What was your first mask - sleep study and beyond.

[ofarchesandants]

WOW!!! Reading that some people actually had a choice in masks or were told there were options or explained the differences in masks or anything else prior to their titration study, what a concept that would have been. I had my study at the Stanford sleep Center. At least in name it has a good reputation and certainly in the long run with much hard work and diligence on my part and the collective knowledge, advice and queries from the good folks on this forum, I'm sure to benefit in the long run. However nothing was said to me by the center prior to the study other than the time to be there and that i would not have to stay the day after as i did with my initial study. Despite being an RN and seeing folks in the ER on CPAP, I was too ignorant and too tired to even have a concept of what to ask. I'm still pretty ignorant and tired but the former is improving quickly and the latter well... ;o)

I was put on a nasal mask and offered meds to help me sleep which i initially declined. As each and every change in pressure forced me awake and the in between was not great either, I finally decided to accept ambien. At least it allowed me to tolerate the mask for about four hours, but the constant pressure changes still drove me nuts and kept me awake. After the first four hours i took the mask off and despite trying could not get it back on without becoming panicky despite not being claustrophobic. I was just too tired to continue though. Some how from all that they came up with a prescription for me. I don't see how it could be accurate but i was happy to not have to go through that miserable process again.

The months since then have been pretty awful too until last night finally some semblance of rest or at least keeping the mask on for 2 hours until rain out woke me when i tried a mirage quattro large full face. we'll see how night goes. anyway given all that, i could not respond to the survey as written either. But thanks for making one up all the same. )
cheers,
gregg )

[neverbetter]

some cheap resmed full face.

[S-Dubya]

I was asked if I needed nasal or full-face. Being totally new I had no idea. Fortunately another tech asked, "Do you breathe through your mouth?" I said yes and they handed me an Ultra Mirage. When the Rx was written for my own setup my PCP wrote the Rx for exactly what they had in the sleep center - REMStar Plus, F&P Humidifier (I never understood why they didn't use the integrated respironics humidifier) and the Ultra Mirage.

When it came time to replace all my gear about 2 months ago I was very insistent on what I wanted. The DME affiliated with the sleep center didn't carry my preferred mask (Hybrid) so I made them transfer my Rx to a DME that does.

For any noobs out there, do your research. You may not get a lot of choices for your sleep study, but you should have choices at the DME.

[BleepingBeauty]

The DME affiliated with the sleep center didn't carry my preferred mask (Hybrid) so I made them transfer my Rx to a DME that does.

For any noobs out there, do your research. You may not get a lot of choices for your sleep study, but you should have choices at the DME.

Should being the operative word. Of course, we all have the option of buying masks online, thereby avoiding the DME experience altogether. And that, for most of us, is not a bad idea.

To answer the question in the title of the thread, I wore an UMFF during both my split-night and my initial titration. When I visited the DME to get my machine, I chose the Swift II as my preferred mask, and the RT was kind enough to throw in an UMFF that he'd used as a demo model, just so I'd have an option for a FFM if nasal congestion became an issue. (Those days - and that RT - are gone now, replaced by someone not nearly as competent or compassionate, IMO.)

I used the Swift II exclusively for about a year, and then "upgraded" to the Swift LT. Been using the LT for the past six months, and I love it. Have to wear a chinstrap to keep my trap shut, but it's worth it for the comfort, good seal, and "open feel" of the LT on my face.

[Sleepy Taz]

Twenty years ago not many people including myself had any clue about sleep apnea. After my sleep study a technician came to my house with a cpap and a nasal mask from Resperonics. The cpap sounded like a 747 taking off at the setting of 17 and the mask never fit right. I was given minimal instructions and not told that it needed to be replaced periodically. Todays DMT's are geniuses compared to the guy that set me up. Thank god for the improvements in mask technology as the nasal pillows I am currently using have given me the best sleep in over twenty years and my new machine shows ah @ 0 and ahi @around 1-2. The bottom line is that if what you are using is not working try something else until you find the right one!

