Nasal Pillow Convert

[Perrybucsdad]

All I can say is WOW!! I have been using a FFM for 70+ days of my treatment and I decided on a whim to see if I could use a nasal pillow mask. I first kept my FFM and tried to force myself to go to sleep just breathing through my nose. I had no problems with that even though I am a self proclaimed mouth breather and have a deviated septum. The DME said I would never be able to use a nasal mask because I was a mouth breather. Um, HELLO??? Anyone home? Of course I was a mouth breather as I was suffocating and the mouth is the largest orifice to get air in. I would breath through my eyeballs if that was possible.

Anyhow, I received my Swift FX Nasal Pillow yesterday and proceeded to fit the right pillows to myself, adjusted the machine so that it was not set for Nasal (for leak detection) and then went to bed.

First impression was how little was on my face. I couldn't believe how light the device was. I had to adjust the pillows initially as there seemed to be some resistance, but once I had them seated just right, I was breathing comfortably through the nose. I opened my mouth to see what would happen and was amused that I sounded like a fire breathing dragon... very cool!

Anyhow, I fell asleep in short order and only woke up twice last night. Both were to the noise of me in fire breathing dragon mode (so I must have opened my mouth).

The second time I woke up though I was a little confused as the machine didn't auto shut off and flooded the line with moisture from the humidifier tank it seems. That was about 4am, and it just seems strange that the tank would have been that full at that time, so I need to check that later tonight when I get home.

All in all though, I am really happy with the mask. I need to work on not opening my mouth, but I think that will come with use. The best part was when I looked at my AHI this morning and I went from my normal 4 - 5 AHI down to 1.2 AHI (with a slightly reduced pressure... I was at 17cm and I decided to try 15cm last night).

John

[RocketGirl]

fire breathing dragon mode

I love this! I use the nasal pillows also, and this is a great description.

It's only happened once or twice to me since I'm a complete nose-breather, but I think I'll open my mouth once on purpose when I mask up tonight, just for fun

Very glad it's working so well for you!

[apneawho]

This is great news John. I have used Swift FX pillows from the get go and have had no problem. I feel very fortunate to have conquered the mask demon so very early on. I hope I will always have the Swift FX or something similar that will work this well for me. I tried the GoLife for her nasal pillows 2 weeks ago and did not like them as well for me. My husband prefers GoLife. Different masks really do fit people differently.

[Perrybucsdad]

I never really had a problem with the FFM other than the pressure was always needing to be so high. I was able to deal with leaks, but just the pure joy of not having my face all covered with a mask (even though the Quattro FX is small) is a joy.

[tbrown2]

I am still new to this and tried using the nasal pillows from the begining. I loved them at first but they caused irritation to the inner part of my nostrils to the point of bleeding. I tried two different types and all three sizes of the pillows themselves. The other problem I had was that I was a "fire breathing dragon" most of the night. It seems that I have been having issue with breathing that it is a natural thing for me to open my mouth. Even went so far as trying the chin strap. I still opened my mouth causing excessive leak.
I would love to be able to find a solution to use he pillows as I also like the fact that the foot print is so small on my face. So far I have not been able to make it work. I was forced to a full face mask (F&P Forma) that seems to be working now after several work arounds.
Congrats on finding something that works for you.
R,
Tom

[Pugsy]

Congratulations. Now you know exactly what I mean when I say "much less stuff on the face is so nice".

[Perrybucsdad]

I am still new to this and tried using the nasal pillows from the begining. I loved them at first but they caused irritation to the inner part of my nostrils to the point of bleeding. I tried two different types and all three sizes of the pillows themselves. The other problem I had was that I was a "fire breathing dragon" most of the night. It seems that I have been having issue with breathing that it is a natural thing for me to open my mouth. Even went so far as trying the chin strap. I still opened my mouth causing excessive leak.
I would love to be able to find a solution to use he pillows as I also like the fact that the foot print is so small on my face. So far I have not been able to make it work. I was forced to a full face mask (F&P Forma) that seems to be working now after several work arounds.
Congrats on finding something that works for you.
R,
Tom

Tom, I felt the pressure at first too, but I believe this was because I was cinching the mask down too tight. I switched to the small pillow and lightened the straps on the headgear and viola, no leak and no pressure on my nose.

