Noisy Go GoLife for Men?

[rmoldershaw10]

I recently became a member of the CPAP community. The CPAP machine I use is very quiet (Resperonics SE 2010) but the nasal pillow - GO Life for Men is very loud. I sound like Darth Vader and the breathing noise wakes me up as often as my wife used to wake me from snoring. I tried to figure out where the breathing sound was coming from - the machine, tubing or nasal pillow unit and think I have have isolated it to the air escaping from the nasal pillow exhaust in the front of the pillow unit. When I put my hand over the exhaust it stops the sound.

Has anyone else encountered this? I have read reviews which all praise the quietness of the GOLife. However, I do not htink it is very quiet.

I have a required level of 10 and a ramp from 4 to 10. At 4 the sound is very quite, do not hear the breathing, but it gets louder as the pressure increases.

Are all nasal pillows afflicted with this problem of the breathing sound of air escaping from the exhaust?

Suggestions welcome.

Thank you.

Machine: Resperonics SE 2010 with integrated humidifier
Nasal Unit: GoLife for Men

[Pugsy]

Different masks seems to have different exhaust noise levels..
The Swift FX nasal pillow seemed to be more quiet than the Swift LT and the new Aloha nasal pillow mask was more quiet than the Swift FX. These are the 3 main nasal masks that I have used long enough to be able to comment on any exhale noise.

And yes..level of pressure is going to increase the exhale vent noise. Maybe all those "quiet" reviews on the Go Life were from low pressure users.

Try a different nasal pillow mask if you can.

[rmoldershaw]

Thank you.

[HoseCrusher]

I was walking down the hall and this enthusiastic Respironics representative thrust a mask into my hand and told me to try it out...

Well not really, but I did end up with the GoLife for Men Version 2 to try.

On the positive side, it was comfortable and I expected to see some dents in my face because I am a side sleeper, but ended up without any. I normally use a Swift FX adjusted very loose, and used the same approach with the GoLife. I had just enough tightness to get a seal.

On the negative side, it seemed very noisy to me. As I was falling asleep I would almost startle every time I inhaled. The exhale was quiet. I asked my wife if she noticed this, and she didn't. I am not sure why this is, but I found it very distracting.

Another negative was the plastic odor. I washed it twice before it was reduced to barely noticeable.

In the course of the evening I ended up with the hose slightly twisted around, and woke up to some of the vent air blowing on my lips. This can probably be managed, but it did wake me up a couple of times.

I also woke up because of the proximity of the side strap to my eyes. I sleep on my side and tend to snuggle the pillow to get comfortable. With the mask loose, the side straps would slide around and get uncomfortably close to my eyes. This also can probably be managed over time, but is something to be aware of.

I will say that the short tube appears to be more substantial than what is provided with the Swift FX, but I would have to use this mask for a few weeks to see how well it holds up.

Overall, I will put it into reserve and go back to my Swift FX. I like the idea of the design. Fixing the anchor to your cheeks instead of your nostrils allows for longer nasal pillows that seem to hold a seal better, but I don't have a problem with the seal of the Swift FX and find it more comfortable.

[chunkyfrog]

I have just returned from reading the customer comments about this mask on the cpap.com product page.
Interesting!
Some raves, some pans.
Not much real enthusiasm.

[ekubaskie]

My Swift FX gets pretty Vaderish if I open my mouth. Usually I wake up when that happens - not really from the noise, but from the dog leaping off the bed. It freaks him out & he goes to hide in the closet.

[cindee]

It sounds like it might help to tighten straps a little more than is need to seal, due to the increasing pressure. Also, chinstraps are advised because when a person goes into rem sleep their mouth will open. Auto pap will increase the pressure.

[DHosehead]

Phillips has discontinued the GoLife v1, which is likely the one being talked about. It had blue straps. And it did have known sound issues, beyond what would normally be expected from a CPAP mask.

They have introduced GoLife v2, which is the next generation of the GoLife line. It has burgundy/red straps.

I never used GoLife v1, but I just started using GoLife v2 this week. My CPAP runs at 10 - 12, starts at 4 which is just the 5 minute ramp up to 10. The sound has not been too bad, my wife is not complaining and I'm sleeping without feeling its too loud. I was using the Phillips TrueBlue Nasal before GoLife v2. Comparatively I don't find one is any worse than the other in terms of sound. But the GoLife v2 is way easier to sleep with through the night than the TrueBlue Nasal. Because I have far less cases of the mask getting a "little leak" or moving around on my face and needing to be adjusted a little. Also, the TrueBlue Nasal would collect sweat and need to be wiped if I got up in the middle of the night and went back to bed. I can also move my head around in a few more positions than I could with the TrueBlue Nasal. I'm also able to keep the GoLife v2 tube down, so I can watch TV with the mask on. Which I could never do with the TrueBlue Nasal mask over so much of my nose. Even with the TrueBlue tube down, the part on the nose blocked view.

Overall GoLife v2 gets a thumbs up from me.

My only gripe is that the mask does leave some impression marks on my face for about the first 20-30 minutes after use.

[Pugsy]

My only gripe is that the mask does leave some impression marks on my face for about the first 20-30 minutes after use.

http://www.padacheek.com/PACGoLife.html

Those plastic cheek things would leave a mark on just about anyone.
If it is too much of an annoyance you could get the side piece covers from Padacheek or make something similar that would just cover the plastic part. Just a bit of fleece wrapped around the offending part.

[DHosehead]

My only gripe is that the mask does leave some impression marks on my face for about the first 20-30 minutes after use.

http://www.padacheek.com/PACGoLife.html

Those plastic cheek things would leave a mark on just about anyone.
If it is too much of an annoyance you could get the side piece covers from Padacheek or make something similar that would just cover the plastic part. Just a bit of fleece wrapped around the offending part.

Great, this is exactly what I need.

Even this morning I was thinking I'd either have to come up with something that does what these do or I might not be able to continue with the GoLife. Since the marks from a mask always seem to go away quickly at first, but over time take even longer. Today, it took longer than 20-30 minutes, and I know that could become days in enough time.

I'll be buying a couple sets of PAD A CHEEK today .

[DHosehead]

Been using PAD A CHEEK for 2 nights now. Works great. I take the headgear off and there are no marks. It looks as if I don't use CPAP .

They help hold the headgear on, are very comfortable and don't hold heat. So they don't make my face hot.

Phillips should have had this as part of their headgear standard.

[Pugsy]

Phillips should have had this as part of their headgear standard.

Yeah, they really missed the boat on that one.
Heck, even ResMed provides little skinny covers for the Swift FX silicone straps and they aren't going to be nearly as apt to leave a mark as that plastic Go Life piece.
Probably just as well...it would likely have been too thin to do much good anyway.

I had not ever seen a Go Life until a couple of weeks ago and my first thought was I was missing the covers then I realized it didn't come with any. I knew right away that thing would leave some nasty marks.

Glad you like the Padacheek covers. She does well made products. I have tried some homemade renditions of various little comfort items but mine always look like a 2 yr old did it. Besides hers will last forever. I have her Swift FX side strap covers that have been used for well over 2 years now and they still look brand new.

[DHosehead]

...
I had not ever seen a Go Life until a couple of weeks ago and my first thought was I was missing the covers then I realized it didn't come with any. ...

I wish I had the same thoughts when the tech at my CPAP supplier handed it to me. It's my first nasal mask, so I had no clue.

I got 2 sets of Pad a Cheek. So just in case the first set ever does fail I have backup .