Sleep study using Hans Rudolph mask

Dale92 · Post by **Dale92** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:01 pm

I know I do not post much here but I do enjoy reading the input from all of my fellow hose heads. I just thought I would share with you news on my just completed 3rd sleep study. The purpose of this study was to see if the mouth appliance I had started to wear called the "Silencer"(pretty sure that's the name) has been able to lower the pressure that I need to avoid all of my little episodes. It locks my upper and lower teeth in place with a molded appliance that is adjustable forward or backward by a few millimeters. I have been on a pressure of 18cmw and have had a most unpleasant time trying to find a mask that would work for me. For the last few weeks I have been using the Breeze and taping my mouth with Tagaderm strips. When my doc found out that was what I was doing he authorized another sleep study.

The tech brought in a few Hans Rudolph masks for me to try that I had convinced them to get and using the calipers determined that I needed a large. After getting all wired up the tech managed to hook me up to the mask and I settled down for my test. I was not given a mask to wear for the first 3 or 4 hours until I was awakened and told I could now try the Hans Rudolph. I slept for about 3 wonderful hours with this most wonderful mask . I could not believe how comfortable it was after having my Ultra Mirage dig into my face night after night. When morning came I asked what my pressure had been set at and was told that I was at 10cmw now with great results. I did not get any more details so I will have to wait until I see my doctor in 2 weeks. Hopefully he will set my pressure at 10 but I think I will look at the instructions for my CPAP and move the pressure down to 10 tonight before I hook up for the night. Oh I almost forgot to add as a bonus I was able to take the Hans Rudolph home at no cost to me!
Dale

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:29 pm

WOO HOO!!!! That is great news! Looks like the Silencer really helped a lot... to go from 18cms to 10. Even better news is that you found a mask that works so well for you, because no matter how low anyone's pressure needs are, if the mask isn't comfortable and non-leaky it is a constant battle for a good night's sleep.

Congratulations!!!

sapphireskye · Post by **sapphireskye** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 2:25 am

I just got mine. Cannot stand the ultra mirage. But I am maybe gonna have to get the sensa seal. So far the mask seems better. I will be using it for the first time tonight.

blessings
Chelle

Dale92 · Post by **Dale92** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 11:55 am

Chelle, good luck on the new mask!

I have just completed my 4th night with the Hans Rudolph ff mask and I love it! There is no comparison on the comfort and fit between the Hans and the Ultra Mirage at least on my face. One thing I did notice is that I had to turn my humidifier down from a setting of 5 using the Breeze nasal or the Ultra Mirage ff down to a 3 or I would get serious rainout! I woke up my first night at home with the Hans and thought I had a leak in the roof of my house. I could feel mist falling on my arm that I had curled up by my head. I realized it was water coming out of the exhaust holes on my Hans. I removed my mask and the water fell out of the mask and hose onto my bed and floor. Between the mask and the hose I bet I had at least a quarter cup of water.

Chelle, I also have the sensa seal but when I added it the mask started to leak a little around my nose. Without the sensa seal I have only an occasional leak and very minor at that. I am able to sleep without having to wake up every couple of hours to readjust my Ultra to avoid the nasty sores I would normally get. I plan on keeping my sensa seal around just in case I am able to lose some of the weight I am trying to lose because you now what they say it comes off the nose first! So I hope you do well on your new mask!

Dale

Severeena · Post by **Severeena** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 12:08 pm

Dale92, I am so glad you like your Hans Rudolph Full Face Mask.

The sleep study you had is the first I had ever heard of with the Hans Rudolph being used in a hospital setting.

Dale92 · Post by **Dale92** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 1:22 pm

Sharon, the hospital where I had my sleep study was not originally going to use any Hans Rudolph masks. I contacted Hans Rudolph to get a caliper from them because I was planning on purchasing a ff mask in the near future. They forwarded me to a wonderful lady (Laura) who helps customers fit properly. I had a couple of nice conversations with her during which I happened to mention I was about to undergo another sleep study and that I was very interested in getting a Hans Rudolph ff mask. Laura asked me if they were going to use a Hans and I said they did not plan on it. She suggested that she would contact the hospital and my DME and see if they would be interested in trying some Hans Rudolph masks. The hospital responded and they let me try the mask when I came in on Tuesday night for my study. If I had not been pro active with the sleep clinic they would not have gone out on their own to get masks other than what was normally supplied to them.

I want to thank you Sharon for your posts on the Hans Rudolph masks as they were very helpful in giving them a chance to be noticed by me. I don't think I would have heard about them if I hadn't seen them mentioned here in this forum.

thanks again

Dale

Severeena · Post by **Severeena** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 1:49 pm

You are quite welcome Dale.

I hope you can get a good night sleep like I have been getting this past week. I am now getting 6 to 7 hours sleep uninterupted I may add. I wake up feeling tired, but that is because of the heavy pain meds I am on for my back.

allen · Post by **allen** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:01 pm

Dale,
Congratulations on your success!
I've been in "mask hell" this month. I own 3 masks:
Profile Lite Gel (Nasal
Ultra Mirage Full Face
Hans Rudolf Full Face

I purchased them in the order listed above. The Hans Rudolf is, unfortunately, my least favorite mask. Unfortunate because it is the one I was most hopeful about.

I've had success with the Profile Lite by using it and taping my mouth. I boiled it, per the directions to reshape it. Doing that, the forehead piece no longer attaches to the mask. I've now got it caulked together, but it still doesn't hold. One mask down.

Thursday night, my Ultra Mirage FF broke. Already there had been a significant tear in the soft seal, but it still was working. I moved in the night on Thursday, and the hard plastic swivel-elbow broke. It's broken, too--the pieces just didn't separate, they broke. That mask is now worthless.

