basic physics of how buckwheat hulls flow under pressure. With a V shape, the hulls are easily forced away from the desired cervical support area. With the U shape, compressed hulls are actually forced towards the body and do not flow out of the desired support area. Side sleepers especially benefit from the 4+-inch vertical side panel because it readily conforms to the space created betweeen the sleeping surface, the shoulder, and neck and head and is infinitely adjustable. for back sleepers, the vertical side panel provides an outstanding cervical support pillow that holds the hulls in place even during active sleep. From everything I have seen and researched (including the US Patent Office), the side panel is an innovation with flowable pillow filler materials.

2. The use of quilted material. One significant downside of every buckwheat hull pillow I have tried is the use of single layer muslin material. Buckwheat hulls have a rough surface texture and are non-yielding. Traditional buckwheat hull pillows literally rubbed my neck and ears raw--so much that I can't use them. They are also very noisy when you move, especially on your side. The use of a pre-quilted material provides a softer surface texture and muffles the noise so it's a much more pleasant experience, as MoneyGal noted.

For those of you who have 54 decibels buckwheat hulls pillows and feel like they were sleeping on sand paper there is an easy and simple solution : put a small quantity of mineral talcum powder in the pillow and shake it. This is a Japanese family "trick".

This happens because some companies, in order to have buckwheat flour free hulls and super "clean", air clean them 2-3-4 times up to the point that there is no more "natural" lubricant (a little left flour acts as a "lubricant"). Hulls get "noisier" by so doing. Some of them go even further as they even quite heavily heat the hulls in order to also "sterilize" them. By doing so, the hulls are getting so dry and fragile that they break and get sharper edges (this will most probably disappear anyway within a year with friction).

All this is easily controlled by adding a little talcum powder in order to restore natural lubrication. After a year or two, hulls can also be cleaned and washed in water (no detergent) but should be left exposed to heavy sun and fresh air dried for a few hours (but hulls are so inexpensive that you can simply replace them and use the old ones as gardening material).

While my pillow was noticeably "crunchy" the first night, this seemed to disappear quite rapidly. I think that when you first get a BP, the hull mass is fluffed up and the hulls are randomly arranged in the case, with a lot of edgewise contact. With a little use, the flat hulls align and most of the noise disappears.

Muffy

Thanks about the tip with talcum powder. I would assume one wouldn't want to use much so there is no danger in inhaling the powder, which can lead to problems.

As a matter of fact talcum is mineral. If you get pure powder without perfume or other components, talcum could be considered as hypoalergenic. Hulls get "rounded" by time and by friction produce their own "powder". By the way, if you get hulls directly from the mill those are not "super cleaned". As a matter of fact, they only air clean them once. A little buckwheat flour will make no allergy problems as it is the same molecule as the hull. By the way a double cover will also smooth everything.

I've been using the Regenesis pillow for awhile now (several months) and love it. I've read a variety of posts about how much cheaper it is to make one's own but my time is worth $, too and I don't have the patience or time to mess around getting it right. The Regenesis pillow most definitely "gets it right".

I was surprised at the idea that buckwheat hulls would work well with a CPAP mask but it does. I wake up less often when I shift position --- actually I rarely wake up in the middle of the night anymore.

Some products I like at first but then find they're not so great. This one is a longer-term winner. Thanks, Bret!

Mindy