Bleep/DreamPort nasal mask review thread

[Pugsy]

Day 1 thoughts on bleep. Maybe too easy to breathe. Anxiety based on not having many of the issues I had previously. Woke up early to use the restroom lost the seal when I unhooked. I took off dreamports and used old mask for the last 1 1/2 hrs. It was almost too easy only issue was comfort with the hose and a fear of kinking it.

You have a private message. Please check you PM box.

[djams]

Day 1 thoughts on bleep. Maybe too easy to breathe. Anxiety based on not having many of the issues I had previously. Woke up early to use the restroom lost the seal when I unhooked. I took off dreamports and used old mask for the last 1 1/2 hrs. It was almost too easy only issue was comfort with the hose and a fear of kinking it.

How did you disconnect? I unplug the Bleep short hose from the cpap hose, don't disconnect at the quick release sockets in the middle of the night.

There's a lot of hose routing tips on the Bleep website. For me though, a hose hanger works great.

If the port tape continues to fail on you, you may have to step-up your pre-bedtime cleaning regimen.

[metaltech]

I tried unhooking from the hose at the diffuser. I pulled the diffuser out and had issues. Day 2 went perfect.

[djams]

I tried unhooking from the hose at the diffuser. I pulled the diffuser out and had issues. Day 2 went perfect.

Great news. Thanks for letting us know!

[bjhunt01]

You put the silicone tape inside that joint, like plumbers do?

Yes , like a plumber. Uninstal vent swivel, put the teflon tape around the vent connector and then install vent swivel and that's it.

And yes, the mask doing more noise when inhalation goes on.

Is this what you all are recommending re: taping the Bleep? i.e., where to tape it?

Bleep Taping.JPG (74.43 KiB) Viewed 12757 times

[slowriter]

You put the silicone tape inside that joint, like plumbers do?

Yes , like a plumber. Uninstal vent swivel, put the teflon tape around the vent connector and then install vent swivel and that's it.

And yes, the mask doing more noise when inhalation goes on.

Is this what you all are recommending re: taping the Bleep? i.e., where to tape it?

Yes.

[bjhunt01]

You put the silicone tape inside that joint, like plumbers do?

Yes , like a plumber. Uninstal vent swivel, put the teflon tape around the vent connector and then install vent swivel and that's it.

And yes, the mask doing more noise when inhalation goes on.

Is this what you all are recommending re: taping the Bleep? i.e., where to tape it?

Yes.

Well weird! I did that last night and got worse scores and more noise than the night before. Sigh. Having a love/hate relationship with the Bleep!

[slowriter]

You have good answers from Pugsy and Djams, I would add that some people reported noise coming from the joint between the vent and the vent swivel. To solve this problem, I put teflon tape. Pugsy, I'm happy for you if it's very quiet with a pressure of 25. But there are so many people making a homemade diffuser (Incuding you, me, and even Stuart) that the noise is certainly one of the negative points of this mask.

I sorted it out last night, but did still notice significant noise on inhale. I sent Bleep a recording to confirm if that's expected.

I'll try the silicon tape.

Stuart confirmed the noise wasn't unexpected (so don't expect "silence"), but he suggested making sure the diffuser is tight against the vent, potentially using rubber bands to ensure that.

This is what I have done once ... the noise has completely disappeared. But my spo2 level went down, not drastically but I decided not to pursue it that way. The other problem that arose was that it was difficult to exhale without using a flex mode. And I do not like the flex mode respironics ... it settles a decallage the way I breathe and expires and the way that the algorithm of the cpap provides that I will do it.

Just wondering: what sort of spo2 change did you note?

I finally tried the rubber band technique last night, and turned on the spo2 tracking for my garmin. If we trust the numbers, says avg dropped from 94% to 92%.

Is that worth worrying about?

[centrum]

You have good answers from Pugsy and Djams, I would add that some people reported noise coming from the joint between the vent and the vent swivel. To solve this problem, I put teflon tape. Pugsy, I'm happy for you if it's very quiet with a pressure of 25. But there are so many people making a homemade diffuser (Incuding you, me, and even Stuart) that the noise is certainly one of the negative points of this mask.

I sorted it out last night, but did still notice significant noise on inhale. I sent Bleep a recording to confirm if that's expected.

I'll try the silicon tape.

Stuart confirmed the noise wasn't unexpected (so don't expect "silence"), but he suggested making sure the diffuser is tight against the vent, potentially using rubber bands to ensure that.

This is what I have done once ... the noise has completely disappeared. But my spo2 level went down, not drastically but I decided not to pursue it that way. The other problem that arose was that it was difficult to exhale without using a flex mode. And I do not like the flex mode respironics ... it settles a decallage the way I breathe and expires and the way that the algorithm of the cpap provides that I will do it.

