Does anyone have experience with both Swift FX & Opus 360?

[khintul]

I've been using the Swift FX for the last 3 weeks, like it very much for comfort, but still struggling with getting leakage under control. Don't remember what led me to it, but I found the Opus 360 on Amazon for $56, so went ahead and bought it to try. I used it last night for the first time, and wound up with Mr. Red Frowny Face greeting me this morning! This was not a surprise to me as all night long I knew the thing was leaking and could only rarely get it to not leak. Even with that, it was a very comfortable system. I like the feel of the headgear on it.

A couple things I've noticed about both systems - with the Swift FX I seem to be able to use either the medium or large pillows, with about the same amount of leaks. Nothing to invoke the Red face though.

With the Opus 360, even the large pillow does not seem to be really large enough (feels like it goes into my nostrils much more than the Swift). I'll try it again tonight, but was wondering if any of you have had experience with both these systems, and did you find the same thing? Any suggestions as to what I might do to try to get this to work for me?

Karon

[Pugsy]

I have tried the Opus 360. I found the headgear was more unstable for me and so I was more leaky with it. No problems with pillow fit though. This was back before the Swift FX came out (and I was maybe 3 months into my therapy) and I was using the Swift LT which had more stable headgear so I went back to using the LT.

When the Swift FX came out I changed to it and while the FX headgear might be a tiny bit more unstable than the LT, the "less on my face" is well worth it for me. I routinely see only very minimal leaks with the Swift FX.
I might be better able to manage the Opus headgear now since I have more experience. It was quite comfortable though when I did try it. I can use both the XS and Small Swift FX nasal pillows and I think I was using the Small Opus pillow. I gave the Opus away so I don't have it anymore to see how I might manage it better now.

[tattooyu]

Haven't used the Opus 360, but I use the Swift FX (previously the LT) with usually great results. The FX is so much more comfortable.

[Slartybartfast]

I have had both masks for about a year. I was fitted with an Opus 360 for my sleep studies and when I got my prescription the Opus 360 was specified and I saw no reason to change. However for some reason the Swift FX seems to be much more popular than the Opus 360, despite its higher price (info from cpap.com). From that I inferred that there must be some advantage to the Swift FX over the Opus if more people seem to be buying it. So I got one. Wore it for a couple of weeks, then went back to the Opus 360, then back to the Swift. They feel about the same, however the pillows on the opus have a little flange that engages the nostrils and tends to keep it in place better than the Swift FX, resulting in less leakage. So I use the Opus 360 and keep the Swift FX as a spare mask. The Opus is now more than a year old and it works just as well as when it was new. With either mask, you DO have to experiment with the different pillows to see which one best fits your nasal architecture.

One thing about either mask that might help you is that I have found I need to smear a thin layer of K-Y jelly, or Astroglide on my nares before I strap on for the night. It prevents skin irritation and as the stuff slowly dries, it thickens and tends to hold the pillows in place. You can use a lanolin product or Ayr Gel, but the KY washes off with water in the morning and you never know it was there. And avoid the temptation to keep tightening the straps. Sometimes leaks can be lessened by loosening the straps. It doesn't take much pressure to get a good seal.

Hope that helps.

[khintul]

I have had both masks for about a year. I was fitted with an Opus 360 for my sleep studies and when I got my prescription the Opus 360 was specified and I saw no reason to change. However for some reason the Swift FX seems to be much more popular than the Opus 360, despite its higher price (info from cpap.com). From that I inferred that there must be some advantage to the Swift FX over the Opus if more people seem to be buying it. So I got one. Wore it for a couple of weeks, then went back to the Opus 360, then back to the Swift. They feel about the same, however the pillows on the opus have a little flange that engages the nostrils and tends to keep it in place better than the Swift FX, resulting in less leakage. So I use the Opus 360 and keep the Swift FX as a spare mask. The Opus is now more than a year old and it works just as well as when it was new. With either mask, you DO have to experiment with the different pillows to see which one best fits your nasal architecture.

One thing about either mask that might help you is that I have found I need to smear a thin layer of K-Y jelly, or Astroglide on my nares before I strap on for the night. It prevents skin irritation and as the stuff slowly dries, it thickens and tends to hold the pillows in place. You can use a lanolin product or Ayr Gel, but the KY washes off with water in the morning and you never know it was there. And avoid the temptation to keep tightening the straps. Sometimes leaks can be lessened by loosening the straps. It doesn't take much pressure to get a good seal.

