fx- pr1- feeling like not enough air

[packer]

long time headrest user [ bought 3 more pillows out of pocket yesterday . which shows my love for the swift!!]
anyhow- fx is really being promoted by dme- and headrest is gone- so deal with it

question- does fx require different setting on pr1? I tried it two nights ago but felt "starved" for air
on same setting used for headrest- middle of night it woke me up and I simply changed back in the dark
and went back to sleep- I know it probably is already been discussed so I am being lazy

[DennisG]

I switched from the Swift II to the FX about 3 months ago. I used the large pillows on the II and found that the large on the FX did not seal as well as the mediums for me. The mediums on the FX have a much smaller opening than the large. I felt starved for air with the mediums, told my doc and he increased my minimum APAP pressure by 1. After trying out the new setting for a couple of nights, I ended up kicking it up one more. Feels better but it is definately a lot noisier. The large work better but I end up with more leaks. Wish there was a med-large size.

Dennis

[trike-mike]

Packer,

I fully agree with Dennis.... I use and really like the Swift FX and use that most of the collection of masks I have depending on what I feel like any particular night. Like Dennis, I definitely find the medium pillows leave me feeling starved for air while the large gives enough air but harder to seal. Actually, it is quite astounding just how different the two sizes feel from an air supply point of view.

For my part, I ended up staying with the large and, while sometimes fiddly to get settled leak free I can get it consistently without leaks and will typically stay that way through the night. Counter-intuitively, I find that I wear it rather loose as too tight will cause more leaks than it solves. Additionally, I find that when using the large pillows, they will only last between 2 weeks to, at best, a month. I find that they will start to leak even though, by touch, I can't tell the difference between the one in use and the new one. This is proven (for me) by changing a set of pillows seemingly in good shape that were becoming problematic to settle leak free to being no problem at all.

Also, like you, I have a Respironics PR1. It does indeed have the "resistance settings" that are labeled on the Respironics masks. Other threads here have suggested both picking a setting for a mask that is equivalent to the FX (on the tables, it basically says all nasal pillow would be X1) and some have suggested to leave it alone since it applies only to Respironics masks. I can see both sides of the story since, if you look at the specs of comparable masks, one will find largely consistent values and one should ostensibly be able to pick a setting that "works" just fine. However, I consistently find that I am less than enthralled with the feeling with a resistance setting on and actually don't like it with a Respironics mask with a specific setting labled. YMMV and I don't see any real harm in experimenting.

One other thing... While some here do use them, my personal experience and advice is that if you are using the supplied soft cheek pads... don't. Throw them in the trash. When I first got the FX, I used it without the pads. Then I decided to try them and instantly had difficulty maintaining a seal. I took them off and problem was solved. I found that the grip of the silicone against my cheeks did as much or more to hold the pillows in place than how tight the headgear was. In fact, I have the upper adjustment (the one in silicone with ~3/16" increments) rather loose (almost to the point of seemingly falling off) and the behind the head neoprene/hook and loop strap a little more snug. While it is pure conjecture, I suspect in testing they found the behind the head adjustment was the more critical for fine adjustment than the silicone strap over the head as evidenced by the rather course setting ability of the silicone strap vs. the essentially infinite adjustment of the neoprene strap. This seems to meet an apparently more important need to hold the pillows BACK to stop floating around as opposed to UP which, I found if too tight, induced leaks.

Good luck. As I said, of the many masks I have, this one with the large pillows is consistently my favorite mask and is a favorite of others on the forum here. I think you'll be able to settle into it nicely with some acclimatizing. Three months isn't too long as it took me essentially that long to "crack the code" on this mask.

mike