Falcon position with Optilife Nasal Pillows - any suggestion

[ricosuave]

Does anyone have any tips on how to sleep in the Falcon position while wearing a Respironics Optilife nasal pillow setup? I can't seem to last more than 90 minutes in this position. I think a full facemask might be more forgiving lying with my cheek flat on the bed than nasal pillows. Any suggestions?

The Falcon position itself seems AMAZING in terms of reducing aerophagia and helping me to reduce my pressure. Because of my nasal pillows, I was sleeping almost exclusively on my back. My doctor even suggested that. Since I'm not on an Auto machine, when I turn on my side while sleeping, I wake up with incredible bloating/pain (and the Mrs. is not amused with the ensuing instrumental solo).

Back story: On CPAP for 15 months. First doctor set me up at 8.0, and my 3-month data read showed I had severe OSA (very little change). I did not learn this from my doctor, I learned this from my supplies provider. She was incredibly helpful (all the while saying "I'm not a doctor"), but shared that I wasn't doing well at all. So, I took my therapy into my own hands (with GREAT kudos to the CPAPTalk community - I've been a regular lurker ever since). So a year ago, I upped my pressure to 12.5 Results: AHI down to 3.0 or so per night, and I lost 12 pounds in 10 days (without changing anything else in my life/lifestyle). Recently, some daytime symptoms were beginning to return, so I decided to experiment with slightly higher pressure. I made it to 13.5, which really helped if I stayed on my back. I'm a bigger guy, so being on my back is the WORST thing I can do to keep from having apnea events, and I rarely make it through a whole night in one sleeping position. I really want to try and make this Falcon thing work. Just the two 90-minute sessions I had in that position last night made my numbers go waaaay down!

[Falcon1]

Does anyone have any tips on how to sleep in the Falcon position while wearing a Respironics Optilife nasal pillow setup? I can't seem to last more than 90 minutes in this position. I think a full facemask might be more forgiving lying with my cheek flat on the bed than nasal pillows. Any suggestions?

The Falcon position itself seems AMAZING in terms of reducing aerophagia and helping me to reduce my pressure...

.... I really want to try and make this Falcon thing work. Just the two 90-minute sessions I had in that position last night made my numbers go waaaay down!

ricosuave,

Hi. I'm glad to hear that the Falcon position reduced your aerophagia and helped to lower your pressure. You asked if there are any tips for sleeping in the Falcon position while wearing a Respironics Optilife nasal pillow setup. Although I don't have any unique tips for your particular type of headgear, rooster previously posted some great tips he came up with, which may be of help to you when using the Falcon position. The link is:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=43671&p=388165&hili ... on#p387902


Note: For readers who are interested in reading more about the Falcon position and seeing photos of it being demonstrated, the link is:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=36738&st=0&sk=t&sd= ... 15#p319598

Best regards,

Eric Falcon, MD