Breeze Question

[sleepyred]

Okay - I have my new breeze - DME was not helpful in "pillow placement" I have 3 size and she put the medium in my until. This might seem silly, but how much goes into your nose? I had a few leaks my 1st night with lots of rain out. Ordered a heated hose, but need suggestions for fitting my breeze!

TIA!

[Guest]

Use the largest ones for no leaks. It goes in your nose up to the first 'ring' of the pillow. (So the majority of the pillow is not IN your nostril.)

[Jerry69]

[quote="sleepyred"]Okay - I have my new breeze - DME was not helpful in "pillow placement" I have 3 size and she put the medium in my until. This might seem silly, but how much goes into your nose? I had a few leaks my 1st night with lots of rain out. Ordered a heated hose, but need suggestions for fitting my breeze!

TIA!

[stanta]

Another problem I had with my new breeze was with the little clip that the valcroed straps attach to. This was to bring the velcro lower on the mask, but mine kept falling off and had to be reset way too often, I just took a rubber band and looped it around the "ears" over the back of the hose.

Another fix for a mask that keeps sliding out of adjustment is to use the rubberband as a "stop" so you can slide it right back.

[sleepyred]

I used the larger pillows and adjusted as per your instructions Jerry. I slept much better last night. My hubby said as far as he could tell, I had no major leaks. It also took the pressure of my face and nose that my mirage was causing (even though I still like that mask a lot!).

I have developed a sore in one nostril, but am waiting for my heated hose - maybe that will help as well!

Thanks for all your advice!

[Jerry69]

Sleepyred,

The Breeze will tug at your nose when you change positions because the gear is so rigid. I find that it helps to re-adjust the back slider or top slider when I move from my back to side to reduce the tug or to better the seal, whichever. And, sometimes, I will loosen the screw on the plenum and rotate it to make sure it positions the pillows 'up' my nose. Seems complicated, but you can get used to it and it doesn't keep me awake to do it.

When I first started using it, I had all the sliders closed and the back pad was centered on the back of my skull -very uncomfortable sleeping on my back. The gear was too short and the entry on the pillows was not 'up' my nose. Really made my nostrils sore. (I still have to switch over to my Aura from time to time to let the soreness subside.) But, lengthen the gear as much as you can and rotate the pillow plenum to get a seal. The lighter the contact, the better.

Why bother? Because it is quieter and I am sensitive to 'breathing' noises.

Jerry

[sleepyred]

Jerry - thanks for all your wonderful breeze tips!

What do you do for your RLS? I have that too, and mine is because of low iron, the doc says. My ferritin level was 13 and I take an iron supplement. I have had some female surgery to help alleviate that, but I am curious since your are a guy. I take Klonopin and the iron, and my legs have quit shaking (my husband who weights 100 lbs more than me is very thankful because I was almost shaking him off the bed at night!) but my legs still ache in the morning.

[Jerry69]

Red,

PM sent.

Jerry

[Jakester]

Hey sleepyred,
Another way to keep that strap in the lower position is to get it where you like it and secure it with small zip ties. It will stay put and you can take the hose off for cleaning.

I tried using a rubberband to keep the slider in back put but it didn't work for me. Now I just bent a paperclip through a hole and tape it down. (doesn't grab my hair either.)

And to vent it like a Aura stick some 1/4' hose in the vent and run it up hose just past the clip.

Also, it took me a couple of weeks on the Breeze to condition my nose.

[Kemosabe]

And to vent it like a Aura stick some 1/4' hose in the vent and run it up hose just past the clip.

Could you elaborate on this? I'd love to see a picture.

[rested gal]

And to vent it like a Aura stick some 1/4' hose in the vent and run it up hose just past the clip.

My goodness! That really worked! WTG, Jakester!!

I cut a five inch long piece of the tiny diameter tubing that people wear like a necklace in the hospital when they have those little oxygen cannulas stuck into their nostrils. (What size is that, btw?) I also rummaged around and found a piece of tubing just the slightest bit bigger diameter. Either piece worked well, wedged into the Breeze's exhaust hole. Neither piece seemed anywhere near as big as 1/4" diameter, but I'm a terrible judge of measurements.

Pushed one end just a little way into the Breeze's exhaust vent. Aimed the short tiny tube straight up the front of the Breeze's hose in front and velcroed the loose end to the hose at forehead level so that it pointed straight up.

With the smaller oxygen cannula tube, there was a miniscule amount of air seeping out down at the regular vent hole. That doesn't matter since it's the vent anyway. However, most of the exhaust goes on up and out the tiny added tube.

