Swappin' Masks Again...

[Culby]

When we last left our story... I was wearing my EasyLife Nasal Mask too tight, and cut the bridge of my nose. Met with the DME, they suggested we look at different masks, and gave me a Swift FX to try out for a few days while my nose healed.

That was on Thursday. Fast-forward to today. The Swift FX has been an abysmal failure. My main issue is with the pillows themselves: the medium pillows feel like they're not big enough for my nostrils, but the holes on the large pillows seem like they're too big, and won't fit. And it's not as if I'm dismissing them early. I laid in bed on Saturday swapping the Mediums and Larges out, each time settling on the large. And each night I feel a slight leak as I go to sleep, and wake up to a worse leak. The past 3 nights, I've found the mask on my nightstand in the morning.

(Then again, the last few nights have been atypical... Friday night, I picked up some extra work, didn't get to sleep until 3am. Saturday night, I took a very late nap, 5p-8p. Sunday night was a typical midnight bedtime, but an unusual 4am wake-up call.)

Tomorrow morning at 10, I go back in to the DME. My nose has finally healed. I do really want to like the Swift FX, and if there's something that I'm missing, I'd love to discover it tonight so I can walk in there and order me up an FX of my own. Is there a Medium and a half?

Barring any sort of revelation, what's my next step? Presuming I go back to the Nasal Mask, do I try to go after one of those SoftGels I see prominently displayed on the top of the forum?

[guesty]

but the holes on the large pillows seem like they're too big, and won't fit. And it's not as if I'm dismissing them early. I laid in bed on Saturday swapping the Mediums and Larges out, each time settling on the large. And each night I feel a slight leak as I go to sleep, and wake up to a worse leak. The past 3 nights, I've found the mask on my nightstand in the morning.

they should NOT fit inside the nostril but seal around the nares. by all means try another mask but also use some lansinoh on the nares and pillows to help the seal.

[Culby]

they should NOT fit inside the nostril but seal around the nares. by all means try another mask but also use some lansinoh on the nares and pillows to help the seal.

Clearly I'm not trying to shove the whole pillow up my nose. I'm not even sure how you would manage that.

It might be a moot point, anyways. I just got word that my overnight girl is in the hospital, and I may need to go fill in for her. Pair that up with already planning on doing an overnight tomorrow night, along with my regular office hours, and it's clear I'll be running on 5-hours for the next couple of days.

[msradar65]

I'd try the Swift LT.

[Culby]

Just got back...

First, a note: last night, while at the office, I decided I wasn't in the mood for caring, and stretched out to sleep. I brought the EasyLife with me, and when I first put it on, I realized just how tight the mask really was the night that the bleed started. No wonder I was having problems. The tech today also pointed out that I had managed to put the headgear on backwards, too.

But, in the interest of trying different masks, he gave me the Mirage FX to try. It worked really well, especially since he gave me the wide cushion (damn my Italian genes!). And, since it's pretty new, I'm looking forward to giving you guys a trip report.