It's the opposite effect of the Breathe-Rite strips some people use to expand the nasal cavity to breathe better. Your nasal cavity acts like a venturi, where air flow creates a vacuum which leads to a collapse.
Kermit,
What a great analysis!
I never thought of using Breathe-Rite strips inside a nasal mask. I wonder if that would work.
Lori,
I don't think nasal pillows would cause higher pressures than nasal masks, it just feels that way because of the direct injection of the air into your nose.
I have not found a correlation between mouth leaks and either the Swift or Activa.
Joel
Activa v Swift Statistics
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GoodKnight
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- Location: California
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Sleepless on LI
- Posts: 3997
- Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 6:46 pm
- Location: Long Island, New York
Joel,
I am grasping here. I can't explain, though, why the Activa never, and still doesn't, cause mouth breathing or those bursts of air that come flying out of my lips and the Swift does every single night I use it. How can that be explained?
Maybe my DME would know the answer to that? Nah, I doubt it. I had to explain to him all about software, etc. with these APAP machines when they were buying me one last month and he knew less than I did after doing my homework.
I don't know who to ask to explain why this is happening, and it is something that wakes me up multiple times every night. It also doesn't allow me to keep any type of tape or patch securely over my mouth for the night since the puffs have such velocity, they blow a hole out one of the sides all the time.
By the way, since you were kind enough to share the Oracle modification with me, did you see the link about Dr. Sue and the Nose Breathe mouthpiece? I splured for it. Hey, if it works, it's worth every single penny. And that genius Kermit gave it nothing but rave reviews. And it is custom-made to your individual bite, so it sounds really promisng. How are you still doing with your Oracle mod? Hope well.
Thanks for your input.
I am grasping here. I can't explain, though, why the Activa never, and still doesn't, cause mouth breathing or those bursts of air that come flying out of my lips and the Swift does every single night I use it. How can that be explained?
Maybe my DME would know the answer to that? Nah, I doubt it. I had to explain to him all about software, etc. with these APAP machines when they were buying me one last month and he knew less than I did after doing my homework.
I don't know who to ask to explain why this is happening, and it is something that wakes me up multiple times every night. It also doesn't allow me to keep any type of tape or patch securely over my mouth for the night since the puffs have such velocity, they blow a hole out one of the sides all the time.
By the way, since you were kind enough to share the Oracle modification with me, did you see the link about Dr. Sue and the Nose Breathe mouthpiece? I splured for it. Hey, if it works, it's worth every single penny. And that genius Kermit gave it nothing but rave reviews. And it is custom-made to your individual bite, so it sounds really promisng. How are you still doing with your Oracle mod? Hope well.
Thanks for your input.
L o R i
Wow...this is a great thread and VERY timely for me. I was just thinking that maybe I would return my Activa and get a 2nd Swift as a back-up and then I logged on and saw this. I have to work too hard to breathe when I wear the Activa and breathing with the Swift is effortless. I was going to keep the Activa just as a back-up but then I thought, why? It's nowhere near as comfortable as the Swift. The only thing that's holding me back is that I've been dealing with a lot of leaks the past 2 nights and I don't know why and I don't know where they're coming from. I think they're from the nasal pillows...maybe not filling up my nose enough??? I originally used the large pillows but then read a thread about the pillows maybe distorting the shape of your nose. So, I switched to the medium pillows, but I think I'll go back to the large tonight and see what happens.
You know...not to sound negative or anything....but, it's just 1 thing after another with this process. Just about every day, I log on and read about a problem that's happened to somebody that I never anticipated. For instance, I'm wondering what to do if we lose our power and I can't use my machine. Do I have to get a battery back-up for my machine..is there even one available for my machine?? I get tired of having to do all this research.....ok..I'm done venting.
Thanks for starting this thread Lori...it really helped me make up my mind about my masks.
Amy
You know...not to sound negative or anything....but, it's just 1 thing after another with this process. Just about every day, I log on and read about a problem that's happened to somebody that I never anticipated. For instance, I'm wondering what to do if we lose our power and I can't use my machine. Do I have to get a battery back-up for my machine..is there even one available for my machine?? I get tired of having to do all this research.....ok..I'm done venting.
Thanks for starting this thread Lori...it really helped me make up my mind about my masks.
Amy
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GoodKnight
- Posts: 65
- Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2005 9:21 am
- Location: California
Lori,
I wear a MAD (mandibular advancement device), so I can't see a way to use the Dr. Sue device unless I get my orthdondist to incorporate some shelf into my device. I hope it works for you.
