New AirFit P10 pillows; new awful mask seal

[cpap450]

After five months with my first set of CPAP supplies, last week I received my first replacements, and something's not right with the pillows.

Just straight out of the box - long before I went to bed - I could just tell the new pillows felt wrong. They didn't "mate" right with my nostrils (yes, they were the same Large size I'd had before). This was not connected to the hose or machine, just held to my nose first by hand, then with the headgear. The fit felt wrong.

And it's "felt wrong" going on each night too. Not terribly wrong, but not "comfortable as an old shoe" as its predecessor became.

Still, I've slept great each night.

But my new leak numbers confirm my concerns about the mask/pillow fit.

For perspective, here are my April leak numbers:

• 4 l/m 4/1
• 0 l/m 4/2-21
• 6 l/m 4/22
• 1 l/m 4/23
• Then 14, 22, 25 on the nights with the new pillows

I had four nights above 10 after my first few days on CPAP, and now three in a row above 10 with the new pillows. Never - even starting - had I had consecutive nights >10, and now I have three in a row, each worse than the next.

I've contacted my CPAP vendor and am waiting on a response. The online videos from Resmed are so elementary as to be useless - nothing there I didn't know.

Suggestions?

BTW, my AHI for those three nights were 0.5, 1.3, 1.0. Fairly typical for this month, although I'd had just three AHIs at or above 1 prior to this, then two the last two nights.

[jimbud]

Still, I've slept great each night.

BTW, my AHI for those three nights were 0.5, 1.3, 1.0.

I fail to see any insurmountable problem.

I assume the leaks are not waking you up?

1. Get new pillows.

2. Give it more time. (maybe it will line itself out)

Good luck.

JPB

[Miss Emerita]

As jimbud says, and you are pursuing, getting new pillows is your best next step.

Do you have any Lansinoh in the medicine cabinet? It's an ointment lots of pillow-mask users use to heal sore nostrils, though it was designed to help nursing mothers. A *very* small amount of it applied on your nares before bedtime can have a slightly adhesive effect.

You've probably tried this, but just in case: there's a bit of give in the pillow pieces, and you can angle them a little bit side to side and up and down. See if you can get them to stop leaking that way. Of course then the hard part would be having them stay in place all night.

Good luck!

[zonker]

After five months with my first set of CPAP supplies, last week I received my first replacements, and something's not right with the pillows.

first, let me say that i've had the same experience. i got close to three years out of my original nasal pillows. then i started using a new pair about three months ago (thanks, kteague!) with similar results.

but, i'm not worried about it at all. the leaks haven't awakened me and they haven't had any impact on my ahi. so i just shrug and get on with it.

second, miss e has a most excellent point. there IS some wiggle room on this things. i found quite some time ago that mine worked best when it was at a very slight angle with the "bracket' pushing gently into my upper lip. they just seemed best there and made the airflow more natural.

hope you can find some relief whether it be fiddling with it, ignoring it or trying new pillows.

good luck!

[joeljjk11]

Could it be that the P10 headgear is too loose or too tight? I have noticed that when I get new P10 headgear or a whole new mask I have to loosen the headgear quite a bit at first for it to feel comfortable. As the headgear gets older I tend to tighten it slightly more and more until I replace it. Maybe try adjusting the headgear and see how that works. I know that with the P10 if it is too tight it is not comfortable for me.

[cpap450]

Thanks for the many good replies here.

I guess I'll just play around night by night and see what happens.

Yes, as multiple people noted, since I'm sleeping well and have decent AHI, probably little to worry about.

In my original post, I neglected to note that, in watching a mask-fitting video, there was a mention of something I'd overlooked, which is that having the split parts of the strap close to each other tightens the strap, and spread farther apart is a looser fit. So the first two nights with the new equipment, I went for "tight" since I like a snug fit. But then when I got the bad results, I reverted to the spread in the strap, as I'd always done. But the mask seal results were worse.

A few months into my new CPAP, I had a "eureka" - why hadn't I noticed this before? - moment, where there was suddenly this immense clarity of positioning the mask/pillows for fit and comfort. So I think if the new pillows were contoured even roughly akin to the old ones, i would have jiggered them into a comfortable seating. But that's been yet to happen.

I'll update when I think I have something.

[JXG]

Sometimes the inner pillows can get inverted (popped down into the body of the cushion). Have you checked that?

[cpap450]

Well, I feel silly, but relieved.

The leak wasn't on my end, or even along the airline - the water tank wasn't fully snapped into place!

When I got into bed last night, the mask felt fine on my face, but - as I remembered from the prior nights - there was a quite-audible hissing from the machine. Which as its users know is REALLY quiet usually.

Wow - hard to attach the hose wrong, but that's what I figured. The headgear hose was fully fitted into the longer hose. I felt no air leak where the hose went into the unit.

Disconnected hose from unit, fumbled around trying to reattach it - couldn't do it by feel, had to turn on light. Plugged hose back in, hiss still evident. Figured I'd just turn the stupid machine off and let it reset. Did that, but the green light on the power button was blinking instead of steady, something I never really look at.

Couldn't figure that out, so got out of bed, and there was an error message on the front panel about a leak in the line - I forget the wording.

I'd never used the mask fitting setting for the unit, but tried that and as it did its thing, there was a constant red angry face icon on the machine, and nothing I did changed it.

Went into the clinical settings to play with the pressures. Nothing unusual. And that annoying hiss just kept hissing.

Finally, maybe even by accident, noticed that the water tank was just a tiny bit askew. Pressed, it snapped into place, and the hissing immediately stopped.

And I had another great night sleep, with 6 l/m leak (wondering how much of that was from the first 15-30 minutes) and 0.9 AHI. Neither great, but closest to "right track" and optimal that I've been since I got the replacement parts!

[zonker]

Well, I feel silly, but relieved.

The leak wasn't on my end, or even along the airline - the water tank wasn't fully snapped into place!

laughing with you, not at you. although this has happened to me before, for some reason, i never thought of it.

glad you figured it out and that you are getting back on track.

[chunkyfrog]

You used the same set of pillows for FIVE MONTHS?
I am not surprised at all that new pillows would feel different.
Those old ones were WORN OUT.

[cpap450]

You used the same set of pillows for FIVE MONTHS?
I am not surprised at all that new pillows would feel different.
Those old ones were WORN OUT.

I received six sets in the new supplies. Not expecting that another set of pillows will see the five month mark for the duration of my life.

[zonker]

You used the same set of pillows for FIVE MONTHS?
I am not surprised at all that new pillows would feel different.
Those old ones were WORN OUT.

why? i used the same pillows for 2.5 years. if you take care of them by proper cleaning and such, they can last farther than 5 months.

or maybe i just got lucky??

[chunkyfrog]

You used the same set of pillows for FIVE MONTHS?
I am not surprised at all that new pillows would feel different.
Those old ones were WORN OUT.

why? i used the same pillows for 2.5 years. if you take care of them by proper cleaning and such, they can last farther than 5 months.

or maybe i just got lucky??

My skin has been very oily all my life--especially on my face.
My P10 pillows soften after 3 weeks, and do not seal properly after that,
regardless of any level of cleaning.

[zonker]

You used the same set of pillows for FIVE MONTHS?
I am not surprised at all that new pillows would feel different.
Those old ones were WORN OUT.

why? i used the same pillows for 2.5 years. if you take care of them by proper cleaning and such, they can last farther than 5 months.

or maybe i just got lucky??

My skin has been very oily all my life--especially on my face.
My P10 pillows soften after 3 weeks, and do not seal properly after that,
regardless of any level of cleaning.

fair enough.