Neither size tubing added any extra noise whatsoever. No squeaking or whistling, even with the smaller diameter piece that was letting a tad of air seep out around the regular vent.

If anything, either piece made the Breeze slightly quieter. Amazing. Thanks Jake!! Very cool fix!!

[Jerry69]

And to vent it like a Aura stick some 1/4' hose in the vent and run it up hose just past the clip.

My goodness! That really worked! WTG, Jakester!!

I cut a five inch long piece of the tiny diameter tubing that people wear like a necklace in the hospital when they have those little oxygen cannulas stuck into their nostrils. (What size is that, btw?) I also rummaged around and found a piece of tubing just the slightest bit bigger diameter. Either piece worked well, wedged into the Breeze's exhaust hole. Neither piece seemed anywhere near as big as 1/4" diameter, but I'm a terrible judge of measurements.

Pushed one end just a little way into the Breeze's exhaust vent. Aimed the short tiny tube straight up the front of the Breeze's hose in front and velcroed the loose end to the hose at forehead level so that it pointed straight up.

With the smaller oxygen cannula tube, there was a miniscule amount of air seeping out down at the regular vent hole. That doesn't matter since it's the vent anyway. However, most of the exhaust goes on up and out the tiny added tube.

Neither size tubing added any extra noise whatsoever. No squeaking or whistling, even with the smaller diameter piece that was letting a tad of air seep out around the regular vent.

If anything, either piece made the Breeze slightly quieter. Amazing. Thanks Jake!! Very cool fix!!

RG, the Breeze vent hole is so small, I'm surprised that you were able to get a piece of tubing in it. You didn't remove the rubber grommet, did you?

Okay, if I can find a piece of tubing small enough to stick in the vent hole, won't that restrict the normal vent flow rather much, as it will block off half of the opening, at least. And, if that occurs, won't you reduce the venting needed for CO2 clearance.

Hate to be an alarmist. What I'd like better is a larger tube, maybe 1/4" in ID that could be secured over the vent hole so as not to restrict it.

Jerry

[rested gal]

RG, the Breeze vent hole is so small, I'm surprised that you were able to get a piece of tubing in it. You didn't remove the rubber grommet, did you?

Okay, if I can find a piece of tubing small enough to stick in the vent hole, won't that restrict the normal vent flow rather much, as it will block off half of the opening, at least. And, if that occurs, won't you reduce the venting needed for CO2 clearance.

Hate to be an alarmist. What I'd like better is a larger tube, maybe 1/4" in ID that could be secured over the vent hole so as not to restrict it.

Jerry

I didn't have to remove the rubber grommet.

The leak rate on my SL3 data this morning confirmed what you said about probably restricting normal vent flow too much. It was slightly below .02 liters/second during the first half of the night with extra vent tube in place; then, back up to my normal .04 liters/second for the Breeze during the last half when I removed the extra vent tube.

I didn't try the very slightly larger bit of tubing I had found...a tube that could be wedged for an exact fit instead of a slightly leaky fit into the vent hole. May try that one tonight to see if the leak rate gets above .02 with a bigger tube, but still wedged into the hole.

I realize that probably won't increase the vent flow, since, as you rightly point out, the silicone of the tube is taking up some of the space in the vent hole.

After that, my next step will be to punch out the exhaust hole itself a little bigger and stuff a decidedly bigger piece of tubing in it to try to match the .04 liters/second exhaust flow I usually get with the Breeze.

Won't be the first interface I've carved on ... and sometimes ruined. LOL!!!

[Jerry69]

RG,

You are everybody's hero, but you are also a mess, as we say in the South: 'bless your heart'.

But, if you drill the grommet out to accommodate a tube with the same ID as the original vent hole, it should work okay.

Let us know. I like the Breeze a lot, but the vent stream is a problem, as you know.

BTW, the manual for the Breeze says the leak rate is 21 l/m at 8cm pressure. If you divide that by 60, you get 0.35 l/s. Where does your 0.04 l/s come from? Did you mean 0.4l/s? That would be the leak rate at 11 cm, from interpolation of the chart.

Jerry

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): breeze

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): breeze

[Jakester]

Let me clarify my Breeze vent trick.

I'm using 1/4" OD tubing. Its the almost white fairly stiff kind. I started with a thickwall piece I had and with a little soap just pushed it though the hole. (Cut ends at a slant.) However, it wasn't venting enough. I then found a thinwall version. With that I no longer have a backpressure problem. I'll be reading my card tomorrow so I'll post the leakage rate.