How often do you change your Swift FX pillows?

[Marcman]

Saw my DME today and she gave me a whole bunch of nasal pillows to last me for 3 months. I was surprised by the number she gave me as I've been using my Swift FX for over a month and never thought of replacing the pillows. She said that the pillows should be replaced every 2 to 3 weeks. That struck me as a rather short life for these things. How often do you replace yours?

[Twentysix]

My sleep guy told me they would last for 18 months, but I've only used them for a month so don't know yet if that is right? Would like to hear experiences too!

[The Texan]

My DME provides replacements every 2 weeks, so I change them every month or so. I want to build a reserve, just in case Medicare decide to cut all their DME cost, like they say they are going to.

[Marcman]

Wow, 2 weeks or 18 months -- that's quite a difference!

Something tells me the 18 months was a misunderstanding -- perhaps what was meant is the entire mask can/should be replaced every 18 months?

I thought I remembered reading a thread where people were talking about using their pillows for a few months and I just found it:

Swift FX Nasal Pillows (Oct 18, 2010)

Personally, until I visited my DME yesterday I hadn't been thinking at all about replacing the pillows (though now that I think about it, my wife seemed to think that perhaps she heard more leak sounds recently). My pillows weren't discolored, torn, etc. And as far as them feeling "flimsy", I don't really remember what they were like to begin with, so it's hard to compare. When I visited my DME, the tech gave me a bunch of pillows and told me that they should last around 2 to 3 weeks, which surprised me because I had been using mine for over a month and I kind of remembered the above thread in the back of my mind. I asked her how you can tell if they need to be replaced. She said that they don't really look any different (i.e.: no tears or discoloration), but they would probably feel flimsier after 2 or 3 weeks and then after switching to new ones, I would notice that the new ones are much firmer.

So I'm curious about other people's experiences, although I'm thinking that I might just try both the old ones and the new ones tonight before going to bed and seeing if I can feel a difference in the firmness and then if I do, switch to using the new ones and maybe keep the old ones as a spare (in a plastic bag labeled with the dates of usage).

[robysue]

My DME says that my insurance will only pay for new pillows every 3 months, and if I get new pillows at 3 months, it restarts the clock for the "mask replacement every six months." In other words, the way I understand it, if I opt for new pillows at 3 months, I won't be able to get a whole new mask until the current one is 9 months old.

What happens if I keep asking for pillows every three months? Don't yet know the answer to that since I'm still on my first set of pillows and they're only 5 weeks old at this point.

[bap40]

I change out my pillows every 2-3 weeks. In my case they do start to leak around that time. My DME gives me enough for a 2 week change out.

[chunkyfrog]

I think the Medicare schedule says:
Full Face Cushion A7031 30 days (1)
Nasal Cushion A7032 30 days (2)
Replacement Pillow A7033 30 days (2)
My insurance says they follow the Medicare guidelines.

[Janknitz]

I change my pillows out when I start to notice they are softer, leak more, and the inner pillows start to invert frequently. They seem to last about a month--some longer, some for shorter periods.

I think they are manufactured in two or three places and some seem to be better than others. I'm trying to keep track. if you look INSIDE the pillows you will see a number, usually a 1, 3, or 11. I'm trying to figure out if certain numbers are better in quality than others. It would be interesting if a bunch of us kept track and reported our findings.*

You can take advantage of The Great Pillow Exchange thread here on CPAPTalk. Since you only use one size of pillows, you can trade the other two with people who don't need your size. I have a nice little stash from using the Great Pillow Exchange and will soon start another round with the extras from my new mask. It only costs postage.

Used to be you could buy the pillows for about $10 on CPAP auction until the Evil Empire stopped that. I think you might be able to score on EBay, but it will cost more than the Pillow Exchange.

* I can just see it turn into a sort of McDonald's Monopoly on the Great Pillow Exchange "I'm looking for size Medium FX pillows but I only want number 11's".