The MAD has reduced my pressure requirements from 15 to 11, helping to reduce the mouth leaks. And it turned all my apneas into hypopneas so now I only have hypos. I don't know if this is better, but it is interesting.
The modified Oracle continues to work well for me so I am no longer searching for mouth leak solutions.
Last night was my best ever with AHI of 2.6 Before that it was about 6-7.
The improvement was because I took my humidifier out of the circuit because I realized it was the old style without the baffle that is need for my two week old Auto.
Joel
I wear a MAD (mandibular advancement device), so I can't see a way to use the Dr. Sue device unless I get my orthdondist to incorporate some shelf into my device. I hope it works for you.
The MAD has reduced my pressure requirements from 15 to 11, helping to reduce the mouth leaks. And it turned all my apneas into hypopneas so now I only have hypos. I don't know if this is better, but it is interesting.
The modified Oracle continues to work well for me so I am no longer searching for mouth leak solutions.
Last night was my best ever with AHI of 2.6 Before that it was about 6-7.
The improvement was because I took my humidifier out of the circuit because I realized it was the old style without the baffle that is need for my two week old Auto.
Joel
_________________
| Mask | Humidifier | |
 |  |
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Sleepless on LI
- Posts: 3997
- Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 6:46 pm
- Location: Long Island, New York
Amy, my Swift buddy and partner, no need for thanks. Glad it helped. By the way, I wrote Resmed an email last night about possibly revamping the straps on the Swift. I will keep you posted.
I wouldn't worry about the power. How often do you end up with a power failure that lasts more than a few hours? It's rare around here; I know that.
When you say you're dealing with a lot of leaks the past two nights, how do you know it's leaking? I'm just curious. I found that the cap that goes in the side was letting some air out all of a sudden, so I wrapped it with paper medical tape and that fixed it. Is yours making that siren noise you said that happens when it leaks?
I change back and forth between the medium and large pillows. Sometimes I think one does better than the other, but I can't decide on using one all the time. From what Derek told me, between 30-40 is an acceptable leak rate for this mask, and mine is usuall 32-33 lately. So I guess either one is fine.
I wouldn't worry about the power. How often do you end up with a power failure that lasts more than a few hours? It's rare around here; I know that.
When you say you're dealing with a lot of leaks the past two nights, how do you know it's leaking? I'm just curious. I found that the cap that goes in the side was letting some air out all of a sudden, so I wrapped it with paper medical tape and that fixed it. Is yours making that siren noise you said that happens when it leaks?
I change back and forth between the medium and large pillows. Sometimes I think one does better than the other, but I can't decide on using one all the time. From what Derek told me, between 30-40 is an acceptable leak rate for this mask, and mine is usuall 32-33 lately. So I guess either one is fine.
L o R i
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Sleepless on LI
- Posts: 3997
- Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 6:46 pm
- Location: Long Island, New York
Sleepless, you are too kind. Smart, not terribly, I am not even in your league when it comes to intelligence, trust me.
What I wrote were my findings as I have given this a lot of thought. Let's face it Sleepless, it's our life and if we don't do something about it no one else will. But you have heard that before. None of my doctors have a clue as to the nuts and bolts of what you and I have to go through. So it's trial and error and error and error.
I have no idea why your nasal mask lessens your blowfish episodes. You know how it is with our gear, one or two nights means nothing, perhaphs if you used the Activa for a week then you might really know. You are probably right as to why the Swift could cause more mouth leaks, it's more efficient at delivering pressure into your airway as it can overcome stuffiness better giving you a higher potential to leak. At the same pressure the Activa thanks to your stuffy nose might have less potential to leak. This is just a guess ok.
The reason I love my Swift, or any pillow delivery system, is that it makes my lungs feel better like they got the air they needed. And as I said before it does a good job of clearing my stuffy nose and breathing is easy. Now if that makes it easier to mouth leak, I will deal with the leak but I will not cut back my air supply as that's what makes me feel better all day long and believe me I work very long hours thanks to the air pillows. If you can scale back you pressure and still feel good while reducing the mouth leak, great. I tried that but found out that I need to stay near my titrated pressure of 11cm.
With regards to using an apap as a cpap, all I can tell you is what I have experienced with my 420e. When I set it as an apap and set the low at 10 and high at 11cm, it records 10cm all night as my apnea is very mild. Then I run it as a cpap at 10cm. It could very well be machine specific but I find exhaling much more difficult even though it stays at 10cm all night on auto mode, Silverlining tells me that. When set as a cpap at 10cm exhaling is so easy. Why? I don't know but the point is that with my machine the algorythyms must be making the difference. So don't be suprised if yours behave differently in auto verses cpap despite same pressure.
