Nasal PillowTalk (Philips Nuance)

[AfibApnea]

I was using the ResMed AirFit P10 but felt that the pillows tended to (feel like they were) stretch my nose opening.

I'm now trying the Philips Nuance with my BiPapASV. The pillows don't feel bad at all. However the air flow generated in front of the nose is extremely annoying.

• If I don't wear long sleeves or make sure my arms are under the sheet, the arms get cold enough to wake me.
  If I am facing my partner, she gets a regular full blast of air.

(What's interesting is that more air is generated when on the inhale rather than the exhale! This contradicts what common sense would suppose.)

The air comes out of a gridwork of holes in front of the nasal pillows.

Can I simply put a piece of ductape over the holes or are they integral to the unit?
If they are integral, why?

[Julie]

Those holes are CO2 vents and you better not cover them or risk rebreathing CO2... and you don't want to do that!

[Okie bipap]

The reason there is more air exhausted when you breath in is the bilevel machines generate more pressure when breathing in and less when exhaling.

[palerider]

(What's interesting is that more air is generated when on the inhale rather than the exhale! This contradicts what common sense would suppose.)

common sense needs to learn a bit about cpaps. a regular machine generates *constant* pressure, when you inhale, the machine generates more airflow to keep the pressure up while you inhale, then when you exhale it generates less flow, if you put your ear to the machine, you can hear the fan speeding up and slowing down. I could hear it with the PRS1 560 machine my partner was using, from across the bed... so I got rid of that and replaced it with a quieter resmed.

The air comes out of a gridwork of holes in front of the nasal pillows.

Can I simply put a piece of ductape over the holes or are they integral to the unit?
If they are integral, why?

ah, the joys of the p10 and it's diffused air vent. the p10 vents just as much air, but not in a stream.

F&P are starting to ship little filter pads with a clip on plastic frame that lets you clip the pad over the vent holes, without blocking them, and that does a great job of diffusing the air.

if I wasn't using a P10, I'd see if I could rig up something like that.

[AfibApnea]

The reason I questioned/abandoned my P10 was because the shape of their nasal holes is rounder and seems to stretch at my nose.

The holes in Nuance are better, but the airflow of the current alternative is too much...

So, back to the P10 for now.

[nimboo]

Interesting that your only problem with the Philips Nuance was the airflow from the vents.

My dad tried to get used to the Nuance (tried them 3 times), but ended up deciding that they don't work for him. He feels it irritates his nostrils too much - he has pretty bad allergies this time of year, that may have something to do with it.

He's now back to his old (taped and glued up) Nasal mask, and I'm trying to figure out what he should go for next.

As you seem to be fine with the feeling in your nose even from the Philip's Nuance, I'm guessing that trying the Airfit P10 is a pointless endeavor. I'm assuming that nasal pillows just aren't for him, in general.

He fell asleep just fine with the old Nasal mask, though, but he doesn't like the marks this mask leaves in the morning (which was his original reason for wanting to try to switch to the nasal pillow type mask).

However, he seems to be able to sleep just fine with the nasal mask.

The only problem I've noticed with the nasal mask is that he sometimes has his mouth open. I watch him though, and for some reason it doesn't seem to affect treatment. Do you think he needs a full face mask?

Otherwise I guess I'll just look for a new nasal mask