[robysue]

Seconding Janknitz's recommendation of the Great Pillow Exchange. I've already got my first two sets replacement pillows for my FX by exchanging my unneeded Medium and Large pillows for other folks' unneeded Smalls. The Great Pillow Exchange is a wonderful idea: Not only does it let you get pillows for no cost beyond the postage, but it also does it's small part in keeping UNUSED pillows from winding up in landfills!

[Janknitz]

Seems to me that ResMed would figure out that after the first time you don't need three different sizes of nasal pillows. They should offer packs with 3 of a single size. But that would be too logical, and then they couldn't sell as many replacement pillows.

[jdm2857]

The numbers molded into the pillows are mold identification numbers. When defects show up in production, the number identifies which mold is the source of the problem.

[Marcman]

The Great Pillow Exchange is an awesome idea and I commend the folks who came up with it and who participate in it. That's a clever way to save people money and reduce waste.

It seems that my DME knows I use the medium pillows, so they only give me those. They come in individual sealed Resmed bags. I don't know if the DME gets them in sets and then hands out particular sizes to particular clients or if they are able to simply order the ones they need.

For me, I have 5 or 6 sets of the medium pillows that I use and they said that should last me 3 months and then in another 3 months, they'll give me more.

I've read a lot of horrible stories about DMEs on this forum, but I'm very lucky I guess that I'm really pleased with mine, SleepQuest.

[ZQuest]

Saw my DME today and she gave me a whole bunch of nasal pillows to last me for 3 months. I was surprised by the number she gave me as I've been using my Swift FX for over a month and never thought of replacing the pillows. She said that the pillows should be replaced every 2 to 3 weeks. That struck me as a rather short life for these things. How often do you replace yours?

Hello: Marcman

I use just about the same setup as you do and i also feel very lucky to have a Very Good Dme,i change the mask pillows about every 2 to 3 wks.I was just reading your equipment profile and was wondering.Why do you use a Snuggle Hose on a Climateline hose? Doesn't doing this causes the climateline to run warmer than usual?I'm just curious about what possible benefits you get by doing this..


Phil

[Twentysix]

Wow, 2 weeks or 18 months -- that's quite a difference!

Something tells me the 18 months was a misunderstanding -- perhaps what was meant is the entire mask can/should be replaced every 18 months?

Thing is, I think I don't have a 'mask'. It's only the nasal pillows with straps (head gear?)??? Anyway, I'm seeing the sleep guy on Monday to return the rental, so I'll ask what and how. So far used them for a month and they are still working perfectly (medium size). Have cleaned them though, in case you were wondering.

[plr66]

Okay, I tried to resist responding, I really did. But I could not. There were just too many posts here for which I felt I could offer some fact-based education. Apologies to all the old-timers here who are already well aware of all this.

ResMed apparently chose to acknowledge AND continue their production of inferior-quality Swift LT pillows, over a year and a half ago. Assuming that ResMed would very likely have all their nasal pillows and mask cushions produced by the same factories, then one would likely conclude that all their mask cushions and nasal pillows will be inferior to what they used to produce. I have read nothing in this forum to indicate that anyone has experienced an improved quality in pillows from ResMed, ever since.

I believe that over the past year and a half, most folks here have reported the need to purchase a new set of ResMed Swift LT pillows every month or so for effective therapy before the pillows begin to collapse and leak due to their ridiculous thinness now. Compare this to the 6-9 months most people had effective use of those LT pillows prior to that time. ("Purchase" is probably less likely for the majority of folks than just "charging it" to Medicare or insurance at high rates & absurd throw-away-frequencies which have contributed to the demise of our healthcare system--and clearly to the horrifying waste of mismanaged Medicare in the USA.....but don't get me started ). Sorry. In my probably not so humble opinion, I do find it unconscionable to choose a mask or nasal pillow that contributes to such waste at such a high price to public healthcare. Easy to just keep ordering a new one to fill the DME pockets and blind our eyes to the public cost if you just "charge it."

I have to recommend that one consider how often they would continue to "order up" a new sleazy mask that will last a few weeks if paying out of pocket, and then decide if this is a company you want to continue to support for your masks.

This is an overwhelmingly long thread, but worth reading, if you can, for some background and education about this ResMed issue:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=41729&st=0&sk=t&sd=a