As I stated before, I run at a high pressure, so I was concerned that I may have some leaks,but that didn't happen.

Maybe some other time you will get the chance to use the pillows and it will work. At least it sounds as if you have a good thing working with the ffm. The only reason I tried the nasal pillow was to see if I could lower the pressure and it appears that may be the case.

John

[thud]

I hope it continues to work well for you. As someone else mentioned regarding nostrils being sore(2 months of use), thats what happened to me using a Swift LT nasal Pillows.

Question....What size pillows are you using? and, why did you not set your machine to NASAL Pillows? Should it be?

[Perrybucsdad]

Thud, I'm using the small pillows. The Med felt okay, but the small felt good too and there was no leak so I went with that.

The S9 has a setting in the menu for the mask type (FFM, Nasal, and some other Nasal). I believe this only comes into play with leak detection as someone else suggested on the site. Maybe when I'm bored I'll go between nasal and FFM and see if there is any pressure difference, but I wouldn't think so as 10cm pressure should be 10cm pressure regardless of mask.

[Lizistired]

The open mouth air always reminds me of the movie, "The Green Mile".

[Janknitz]

My blog has some fitting tips for nasal pillows--click on "Swift FX Fitting Tips" in my signature below. Even though it says Swift FX, they will work for any type of nasal pillows.

The pillows must be properly fit with the machine on at its highest set pressure. The straps should be very loose--just barely tight enough to stop the leaks. The pillows should never go too far in your nose--the mask seals with the fat part of the pillow against the OUTSIDE of your nostrils. If you are having pain and discomfort, loosen up the straps and make sure you have the right pillow size (try going UP a size first). A little Lanisoh or KY Jelly can help reduce the friction and improve the seal for some people (never worked for me).

Nasal pillows should never hurt or cause sores inside the nose. If that's happening, the mask is not fit properly.

If you find that you do open your mouth during the night, you can try just a thin strip of tape with the end folded over from your chin to your upper lip, just to help keep your mouth closed. You may not need to entirely cover your mouth with tape. Or you can try my trick--sleep on your side with a small pillow tucked under your chin to support it in the closed position.

[chunkyfrog]

And then there are those of us who can wear nasal pillows only if
we use poligrip strips for the outside corners, and medical cloth tape for the center.
--a package suitable for Mr Lecter.
All I can say is,"Worth it!"

[rested gal]

All I can say is,"Worth it!"

Ditto to that! I tried many different FF masks in my first several months of using CPAP. Finally slapped a piece of tape across my mouth...was able to use far-more-comfy-for-me nasal pillows masks.

Have tried yet more FF masks (almost all of the types) since then, just out of curiosity to see if I could get anywhere close to as comfortable with a newer Ff mask than with nasal pillows. Nope. So, I continue to happily use tape in order to happily use my favorite nasal pillows mask.

LINKS to: Mouth leaks - Air Leaks - Tape - DIY Guard
viewtopic.php?t=8011

[Perrybucsdad]

Or you can try my trick--sleep on your side with a small pillow tucked under your chin to support it in the closed position.

What type of pillow do you use? I tried this last night but with a full size pillow and it really helped but was awkward since the pillow was really big.

Update on Day 2 with Nasal Pillows... HELL YEA!! AHI of 1.3!!! Woot-Woot!! I love it!! I had some rain-out last night though which was puzzling since I have the ClimateLine. I'll try increasing the temp of the line tonight to see if that helps. I only had it set to 72F, so maybe that isn't warm enough to keep the moisture from condensing in that short amount of pig tail tubing.

John

[Pugsy]

Update on Day 2 with Nasal Pillows... HELL YEA!! AHI of 1.3!!! Woot-Woot!! I love it!! I had some rain-out last night though which was puzzling since I have the ClimateLine. I'll try increasing the temp of the line tonight to see if that helps. I only had it set to 72F, so maybe that isn't warm enough to keep the moisture from condensing in that short amount of pig tail tubing.

Probably condensation in the nasal pillow itself from the moisture in exhaled breath. If increasing the temp on the Climateline doesn't help then you might consider Padacheek's barrel cozy.

I am using the Hybernite heated hose and even with the barrel cozy I see teeny tiny small drops of moisture in the pillow when I take it off. Not enough to create a problem though.