options for a stomach sleeper?! (first post)

[ca_hosehead]

Route the hoses over your head if you can manage that. Hang them off of something a little higher than your head like a headboard. It really helps a lot with tangling.

The Padacheekcovers are great for the straps problem and not too expensive.

Tightening the straps really tight seems like a good idea but it never works out.

I use a Swift LT and I stomach sleep with it. You can't really smush your face into the pillow but you can stomach sleep. You also might try the Nasal Aire II.

You can retrain yourself to sleep in different positions too, it takes a while to get used to but it does work.

[Snoredog]

If you research "deviated septum" you'll find it to be a crook in the septum that separates the left side from the right side of the nasal canal. When anything pushes on the end of your nose to where you look like Miss Piggy, it can further obstruct your nasal valve. When they repair this the surgeon will trim some of the septum to straighten it.

So if you have a deviated septum you will always have difficulty using a nasal prong mask that applies pressure on the end of the nose. Even if you have it repaired it can take time before you will ever be able to use that type of mask. You can test this by pushing on the end of your nose with your finger and breathing through your nose. If you become congested the same can happen while wearing the mask. You may have to use a mask interface that goes over the nose.

For side sleeping, get out your electric turkey carving knife and a memory foam pillow, carve out a half moon on the pillow, it will give you a place to hang the mask off the edge of the pillow when sleeping on your side or stomach. Duct tape up the pillow cover and put a pillow slip on it and you are good to go.

[iPlayFlonkerton]

Route the hoses over your head if you can manage that. Hang them off of something a little higher than your head like a headboard. It really helps a lot with tangling.

The Padacheekcovers are great for the straps problem and not too expensive.

i tried the hose-over-the-head thing, but that created even more upward pressure on my septum.

also, i also tried hanging it over the headboard, but every time i moved any significant amount, it would pull on the tube, and since they're corrugated, it makes that "rrrrrrrrip!" sound..... you know, the sound that a zipper makes? yeah, that.

and as for the covers... the headgear problem doesn't have to do with the texture of the material... my skin gets irritated since anywhere that's covered can't "breathe"

[iPlayFlonkerton]

If you research "deviated septum" you'll find it to be a crook in the septum that separates the left side from the right side of the nasal canal. When anything pushes on the end of your nose to where you look like Miss Piggy, it can further obstruct your nasal valve. When they repair this the surgeon will trim some of the septum to straighten it.

So if you have a deviated septum you will always have difficulty using a nasal prong mask that applies pressure on the end of the nose. Even if you have it repaired it can take time before you will ever be able to use that type of mask. You can test this by pushing on the end of your nose with your finger and breathing through your nose. If you become congested the same can happen while wearing the mask. You may have to use a mask interface that goes over the nose.

For side sleeping, get out your electric turkey carving knife and a memory foam pillow, carve out a half moon on the pillow, it will give you a place to hang the mask off the edge of the pillow when sleeping on your side or stomach. Duct tape up the pillow cover and put a pillow slip on it and you are good to go.

nope, no deviated septum. i've been going to an ENT since i was 10... if i had a deviated septum, he would have caught it.

and i don't have an electric carving knife... i'm a vegan!

[skittles]

I am definitely a side and stomach sleeper

I use the Comfortlite2 - no side straps, and both the nasal inserts and the simple cushion stay put when I move from side to side -- I have had no problems with leaks in either position. It is very comfortable, although my husband says I look like one of the cartoon characters "Snorks". I am a mouth breather, so I do have to use medical tape over my mouth.

Hey, what ever floats your boat.
Good luck

Skittles

[fortomorrow]

and i don't have an electric carving knife... i'm a vegan!

How do you carve your Tofurkey then?

[iPlayFlonkerton]

How do you carve your Tofurkey then?[/quote]

haha. i've actually never gotten one of those whole tofurkey things..... i've only used the sandwich "meat". i was still a poultry-eater last thanksgiving

[fortomorrow]

How do you carve your Tofurkey then?

haha. i've actually never gotten one of those whole tofurkey things..... i've only used the sandwich "meat". i was still a poultry-eater last thanksgiving

Ohhhhhhh, you're still in your "Smug Vegan" stage. I remember that well.