[ozij]

Bump, this is the new poll.

[elg5cats]

Sleep lab used a Comfortgel mask that was toooooooooooooo big and strapped on toooooooooooooooo tight!!!! I researched machines/masks before I purchased my first mask from DME. I selected the Mirage Micro Nasal. I have since experiemented with Quattro FF and Swift LT for her. I really like the Swift LT but may be get the best results from the Mirage Micro Nasal.

elg5cats

[LSAT]

I have used Comfort Gel from day 1...I have no problem with it. Recently my wife told me that I have started to leak air through my mouth...she hears the hissss.....I went to my DME and tried several FF masks but I didn't think I would be comfortable with them. I read here about the chin strap challenge....nothing seemed conclusive. I ordered the PAPCAP.
I have used it for 6 days now and so far I am very happy with it.

[kebsa]

i was a mouth breather so they originally went fot full face mask, it was a respironics but i don't remember the name- they jsut could not get a seal with it and tried a couple of other full face masks, not sure if it was just different size or different tpe but they all leaked over the bridge of the nose- i have a very small nose and an almost non exisitant bridge( getting spectacles to stay put has always been a nightmare too because of it) they said my face was just the wrong shape for a full face so switched to a comfort gel nasal mask with a rather complex chin strap- it worked better but still ended up with my cheeks flapping and making farting noises! by this time it was the morning and the gave up-

on my titration study they went straight for the comfort gel and chin strap, i don'remember much about that night i was just recovering from an MS relapse and was suffereing such severe fatigue i was actually falling asleep in the admissions office- i know the staff said they came in and re applied the mask and changed the chin strap but only because they told me, i had no recollection of it

when it came to getting a machine and mask for the trial at home from the DME, they again tried full face masks but could not get a seal at all- they then tried nasal masks and went to Resmed and the 1st one they tried was a mirage micro- it sealed well so they stopped there- i would have liked to have trialed the swift as i like to read as i settle down and i can't read without my specs but i figured just go with the flo for the trial and see what happens after that- the trial was problematic as i had complex apnea and the respironics SV machines algorithm just did not seem to suit me, my AHI and HI were sky high-94 to 107 per hour! so the focus was on the machine and its settings, they tried an auto'machine (remstar) and had it set on 5 to 20 and it just seemed to take so long to adjust that i kept taking it iff even if i did manage to doze off but mostly i could not sleep as i felt like i was choking from lack of air! my pressures in the study had been 18 on stright cpap but i had still been left with AHI and AI that were less than ideal ( around the 30 mark) - in hind sight if they trialed an auto again i think they should have narrowed the range down say 12 to 20 and then maybe it would have been able to adjust quicker- i was concerned about the centrals anyway as they had been quite numerous and had been attributed to my MS, and MS is a degenerative condition so i wanted to make sure we got the best option with that in mind- so they evenetually swapped me to the RESMED VPAP adapt SV enhanced- and my HI was 0 and AHI was 0.4 the first fortnight- so with all the fuss of machines the idea of mask options just got forgotten about- the VPAP is fussy about masks anyway and will not accept the swift so i stuck with the mirage micro at first but idid find i had to fiddle a bit to get it to seal so i decided to take a chance and try another- i had read some good comments on this site about the Activa LT and it was on the list that the machine could deal with so i ordered it via cpap.com and I LOVE IT!!! it seals first time everytime and other than the fact i can see it, i certainly cannot feel that i am wearing a mask- its great- and as so much of it is silicon i can actually wear my specs if i want to read for a while too- if they ever managed to get one like the swift that could be used with the machine i use i would be intereseted in giving that a try but i would not bother with others unless there was a really good reason

i do think they could give us a little more choice in the early days about mask choice- although i had been ok with the mirage micro, i just thought any mask would be a bit uncomfortable until we get used to them but having tried the activa lt, i now know that is not the case- they are both good masks but in terms of comfort really they are like chalk and cheese!- it seems most of us are not given much choice about masks in the begining and it does seem odd that comfort gels seem to be so widely used in the labs when they are not that popular amongst patients