So, I'm back to the Hans Rudolf. I've done everything I can think of to work with that mask. I made my own headgear. I still have to tighten the mask so tight that I become scared I'm putting too much strain on my veins and that I might have a stroke or something. And, even as tight as I can get it, it still leaks. If I move my jaw, it leaks. If I roll over, it leaks. It is so tight that it holds my jaw "shut" in an uncomfortable position, but if I close my mouth, the mask leaks. The mask makes those obscene noises that people have experienced with the Ultra Mirage.

After having to just give up on the Hans Rudolf, I settled on the Ultra Mirage, and have had the most success with it, all-in-all.

I've been on CPAP since November or October. I was so very, very hopeful that this would change my life. Alas, it has not. I oversleep horribly most every morning. I work my Mon-Fridays, and then spend Saturdays in bed. I'm pretty much at the end of my rope, physically and emotionally. I feel like I'm just surviving--not "living" and certainly not "thriving."

I can only hope that I can tolerate the Hans Rudolf until Tuesday, when my new Ultra Mirage should arrive.

Not to be the wet blanket in the thread, and certainly not to attempt to take away from your success. I'm jealous that the Hans Rudolf works so well for you--I had very high hopes about it for myself. If it wasn't so painfully tight and still leaking, I think it would be a great mask for me.

Dale92 · Post by **Dale92** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:50 pm

Allen, what pressure are you on? My old setting was 18 and at that pressure nothing worked for me. I tried several sizes of the ultra mirage full face, swift, Respironics full face mask, Comfort full face, Breeze nasal and of course the Hans Rudolph but I am not sure what size the DME gave me to try at their office they never bothered to size me they just said this mask looks like it is the right size. My only hope of a restful sleep was to tape my mouth shut with Tagaderm strips and use my Breeze nasal system. I have had nothing but problems with masks since I started CPAP in August. I can definitely relate to what you are going through. All I can say is hang in there!! I am not completely back to "normal" but even the bad days are way better than the way I used to feel before being treated.

Have you tried adding the sensa seal to your Hans Rudolph? The way I understand it the Sensa Seal is like adding a half size so the Hans Rudolph masks would have 5 mask sizes and adding the Sensa Seal would be like having 10 sizes. Also did you use the caliper from Hans Rudolph to check what size you need? If not you can call Hans Rudolph and they will send out a caliper free of charge for sizing. Then if you have the wrong size you could get the correct one if it is economically feasible for you. If I remember from what their sales rep told me you can replace the mask itself to a different size and use the hose connection system and head gear on the new mask for a lower cost.

I guess I would still be in mask purgatory if adding my "Silencer" mouth appliance did not enable me to have my pressure lowered. Going from an 18 to a 10 made all the difference. On a whim this morning I tried on my old Ultra Mirage ff and loosened the straps and layed down for a couple of minutes to try it out - no leaks! Now that is not a full nights sleep grant you but it was surprising that even for that short of a time it did not leak and it was even fairly comfortable.

I am hoping that with a mask that is actually working I can now proceed to do some serious exercise and hopefully lose some weight, kick my CPAP induced depression for which I am on medication and maybe be able to back down on my blood pressure medication to a lesser dose.

Dale

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:08 pm

For the few that seem to like HR masks there are many, many, many more (check out this site) that find them a total waste of money. They are double the price of ALL the masks available on the market and perform poorly and leak badly. The biggest complaint is head gear that is totally impossible to get adjusted and nose bridge leakage. HR then wants you to pay for a Sensa-seal to "correct" the nose leakage. Yet... now get this tid bit of info... this is from RH reps in Germany, the mask is shipped to the US with the Sensa-seals as part of the mask kit!! The Sensa-seal is remove in the US and sold as an $25 option. God bless captialisim!! I have read many postings on this site from contributor "Severeena" over the last few months and found her to be unaccurate, misleading and pushing RH products as the answer to all our mask problems. I question if she works for RH sales and uses this site for cheap and free advertising purposes. The admistrators of this site need to closely review her postings.

Severeena · Post by **Severeena** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 7:32 pm

Guest, I am not misleading nor do I work for the Hans Rudolph Corporation. I do not owe you any explanation nor do my posts need sensored.

Severeena · Post by **Severeena** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 7:38 pm

Allen it sure sounds like you got the wrong size HR.

They also have a new head gear that is all straps. I am getting the medium.

What size is it?

sleepy gal · Post by **sleepy gal** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:30 pm

Dale, I am very interested in the fact that your "Silencer" enabled you to go to a lower pressure and better use your mask and CPAP!

I also have a "Silencer" and tried it with my Ultra Mirage FF, but the dental appliance seems to block the air from coming through enough to make me feel worse, not better.

It sounds like you are using a FF mask, right?

Any hints on how you got the combination of dental appliance and CPAP to work together?

Glad it is going better for you.

Newsgrouper · Post by **Newsgrouper** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:41 pm

I have tried everything to make the Hans Rudolph FF mask work for me. Mine is the right size as measured by the calipers. I have invested approximately $300.00 in this mask:

Mask $200 + shipping
Sensa Seal $25.00 + shipping
New Headgear $50.00 + shipping

It works when I am on my back but leaks at the bridge of my nose the moment I turn on my side.

Severeena · Post by **Severeena** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:58 pm

Newsgrouper, you may want to try the Sensa Seal.

I reajust the mask a little, go on my side with no problems.

Humidifier

Additional Comments: ResScan and SleepyHead software

Sleep study using Hans Rudolph mask

Sleep study using Hans Rudolph mask

Was this the FF HANS Rudolph