All I can do to help others in this group is share my observations using my equipment and dealing with my unique set of circumstances. My issues won't be your issues but hopefully some of our discussions here will spark others into action and answer bits and pieces of how to best make our unique therapy work.
Take the mouth taping I don't do anymore. Frequent Seeker over at TAS sparked the concept of using a mouthguard to keep tongue in check. Many of us made the DIY, then she ran across Dr Sue's web site and shared it. I was the first to try it and reported my findings, It could have not worked and I would have reported that too.
Ok, I need to get back to work as my job expects a lot from me. Thanks for the compliments but it's not intelligence that helps just strong motivation to make this therapy work.
Kermit
What I wrote were my findings as I have given this a lot of thought. Let's face it Sleepless, it's our life and if we don't do something about it no one else will. But you have heard that before. None of my doctors have a clue as to the nuts and bolts of what you and I have to go through. So it's trial and error and error and error.
I have no idea why your nasal mask lessens your blowfish episodes. You know how it is with our gear, one or two nights means nothing, perhaphs if you used the Activa for a week then you might really know. You are probably right as to why the Swift could cause more mouth leaks, it's more efficient at delivering pressure into your airway as it can overcome stuffiness better giving you a higher potential to leak. At the same pressure the Activa thanks to your stuffy nose might have less potential to leak. This is just a guess ok.
The reason I love my Swift, or any pillow delivery system, is that it makes my lungs feel better like they got the air they needed. And as I said before it does a good job of clearing my stuffy nose and breathing is easy. Now if that makes it easier to mouth leak, I will deal with the leak but I will not cut back my air supply as that's what makes me feel better all day long and believe me I work very long hours thanks to the air pillows. If you can scale back you pressure and still feel good while reducing the mouth leak, great. I tried that but found out that I need to stay near my titrated pressure of 11cm.
With regards to using an apap as a cpap, all I can tell you is what I have experienced with my 420e. When I set it as an apap and set the low at 10 and high at 11cm, it records 10cm all night as my apnea is very mild. Then I run it as a cpap at 10cm. It could very well be machine specific but I find exhaling much more difficult even though it stays at 10cm all night on auto mode, Silverlining tells me that. When set as a cpap at 10cm exhaling is so easy. Why? I don't know but the point is that with my machine the algorythyms must be making the difference. So don't be suprised if yours behave differently in auto verses cpap despite same pressure.
All I can do to help others in this group is share my observations using my equipment and dealing with my unique set of circumstances. My issues won't be your issues but hopefully some of our discussions here will spark others into action and answer bits and pieces of how to best make our unique therapy work.
Take the mouth taping I don't do anymore. Frequent Seeker over at TAS sparked the concept of using a mouthguard to keep tongue in check. Many of us made the DIY, then she ran across Dr Sue's web site and shared it. I was the first to try it and reported my findings, It could have not worked and I would have reported that too.
Ok, I need to get back to work as my job expects a lot from me. Thanks for the compliments but it's not intelligence that helps just strong motivation to make this therapy work.
Kermit
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Sleepless on LI
- Posts: 3997
- Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 6:46 pm
- Location: Long Island, New York
Kermit, you come across as someone who is not only intelligent, but who has been very pro-active in your care and treatment of OSA. I'm just stating my observations. What can I say?
I don't suffer from congestion most of the time and I used the Activa for six weeks with no mouth breathing or puffs. Then went onto the Swift and, voila, both occured. I may try bringing down the pressure one notch just to see if that may help. If I see my AHI go up, then it's back to 10 cms.
Thanks for taking the time to write. You have been most helpful today and with that link to Dr. Sue. Hopefully by the time I get it, maybe I won't need it. If I go back to the Activa, I won't for sure. But that isn't going to happen.
Have a great day (and night).
I don't suffer from congestion most of the time and I used the Activa for six weeks with no mouth breathing or puffs. Then went onto the Swift and, voila, both occured. I may try bringing down the pressure one notch just to see if that may help. If I see my AHI go up, then it's back to 10 cms.
Thanks for taking the time to write. You have been most helpful today and with that link to Dr. Sue. Hopefully by the time I get it, maybe I won't need it. If I go back to the Activa, I won't for sure. But that isn't going to happen.
Have a great day (and night).
