Which chinstrap for Resmed Swift FX Nasal Pillow?

[stube40]

Hi all,

I am new to the forum . Hello from me to everyone!!

I have been a CPAP user for 18 months. I'm probably not your average CPAP user - I'm male, 41, 6ft tall, 75kgs (about 160 pounds), fairly thin and active, running marathons and competing at squash. However, I SNORE LIKE A TROOPER!!! My sleep stufy showed that I had 30 Apneas in one night, some of which lasted 2 minutes. My heart rate jumped over 100bpm during some of the Apneas, whilst my blood oxygen dipped below 75. All in all, my sleep is really poor quality and does not support my active lifestyle at all.

I was hoping to get some advice........I have a deviated septum and expecting surgery in the next 6 months to fix it. In the mean time, I can sometimes breath perfectly through my nose, sometimes only through one nostril, sometimes only through half a nostril (if that makes sense). As a result, I tend to be a mouth breather most (but not all) the time.

I've tried two full-face masks so far, one from Resmed, one from Philips. They both feel comfortable when I put them on and I don't have any problems getting off to sleep. I can occasionally get a great night's sleep, but more often than not I wake up after 2 or 3 hours and rip the mask off my face because it's bothering me. When that happens and I'm half-asleep, the thought of putting the mask back on is not a pleasant thought and I opt to sleep the rest of the night without it - clearly, over a period of hours, the full-face masks gradually annoy me to the point where I can't beat it anymore.

Hence, even though I have a dodgy nose, I was considering trying a nasal pillow - the Resmed Swift FX seems to be one of the best. Even if it doesn't work now with my deviated septum, possibly in 6 months I'll get surgery and it will be more useful (or, maybe in 6 months I wont need a CPAP at all!!!!!).

Anyway, since I am a mouth breather, I was interested in thoughts on a chinstrap to go with the Swift FX. Also, if anyone has any advice for a relative newbie (still), I'm all ears!!!

I use the Philips Respironics REMstar Auto One machine. I should also point out that I'm primarily a side-sleeper.

[fmj13]

I just couldn't get one to work for me in that the straps from the chin straps interfered with the straps for the mask, so I switched to taping my mouth - I use Nexcare gentle paper.

[grayghost4]

I use a chin strap ... sometime two ... also a cervical collar sometimes

http://www.amazon.com/Premium-White-Str ... chin+strap

and

http://www.amazon.com/Respironics-Chin- ... chin+strap

and sometimes tape :

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003MW ... UTF8&psc=1

your results may varry

[Sleeprider]

I have used the Swift FX for years, and have a strong preference for Airfit P10. With the Airfit P10 I am much more successful at side-sleeping as the mask is less obtrusive and doesn't get knocked around on the pillow. It also does not exhaust a strong cold stream of air, which is a problem with the FX, blowing onto my wife, and making noise as it reflects against pillows, blankest or me. That's my experience, hope it helps.

Nasal pillows open the nasal airway like you've never experienced. Positive air pressure directly applied to the nostrils may be better than surgery or decongestants. I sometimes mouth breath during the day, but not at all at night. Good luck! Buy from a supplier that allows 30 day returns, and you'll find what works for you.

[Nick Danger]

My experience with the Airfit P10 and Swift FX is the same as Sleeprider's. I prefer the P10 because it is more minimalist and the exhaust stream is diffused so it doesn't wake up my wife.

I am a heavy duty mouth breather at night. I use the Resmed chinstrap - it works for me, but it is a single strap and some people have a hard time getting it to stay put during the night. I like it because it is a very minimal chinstrap and does just enough to keep my mouth closed and eliminate my leaks. Some people refer a chinstrap that has "ruby" in its name (sorry too lazy to google it right now), that chinstrap looks like it might do the job if the minimal approach doesn't work for you. Don't overtighten the chinstrap. You want it just tight enough that it is a little uncomfortable to chew, but not so tight that it is uncomfortable with your mouth closed.

Good luck!!

BTW, the septoplasty is the best surgery I have ever had - it opened up my nostrils and made it easy to breathe through my nose (although 45 years with the deviated septum evidently trained me to breathe through my mouth at night).

[stube40]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I'd never heard of the Airfit P10. From all the reviews I'd read, I thought that the Swift FX was the best nasal pillow on the market, but it seems the P10 is possibly even better. Will definitely be checking it out!!

Thanks again.

[Sleeprider]

Stick around and let us know how it works out for you. Good luck!

[stube40]

Will do. Hopefully report back soon with news of a great night's sleep.

Also with news of how I'm getting on with my new water bed if anyone is interested (only had it 1 week, but so far it's great).

Incredible the lengths we have to go to just to be able to get good at one of the most natural things in nature, eh????

[stube40]

Update:

So I bought an Airfit P10 yesterday. The shop was reluctant to sell me it because I have a deviated septum and they said it might not work, but I talked them into it as my last hope for CPAP.

Wasn't quite sure what the settings should be for my Respironics REMstar Auto One, but I'll start a new thread for that since it's not really related to this thread.

I decided to try it without a chinstrap because I tried one on in the shop and suspected that I'd just be back to where I was with a full face mask - IE waking up because I want to get rid of the things that are attached to my face. So, instead I used a little bit of surgical tape on my lips (leaving a small gap either side just in case something goes wrong and I asphyxiate myself!!).

Anyway, I slept for nearly 6 hours with it on and it was great. I eventually woke up at 4am and took it off, electing to have the next couple of hours without it on (I think this is just a bad habit of mine left over from the full face masks). When you consider that I struggled to get 2 hours with the FF masks, that appears to be a significant improvement for me. AHI was 4.2, 90% pressure was 6.something and there were 0% leaks reported.

Still early days though - can't read too much into a single night's sleep! But, it has definitely started off really well!

My only concern would be that I used a nasal spray to make sure my airways were wide open all night - this isn't a sustainable solution and I'm going to have to try using it without a nasal spray, at which point I may run into problems. Saying that, in 6 months or so, my surgery to correct the deviated septum should in theory fix all the problems.

Will report back once I've had a few more nights on it.

[strigiformes]

I've got a badly deviated septum myself, and my nasal passages tend to swell up when I lie down. Even so, nasal pillows are the only thing for me. YMMV, of course, but many people find that the directly applied air pressure opens things right up. It certainly works like a charm in my case! Pretty much the only time I can breathe through both sides of my nose is at night with my precious machine and a pillows mask.

[Nick Danger]

Anyway, I slept for nearly 6 hours with it on and it was great. I eventually woke up at 4am and took it off, electing to have the next couple of hours without it on (I think this is just a bad habit of mine left over from the full face masks). When you consider that I struggled to get 2 hours with the FF masks, that appears to be a significant improvement for me. AHI was 4.2, 90% pressure was 6.something and there were 0% leaks reported.

Wonderful! The next obstacle you might want to work on is that bad habit of taking the mask off in the middle of the night. The longer you continue to do that, the harder it will be to break the habit.

[stube40]

Totally agree - it's a bad habit and I need to stop it.

However, easier said than done - when you wake up you are not thinking 100% straight and quite often thinking instinctively rather than logically.

For me, it's as difficult as stopping yourself having the 9th beer when you've already had 8...........

What I need is someone to stand at my bedside all night and then give me a slap when I try to take it off - that ought to do it!

[ClassicsMom]

I was a chronic mouth breather too and found the halo chin strap to be effective with the swift FX. I also found initially a medium wide headband to be effective but I now prefer the halo chin strap. I am now a nose breather and have used cpap for 4 years.