Hope that helps.

Thanks - that does indeed help. I'll get some K-Y today and give it a try. The cost of the Opus makes it a very viable option for me, and I want to give it a good chance to perform.

[cowlypso]

I switched from the FX to the Opus. I had all kinds of leak and comfort problems with the FX. For me, it was very unstable, and every time I rolled over it leaked.

With the Opus, I have the hose attached on top of my head (I wasn't sure I'd like it, but it's become my favorite feature), which cuts down a lot on the movement of the mask when I roll over in bed. I had to go back and forth between 2 of the sizes before I found the one that works best for me. I do use just a little bit of Lanisoh every night, but it seems to be more important for my nose comfort rather than stopping leaks. Another thing I did for comfort was to take the cheek strap covers that came with my FX and put them over the cheek straps on the Opus. I also find that sometimes it just takes a little jiggle of the pillows to get them to seat properly when I roll over onto my side. For me, with the Opus I can make little adjustments like that to stop leaks easily, whereas with the FX I could never get the pillows to settle in right.

[Slartybartfast]

I forgot about one thing. First thing I did was to detach the hose from the top strap. The ball joint on the Opus allows great freedom of movement. I let the hose flop wherever it wants to. The hose connection with the Swift FX doesn't have that much freedom of movement, and the jet of exhaust air tends to run parallel to the hose, where it blows on the sheet or blankets and makes a lot of noise. The exhaust from the Opus is more diffuse and shoots straight out and makes less noise.

[khintul]

I switched from the FX to the Opus. I had all kinds of leak and comfort problems with the FX. For me, it was very unstable, and every time I rolled over it leaked.

With the Opus, I have the hose attached on top of my head (I wasn't sure I'd like it, but it's become my favorite feature), which cuts down a lot on the movement of the mask when I roll over in bed. I had to go back and forth between 2 of the sizes before I found the one that works best for me. I do use just a little bit of Lanisoh every night, but it seems to be more important for my nose comfort rather than stopping leaks. Another thing I did for comfort was to take the cheek strap covers that came with my FX and put them over the cheek straps on the Opus. I also find that sometimes it just takes a little jiggle of the pillows to get them to seat properly when I roll over onto my side. For me, with the Opus I can make little adjustments like that to stop leaks easily, whereas with the FX I could never get the pillows to settle in right.

Actually, I like the over the head arrangement too - matter of fact, one of the things I'd been trying with the FX was to put a velcro circle on top to route the hose overhead. For some reason, the extra bit of hose on the FX is difficult for me to find a good way to handle. I've been using a hose hanger for years, and it's worked great but that extra foot or so seems to negate the benefit of the hanger.

I forgot about one thing. First thing I did was to detach the hose from the top strap. The ball joint on the Opus allows great freedom of movement. I let the hose flop wherever it wants to. The hose connection with the Swift FX doesn't have that much freedom of movement, and the jet of exhaust air tends to run parallel to the hose, where it blows on the sheet or blankets and makes a lot of noise. The exhaust from the Opus is more diffuse and shoots straight out and makes less noise.

I tried detaching it at first too, and agree the exhaust from the Opus is preferable to the FX exhaust.

Thanks for the input, it's greatly appreciated. I'm becoming more hopeful that the Opus will wind up being the winner, but it's still nice to know I have the FX to fall back on.

Karon

[Uncle_Bob]

The Opus 360 was terrible for me. I didn't like the headgear, I got high leaks.
The nasal pillows didn't feel as comfortable as the resmed pillows.
I think the leaks were due to fact that the Opus pillows are less "plum" and are not dual walled like the Resmed pillows.

The Opus 360 does allow you to make pivot adjustments at the pillows allowing adjustments to suit the angle of your nose whereas the Swift FX is a fixed one size fits all approach

[proctor78]

I use the opus 360 after trying lots of masks it works great for me and yes just wiggle a little if you are leaking and it will stop also dont tighten it to tight or it wil pull alot and leak...

[khintul]

Just a follow up - used the Opus again last night, and put some K-Y on my nose first - felt like a really good seal, and slept through the night without waking until morning. My first thought on waking was, "wow, what a good night!" I just love it when I wake up like that. I really thought I had practically no leaks at all (no red frowny), but when I looked at the data from the card I see I did have some, but not nearly what I've had at other times.

If I can continue getting nights like last night it will be a winner for sure. Thanks to everyone for their input.

Karon