Bed Pillows

What Dreams May Come

by Mile High Sleeper

If you are overly relying on a soft or hard pillow to keep your mask in place, you have a poorly fitted mask or poor choice of mask. Try adjusting the fit or getting a different mask. If your mask is properly fitted and your mask and pillow are fighting, try a smaller firm pillow, so the mask can hang off the side; or a buckwheat pillow, neck pillow, or memory foam pillow which gives the mask some support. Make sure the pillow doesn’t interfere with your mask if you are a side sleeper. When you are pillow shopping, if you don’t mind acting strangely in a store, try out the pillow, imagining what your mask would do.

Consider the PAPillow, described here, in a low wedge pillow or higher double edge pillow, available at CPAP.com. There are also orthopedic, memory foam pillows. CPAPtalk Discussion thread on cervical neck pillows and another.

Some CPAP users report a lower AHI (apnea hypopnea index of events per hour) if they use a bed wedge pillow. Linen stores may sell lower bed wedges; medical supply stores and online stores sell slightly higher bed wedges and memory foam bed wedges, which can be used in combination with a PAPillow. See the CPAPtalk discussion thread on silent acid reflux.

For most people, masks are the most difficult part of CPAP therapy. With much prolonged problem-solving, patience, and persistence, you can achieve mask success for a good night’s sleep. See the articles on CPAP Mask Choices, CPAP Adaptation and Recovery and Seven Stages of CPAP and What Is Feeling Good?