Night 2 on the Swift LT.

[aevans410]

After the second night on my Swift LT, I've determined the following :

HOLY CRAP! This thing is awesome!

I slept from 10 till 3 am last night until my daughter woke me up crying. Then once we got her settled back down, I fell back asleep easily.

I can't feel the headgear on my face 90 percent of the time. Last night after I settled down, I didn't notice the pillows on my nose.

My numbers were (still don't have a card reader, nearest walmart is 20 minutes from me and I have 7 kids. I had time last night but I chose to run instead)

AHI - 3.7
Leak - 2 mL

What puzzles me though is when I stopped the machine to help my wife get Emma back to sleep, I checked the sleep report and it reported 1.9 AHI and 2 mL after 5 hours, but when I woke up at 6:15 this morning, the machine reported 3.7 AHI. I am getting a reader somehow this weekend, because I'm intrigued on how the machine comes up with the average.

[Tino2You]

ae,

it is not uncommon for the machine to interpret awake breathing for apneas. When I look at my data, i tend to ignore the ones just after I turn the machine on and just before I turn it off. Once you get a reader and sleepyhead, you can mark the time frame you are interested in and the AHIs for that period are displayed on top of the Flow Rate graph.

-tino

[Pugsy]

Like Tino says...most likely the machine flagged a couple of awake events when you went back to bed after getting up. Since you are having so few events anyway it doesn't take much to show up in the overall numbers.

Also...we tend to have more REM in the wee hours of the morning. Comes around faster and lasts longer. If you happen to be one of those people who have more events during REM sleep maybe you went into REM sleep pretty quickly and had a few more events.
I am one of those people and if my reports are going to look a bit ugly (for me) it is 90% of the time always in the last 3 hours or so before I get up.

I am so happy for you that you are having such success with the Swift LT. I used it when I first started CPAP for well over a year until the Swift FX came out and I changed to it. It is a great mask. While no mask is ever totally perfect totally all the time I really liked the Swift LT. I just happen to prefer the "less on my face" thing so that is why I have gone to the other mask.
The Aloha reminds me a lot of the Swift LT with less on the face so if you ever get a chance to try one you might consider it.

[aevans410]

That is comforting. I was kinda dissapointed that I went from 2.7 to 3.7, but I'll watch the trends and get the reader.

I am VERY happy with the mask however, I think now I can really get some relief.

[Xney]

Congrats on finding a good mask for you!

the LT has been the most comfortable for me, as well. Routing over the head makes a huge difference for me as well, since I tend to side/stomach sleep and move around a lot. The FX, which in many ways is better, doesn't work as well because it doesn't have convenient routing overhead. (The short hose is actually TOO flexible to make it work well)

I've also found the Aloha to be pretty similar to the LT, if you needed another option. The pillows work a bit differently.

Just goes to show you, new is not always better.

Quick warning: the replacement time on pillows for the LT are suggested to be 2 weeks. I find that they lose their seal for me after about 10 days, so I replace them a little more often on my own dime for the difference. Washing them daily or every 2 or 3 days helps, but the pillows actually get a bit weaker over time and don't seal as well. Something to watch out for. If they seal very well for you out of the box, then it may not be a problem for you.

[jweeks]

HOLY CRAP! This thing is awesome!

Hi,

CPAP nirvana, right here on planet Earth. (Paraphrasing a quote from Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam.)

Did you get any mask lines on your face? I tended to get two sets...one from the head gear going vertical just in front of my ears, and if I put my nose down into the pillow, the little plastic tab near the pillows would leave a dent in my cheek. A warm shower in the morning would take care of it. One the newer Swift LTs, or maybe it was on the Swift LT for Her, they shipped some felt covers for the head gear. That seems to help a bit.

Note that these marks were trivial compared to what the full face torture device was doing to my face.

I seem to get more life out of the pillows than what another poster suggested. I see between 6 and 10 weeks on average. I do get an occasional pillow that just doesn't work when it is new, and I also seem to get one every so often that whistles. The trick is getting them as cheaply as you can. I found a guy who sells them new in the factory packaging on E-Bay for around $13 each. I generally order a dozen at a time so I am set for a year.

The trick with the pillows is if you notice a drop in your sleep quality (or for me, I lose a few percent of my mental "edge"), suspect the pillows. In fact, I generally just change to a new one. If that doesn't help, then I keep the old one and use it again. If I suddenly feel better, then I know that I can toss out the old one.

-john-

[Xney]

These actually (mostly) fit on the LT:

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... -wrap.html

Seem to last about 2 to 3 masks, gets rid of all the lines for me.

-k

[aevans410]

I don't seem to get any lines from the headgear, Although I haven't really been looking, I'll have to check in the morning tomorrow.

Last night was another great night, only woke up once, had a AHI of 3.5 (it was 1.2 when I woke up at 3 am, so I'm going to assume that most of the events after 3 were false, I feel great), and had a 0 for leak rate.

I'm finally feeling the benefits of CPAP therapy

[Popi]

Quick warning: the replacement time on pillows for the LT are suggested to be 2 weeks. I find that they lose their seal for me after about 10 days, so I replace them a little more often on my own dime for the difference. Washing them daily or every 2 or 3 days helps, but the pillows actually get a bit weaker over time and don't seal as well. Something to watch out for. If they seal very well for you out of the box, then it may not be a problem for you.

Funny, or odd, your choice, but I'm on my third year with my original pillows. A while back there was a thread asking for people to report the tiny (very tiny) numbers that can be found on the pillows in an attempt to determine if different lot numbers corresponded to different quality. Mine was a 6, I believe, and my pillow works as well today as it did three years ago.

[Xney]

Yeah, for me, I'm sort of slightly below a Large size but using Large, so the pillows have to be in pretty good shape to seal well. Some will last a few weeks, but others last only 5 or 6 days before the pillows start to flutter/crush down a bit and lose their seal. I can imagine if they are a good fit, they could last for 2-4 weeks, cleaned every 2 or 3 days. (I just soak them in some warm water and baby shampoo for 10 minutes to clean them)

I haven't found any mask which fits better yet, so I've just accepted it as the price I need to pay - for now.

[Sir NoddinOff]

Some will last a few weeks, but others last only 5 or 6 days before the pillows start to flutter/crush down a bit and lose their seal.

Xney, Are you using Lansinol or any lubricant products to improve the seal??? I've found shaving the appropriate area and trimming nose hairs helps with leaks.

[squid13]

Put some O rings under those pillows and they last longer and give a good base for the pillow base to rest on.

[SolSionnach]

What are o-rings?

[squid13]

View this topic viewtopic.php?f=1&t=76193&st=0&sk=t&sd=a#p696119

[Xney]

Some will last a few weeks, but others last only 5 or 6 days before the pillows start to flutter/crush down a bit and lose their seal.

Xney, Are you using Lansinol or any lubricant products to improve the seal??? I've found shaving the appropriate area and trimming nose hairs helps with leaks.

No, the problem is the nostril size doesn't really line up. The pillows seal fine, it's just somewhat the wrong shape, so once they start go to they go easily.