[BeanMeScot]

I believe I saw about 3 masks at the Sleep Study center. The first time I was there, I was handed some full face mask to practice breathing with while I was waiting to be hooked up. Don't know what it was. I had to come back for a 2nd study because my AHI was low enough that it needed interpretation before the titration. The 2nd time, the RT showed me 3 masks and had me put them on. I picked a triangular one that went over my nose. She had it cinched down pretty hard. I know that one was a Fisher & Paykel because it is on my report. I wasn't sent home with any mask. I didn't get one until I went to the DME later.

[yardbird]

Couldn't vote because nothing fit my experience. I knew absolutely nothing about sleep apnea or CPAP before my study. Best I can figure is they did a split, because I only went in once. I slept for a little while with no mask and not long after falling asleep (it seemed) they were putting a nasal mask on me. I was told in the morning that my oxygen levels went so low they were about to put me on oxygen.

What mask did they use? No freakin' idea. Remember I knew absolutely nothing. For all I knew there was only one mask. Whatever it was it was really painful to wear. It HURT. Later when I told the DME that I couldn't sleep with this thing because it hurt, they said, "You'll get used to it" and that was that. Well... I tried.... I really did... but I couldn't get used to it. My calls for help went either unanswered or answered the same way..."You'll get used to it".

Meanwhile I was paying them something around $20 a month as co-pay AFTER they collected the $85 a month from my insurance. By this time I had put the mask and machine in the closet. "This is like some twisted Medieval torture! NOBODY can sleep with this stuff. I kept paying, however. And now my WIFE wasn't sleeping. She was spending her nights with one hand on my chest so she could shake me to get me breathing again. She was as tired as me every day... or maybe more... and she wasn't the one with apnea! Then I started learning... slowly... it was the money and the mask. I found a place called cpap-pro. "LOOK at this mask. No headgear! No pads. Nothing to cause pain!" and I bought one.
Holy crap what a difference. It was a finicky beast, to be sure. And rather delicate and easy to get it out of alignment. It leaked but I didn't know much about leaks back then. I have to say that as much as I now DISLIKE that mask, I hold a special place in my heart for it because it's what got me back on therapy.

So now that I was thinking clearer every day. My wallet was complaining. I called the DME. "Hey. You're charging me $20 and my insurance $85 a month for a machine that doesn't cost more than $400!" ....."Yes, that's the allowable under your insurance.... blah, blah, lies, blah, blah, excuses, blah, blah, lame justifications based on absolute bull**** that they made up".
So I call my insurance company, "Hey, you realize that between the 2 of us we've paid for that machine about 4 times over? Where is the sense in this?" ... "Oh that's because the DME provides services to the patient..... smoke and mirrors..."

I received one service from the DME. Their response of "You'll get used to it". Why was that a service? Because it pissed me off enough to really start looking into what was going on and as a result I found this message board.... and started reading...

First things first. Call the DME and tell them I will no longer be robbed by them. Told them I tried to talk sense into an apparently senseless insurance company to no avail. "Stop the shenanigans immediately and I will no longer be paying the $20 co-pay. Whatever you do with the insurance company is between you and them and I can't fix that, but either stop the $20 a month payment requests right now or come and get all this crap off my front porch where you'll find it."

The $20 co-pay requests miraculously went away. Hmmmmm..... so I kept reading.

My machine was a Solo LX. Not a BAD machine, but not a good one either. Enter CPAP.COM into my world. Conversations on the phone with humans that actually care. Checked all financial stuff.... Solo LX now almost 5 years old and... it QUIT! Oh no, I'm just getting the hang of this and the machine quits?