I've passed through Militant Vegan, Smug Vegan, Accepting Vegan and am now in the Recovering Vegan stage. The latter involves a lot of bacon.

(The tofurkey things are pretty vile, but the stuffing inside is all right.)

[fortomorrow]

Oh, and if you can handle nasal pillows, I like the Puritan Bennett Breeze for stomach sleeping, as long as you're not burying your face in the pillows.

[GumbyCT]

... and am now in the Recovering Vegan stage. The latter involves a lot of bacon.

Does that mean you can have Lansinoh?

[iPlayFlonkerton]

Oh, and if you can handle nasal pillows, I like the Puritan Bennett Breeze for stomach sleeping, as long as you're not burying your face in the pillows.

yeah, i don't really bury my face in the pillow... when i'm on my stomach, my head's almost on the edge of the pillow. if it's not on the edge, the pillow kind of folds in and smothers me! can't have that.

[no_time_for_apnea]

Hey, my first post, too! And it was great to read your post-- someone who is going through exactly what I'm going through...

I have only been using a CPAP (Respironics SleepEasy) for about 3 weeks, and I'm having trouble getting used to it, too (pressure of 8, like you). I'm not quite as young as you (I'm 31), but I'm a stomach and side sleeper, and also have the Opus 360 mask. And I love to just bury my face in the pillow when I fall asleep, which of course, I can't do now with the nasal pillows. The first two weeks or so were terrible-- I kept waking up because it felt like someone was putting their fingers up my nose and pulling. I *am* slowly getting used to the nasal pillows, but what helped me the most was getting rid of my normal pillow and using a throw pillow from the couch. It's much smaller and firmer, so when I'm laying sideways my face (and mask) just hang off the side of the pillow, and when I want to lay on my stomach I can bunch it up a little bit and put it under my neck and chin, so my nose (and the nasal pillows) hang off the top of the pillow. I also just got the pad-a-cheek pads, and they really do make the straps a LOT more comfortable.

I'm really glad you started this thread, because I didn't know about the AEIOmed mask, and I am also strongly considering trying Snoredog's carved-up memory foam idea...

[congahands]

Okay, I'm a little confused? I have vegan friends that won't wear leather shoes, or belts. Finding good winter gloves with no animal products can be a big challenge.

But I guess I didn't know that wool was off limits too.

I'm guessing that electric knives are unneeded, as opposed to anti-vegan?

New things to learn.

[iPlayFlonkerton]

Okay, I'm a little confused? I have vegan friends that won't wear leather shoes, or belts. Finding good winter gloves with no animal products can be a big challenge.

But I guess I didn't know that wool was off limits too.

I'm guessing that electric knives are unneeded, as opposed to anti-vegan?

New things to learn.

yeah, i'm actually not a strict vegan. (in fact, some of my hardcore vegan friends say i'm not even really a vegan... a-holes )

i'm not a vegan for moral reasons. don't get me wrong, i love animals, and i'm against animal cruelty... but i am so NOT into PETA. i'm a vegan for health reasons... i have crohn's disease (seriously, there is so many things wrong with my body. the apnea is just the tip of the iceberg), and meat, dairy, and eggs make me feel horribly sick. since going vegan, my symptoms have completely gone away, and i've been able to go off medication. yay!

but i admit, the belt i'm wearing is leather (although it actually may be synthetic... it was cheap.), and i have a pair of suede shoes. (NO, not blue...)

and i eat honey. "TRUE" vegans don't... "blah blah the poor bees, they need to be treated ethically, wah wah complain..." i say: "they're freakin insects. honey's better for you than processed sugar, anyway. plus i'm allergic to bees, so i may have a little pent-up animosity towards them...

but i don't use lanolin, just because the idea of putting what is essentially sheep fat on my skin just squicks me out.

whatever. i still call myself a vegan, because it takes too damn long to explain what i mean when i say "i'm a vegan... sort of."