Just wondering: what sort of spo2 change did you note?

I finally tried the rubber band technique last night, and turned on the spo2 tracking for my garmin. If we trust the numbers, says avg dropped from 94% to 92%.

Is that worth worrying about?

Sorry for the delay, I had not seen the notification. 92-94 spo2, no worries to be there. The important thing is to wake up fresh like a rose. By cons I'm not sure that the watches give us a fair reading spo2 level. With a good spo2 device, I went down to 87 when I wanted to eliminate 100% of the noise. I finally chose to accept more noise. Since my last comment on the Bleep, I changed my device for an airsense 10 autoset. Unlike the flex mode of respironocs, the Resmed EPR mode is fantastic to use. For someone with 14-20 pressure like me, the EPR mode makes using the Bleep even more enjoyable. Good luck.

[slowriter]

You put the silicone tape inside that joint, like plumbers do?

Yes , like a plumber. Uninstal vent swivel, put the teflon tape around the vent connector and then install vent swivel and that's it.

And yes, the mask doing more noise when inhalation goes on.

Is this what you all are recommending re: taping the Bleep? i.e., where to tape it?

Yes.

Well weird! I did that last night and got worse scores and more noise than the night before. Sigh. Having a love/hate relationship with the Bleep!

I just learned last night that the filter material you use makes a very large difference.

You want the sort of fuzzy filter type (that I think resmed uses?). For me, that works perfectly.

But I tried some other filter the DME sent me, which is smoother. That is TERRIBLE; quite loud. I had to remove it midway through the night.

So you might experiment with that if you find it noisy.

[KungFuCow]

Reviving this topic.

Im a relatively new CPAP user and after having my nose butchered by a Phillips Dreamwisp, I decided to give the Bleep a go.

When it works, its great!

The problem I continue to have is the seal breaking during the night and waking me up. I am using the Bleep pads to clean my face after showering and Ive only managed to make it through one night with the mask staying sealed. Even trimming the ports and using the excess to plug holes hasnt helped. Go to bed with it all sealed up, wake up at 3AM with air blowing in my face.

Being able to buy some of the material used for the ports for patching purposes would be great as I could beef up the areas that tend to leak.

Im going to try a stronger astringent tonight and see if that helps and maybe not cut the ports. Im concerned there tho that if I have a leak somewhere, I wont have any material to patch it up.

Id appreciate any feedback from others that may have had this issue and how they resolved it.

BTW, Im using a Resmed 10 with everything set to auto.

Thanks!

[jon.koelker]

It looks like the adhesive ports will make it very expensive to use!

The cost of the ports per night is going to be a deal breaker for people with high deductible or self pay.
No way around that.

Now if someone has insurance...a box of the ports is equal to 1 nasal pillow and most insurance will allow 2 nasal pillows per month in their replacement allowance.
The HCPCS billing code is the exact same billing code as for nasal pillows
A7033 or A7034.

With my Medicare (and I don't have a supplement to cover my 20% copay) my out of pocket expense is somewhere around 7 or 8 bucks for the equivalent of 2 nasal pillows copay.
That's doable.

So it all depends on how bad someone wants to use this mask and is that cost a deal breaker or not.
I am just reporting on my experience with it. You guys/gals have to decide how badly you might want to use it or not.
It's going to be covered by insurance just like any other mask....for those of you all fortunate enough to have insurance.

Hi, Pugsy - it sounds like the adhesive ports are single-use - correct?

[slowriter]

The problem I continue to have is the deal breaking during the night and waking me up. I am using the Bleep pads to clean my face after showering and Ive only managed to make it through one night with the mask staying sealed. Even trimming the ports and using the excess to plug holes hasnt helped. Go to bed with it all sealed up, wake up at 3AM with air blowing in my face.

Being able to buy some of the material used for the ports for patching purposes would be great as I could beef up the areas that tend to leak.

Im going to try a stronger astringent tonight and see if that helps and maybe not cut the ports. Im concerned there tho that if I have a leak somewhere, I wont have any material to patch it up.

Id appreciate any feedback from others that may have had this issue and how they resolved it.

Have you confirmed the leaks are at the pads, and not at the dreamport connections?

And have you contacted the company for input? They're super responsive.

[Dreaming1]

I would highly encourage you to call Stuart, the owner of bleep, at 919-619-7170. He’ll do a FaceTime or Skype call with you and go through the whole process. It’s worth the time for sure.

[Pugsy]

Hi, Pugsy - it sounds like the adhesive ports are single-use - correct?

Correct.