Quick call to sleep doc, tell them what happened. Need a new machine. "Well he's going to want to see you..." And they set me up with an appointment... FOUR MONTHS AWAY! "Are you serious?", "That's the soonest we have available", "Was I clear that I am without therapy?", "Yes, I understand, but that's the soonest we have available"

I have a WONDERFUL primary care doc. I call her up and tell her what's happening. "I need a script that just says Auto-CPAP" ... I went and picked it up 2 hours later. Called CPAP.COM. Bought a remstar auto with heated humidifier (the old tank) and a new mask... the Swift original. "Look how light it is! and almost no headgear"

CPAP.com TALKED to me. CARED for me. And ultimately TOOK CARE of me. THEY gave me better service than I had gotten from sleep doc and DME for the prior 5 YEARS.

Swift worked, Swift II worked, Swift LT works, still working on the Hybrid but I'll get there. Meanwhile retired the tank (after almost 5 years) and got an IntelliPAP auto with heated humidifier, SmartLink module, software, etc (from CPAP.com again... I love those people). I paid LESS out of pocket than I would have paid in co-pays had I worked through my insurance. (I have 50% co-pay on durable medical equipment and the insurance would not have paid ANY of the smartlink module or software as they say it is not medically necessary)

Masks:
piece of crap beginner mask that hurt
CPAP-Pro (nomask)
Swift
Swift II
Swift LT
Hybrid
UMFF (never really got that one working... leaks like crazy)

I have come to the conclusion that it's not the healthcare system that's broken. It's the healthcare INSURANCE system that's broken.

If you made it this far... hehehehhe... I do tend to ramble on like an old man.... but I AM an old man so I feel entitled.

Have a great day

[2flamingos]

I was allowed to choose masks at the start of my study (Chose Swift LT), but they then came in and changed it during the night due to mouth breathing - and obvioulsy put me on a full face mask. They kept coming back in and tighteding it becuase of leaks - and tightened it to the point that it not only left marks, but the bridge of my nose hurt for several days.

The Rx called for a comfort gel ff mask, but I I told my DME I did not want that so they let me choose a Swift LT and gave me a chin strap. It seemed to do the trick. But, just to make sure, after I read about taping on the forum I thought I would give it a try. Been doding so for about a month. Can;t say I have noticed a dramtic difference in numbers, sleep, or restfulness.... but, it is what it is.

[howkim]

I couldn't select an option.

On the first titration study (several years ago), I used a ResMed Activa Standard for the test and that's what I used after. On the second titration study (much more recently), the tested with the Comfort Gel, got it after, changed masks several times, and then went back to the Activa - literally the first mask that I've had for years.

[timbalionguy]

I requested a FFM at my sleep study, as I knew I mouth-breathed. They tried two sizes of the Mirage Quattro, which I already knew might be a good choice from studying CPAP.com. The Quattro fit nicely and worked nicely. And that is what is on my prescription. I worked with the Quattro and generally found it to be effective, but I have severe leak problems with it after about four hours each night. Although I was getting better at controlling them, there were still occasional bad leaks. Out of a whim and curiosity, I tried the hybrid. I found it fit me very well, and I have been using it ever since. The leak problems with it are almost trivial compared to the Quattro, and I have been moving towards higher pressures with few issues.

The Quattro is still my backup mask, and may be a better mask if I get a really stuffy head.

[OwlCreekObserver]

At first they strapped me into a nasal mask (brand unknown), despite the fact that I told them I was a mouth breather. After a couple of hours, they gave up and replaced it with a full face mask. A couple of weeks after the study, I saw the sleep doc and his assistant gave me a list of DMEs to choose from. I picked one and they gave me (what they said was) the same mask I was tested with, which was a Comfortfull 2. I wasn't given a choice. I bought a different mask a few weeks later from cpap.com after I started reading this forum and have bought several more since.

Off-topic: I've stopped trying to work with that DME (owned by Rotech). Trust me, I'm not hard to get along with, but these folks can't even be bothered to return my phone call requests for masks, filters, hoses and such. It's far less stressful to just pay the costs out of pocket to cpap.com. It's a shame that some insurance companies (and Medicare, now that I'm an unwilling client of theirs) won't cover such purchases.

OCO