L o R i
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neversleeps
- Posts: 1141
- Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:06 pm
- Location: Minnesota
[quote="Sleepless on LI"]
When you say you're dealing with a lot of leaks the past two nights, how do you know it's leaking? I'm just curious. I found that the cap that goes in the side was letting some air out all of a sudden, so I wrapped it with paper medical tape and that fixed it. Is yours making that siren noise you said that happens when it leaks?
[quote]
Hi Lori,
It's not quite as loud as the siren noise but it is loud enough to wake me up. I think it's coming from the nostrils because when I make adjustments to that that area, it stops leaking. I wrapped the area you're talking about with scotch tape...it comes off easily and is very cheap.
Amy
When you say you're dealing with a lot of leaks the past two nights, how do you know it's leaking? I'm just curious. I found that the cap that goes in the side was letting some air out all of a sudden, so I wrapped it with paper medical tape and that fixed it. Is yours making that siren noise you said that happens when it leaks?
[quote]
Hi Lori,
It's not quite as loud as the siren noise but it is loud enough to wake me up. I think it's coming from the nostrils because when I make adjustments to that that area, it stops leaking. I wrapped the area you're talking about with scotch tape...it comes off easily and is very cheap.
Amy
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Sleepless on LI
- Posts: 3997
- Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 6:46 pm
- Location: Long Island, New York
Uh-oh, the pressure...I hope you like it, too, Neversleeps. You KNOW that one man's ceiling is another man's floor with CPAP interfaces, though, and that all the positive comments in the world from other users doesn't necessarily mean it will be something you'll like. I really think you will, though. And just about every problem encountered with it has already been posted, so if you have a problem, all you'll have to do is hit "search" and probably find the answers to any of them.
Amy,
By the way, are you washing the pillows/sleeve nightly? I do and I think that helps, not to mention your face near the nasal area right before you put on the mask.
I forgot, but do you have software? If you did, there is a very easy way to check if your leaks are large enough to worry about.
And regarding the taping of the cap, the only reason I used the paper medical tape is that I have so much left over from my days with the Breeze, trying to get the headgear not to readjust itself. Otherwise, I would have been creative and used something I had around the house, like the Scotch tape you mentioned. But it's amazing the uses you can find for things when you need them. Like I have said in other posts, especially with CPAP, indeed necessity is the mother of invention.
Amy,
By the way, are you washing the pillows/sleeve nightly? I do and I think that helps, not to mention your face near the nasal area right before you put on the mask.
I forgot, but do you have software? If you did, there is a very easy way to check if your leaks are large enough to worry about.
And regarding the taping of the cap, the only reason I used the paper medical tape is that I have so much left over from my days with the Breeze, trying to get the headgear not to readjust itself. Otherwise, I would have been creative and used something I had around the house, like the Scotch tape you mentioned. But it's amazing the uses you can find for things when you need them. Like I have said in other posts, especially with CPAP, indeed necessity is the mother of invention.
L o R i
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Sleepless on LI
- Posts: 3997
- Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 6:46 pm
- Location: Long Island, New York
Will certainly do that, if they bother to respond. Even told them I'd be a beta tester for anything they devise.Let me know if you ever hear back from Resmed about the swoosh lines. I would love to hear what they say.
Amy
And what is this about smelling pickles? Do you eat a lot of them or something???
L o R i
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Janelle
RE Swift leaks from the nasal pillows. I had this problem the other night, coincidentally after I had switched the hose to the position the gal in the photo was using it and the way R & R uses it. I think the torque of the hose on the end cap was causing too much force on that side and pulling that side's nasal pillow out from my nose. Once I put it back the way I had it originally, I didn't have the problem anymore. I will say that positioning the hose forward and then back does make sleeping on the hose side pure comfort.
[quote="Sleepless on LI"]
And what is this about smelling pickles? Do you eat a lot of them or something???
[quote]
No I'm don't eat a lot of pickles but sometimes, when I first put my mask on, I smell pickles (or something like pickles). I really hate it so I've become pretty fanatical about washing my mask and hose.
Janelle....the problem you're describing is exactly what happened to me when I had the hose pointing downward. Turning it upward solved the problem...for the most part. Isn't it funny how things work so differently for people.
And what is this about smelling pickles? Do you eat a lot of them or something???
[quote]
No I'm don't eat a lot of pickles but sometimes, when I first put my mask on, I smell pickles (or something like pickles). I really hate it so I've become pretty fanatical about washing my mask and hose.
Janelle....the problem you're describing is exactly what happened to me when I had the hose pointing downward. Turning it upward solved the problem...for the most part. Isn't it funny how things work so differently for people.