Dreamwear Mask with Nasal Cushion

[Sleep2Dream]

I'm wondering how other people wear this mask. I've been wearing it over my hair and taking the whole thing off when I get up to go to the bathroom at night. But my hair pushes the strap up and can unsettle the mask (or make it feel unsettled). I've been thinking of putting my hair through it, above the strap (like a ponytail through the gap in the back of a baseball cap), and disconnecting the mask from the hose in order to get up at night. Is there any reason I'm not thinking of that would make that a bad idea?

[Soothest Sleep]

That's exactly what I do with my Wisp mask. I find it very convenient when I have to get up to use the bathroom. I leave the blower on and just reattach the hose to the mask when I get back to bed; it's only blowing free for a few seconds. However, it does show up in the Sleepyhead graphs (e.g., Leak Rate) and could affect the calculated numbers a little.

I'll be interested to read what other replies come in to learn more.

Jean

[MrsAgathon]

I'm doing my first night of CPAP tonight and I also have the Dreamweaver and am wondering if my hair will be an issue - I have long hair, but I imagine it could be problematic for anyone with hair longer than a pixie. I have thought that I might need to to try some type of close fitting beanie to protect my hair and give the mask more of an anchor. I'll let you know if I come up with anything. I too was figuring I could detach the hose from my mask when getting up to use the bathroom, and was wondering about what the machine does during these periods. I'm wondering if I will need to use the ramp feature again to get back to sleep and if this is possible on my machine. I forgot to ask the medical equipment people. I guess I'll be consulting the manual.

[OkyDoky]

I'm doing my first night of CPAP tonight and I also have the Dreamweaver and am wondering if my hair will be an issue - I have long hair, but I imagine it could be problematic for anyone with hair longer than a pixie. I have thought that I might need to to try some type of close fitting beanie to protect my hair and give the mask more of an anchor. I'll let you know if I come up with anything. I too was figuring I could detach the hose from my mask when getting up to use the bathroom, and was wondering about what the machine does during these periods. I'm wondering if I will need to use the ramp feature again to get back to sleep and if this is possible on my machine. I forgot to ask the medical equipment people. I guess I'll be consulting the manual.

If you turn the machine off and on it will begin the ramp again.

[Soothest Sleep]

Mrs.Agathon, when I leave my machine on, it just blows; I tuck the hose end under my pillow to reduce noise. I try to exhale as I reattach the hose to the mask to counteract the air pressure a bit. As for the long hair issue, I use a flat hair clip (barrette) to make a pony tail that I pull up and through the headgear (like OP said, as if pulling through the back of a baseball cap). Alternatively, I tuck all my hair up into a different flat hair clip which creates a flat bun that is comfortable enough to sleep on. I sleep on my side, but in past years, I have slept on my back with that clip equally comfortably. [ Google "African butterfly clip" and you'll find lots of online distributors, including Amazon; and sometimes they are available at craft or trade shows, which is where I got mine. They are pricey, but worth it. I've had mine for probably 10 years; it's very well made. I have no connection to the product other than being a satisfied customer. ]

Jean

[Sleep2Dream]

I think I will try the hair-through-the-mask option tonight. I'm not bothered by turning the machine on and off; I just wanted to make sure frequent (relatively, over time, I mean, not each night!) detaching of the hose from the mask won't wear down the connection too quickly or something. And the strap doesn't seem to be hurting my hair, but my hair (long, curly) is definitely unseating the strap and I'm tired of messing with it. Thanks for the replies.

[MrsAgathon]

Yes, thank you for the responses Jean and OkyDoky. I ended up putting my hair in a low ponytail and that was somewhat helpful, but I like all of the ideas, and I'm going to look into the African butterfly clip.
Last night was my first night and I used the machine for about an hour and a half. Then I detached the hose, got up to the use the bathroom, came back to bed, reattached the hose, and I just felt like I couldn't get enough air. Good to know that the ramp starts again automatically. I had actually turned the ramp completely off when I went to sleep because I didn't feel like I was getting enough air. When I woke up, the pressure was a 10.3, but didn't feel like enough air anymore. I am trying to avoid a full face mask, but I was feeling like just breathing through my nose, I wasn't getting enough air. It's a good idea to stick the hose under the pillow when detached to reduce the noise. I'm also wondering if with my machine I should just stop it, detach hose from mask, then reattach and start again once I'm back in bed so it doesn't blow as hard.

[Soothest Sleep]

MrsAgathon, there certainly are a lot of "personal preference" choices to be made in adjusting to comfortable life with CPAP, aren't there?!

I noticed that some current styles of African butterfly clip have larger beads than mine does. I don't know how that would affect sleep comfort, but it may be a good idea to try to find one with the smaller beads, with the idea it would make for a flatter profile. Hope that makes sense.

Good luck,
Jean

[dbreweur]

The dreamwear is actually the first mask I used - both at the sleep lab and at home. The tech at the sleep lab actually said that having my hair in a ponytail would help stabilize it and keep the mask from sliding too much.

I always slid it between the thin upper strap and the larger bottom strap - and would disconnect the hose from the headgear if I needed to get up at night for whatever reason. However, I'm at a low pressure anyway, so stopping the machine and just starting it again once I was back in bed wasn't a huge shock or anything.

[amandah72]

HI I'm also using the same machine and mask. I have a short bob and it was sliding around alot on top of my hair! So I pulled out a chunk of my hair in the back and let it hang over the straps. Then I was able to tighten the straps a bit more to have a better fit. Also since I get up to use the bathroom, I disconnect the hose from the mask. I couldn't imagine having to try and put the mask back on after my bathroom trip. It never occurred to me to turn off the machine. Is it better to turn it off then back on when i get back into bed? I guess the readings wouldn't show a large leak?

[dwood003]

I have a pony tail which I place the head gear strap and chin strap under, then remove the elastic band which holds the hair to flatten it out.
I can find no rational reason for not turning off and detaching the hose when getting up temporarily so I won't waste time giving you my rational to do so.

[Sleep2Dream]

I tried the hair-above-the-mask-straps method and it worked well. The mask stayed in place much better (and more comfortably!). I didn't turn the machine off when I went to the bathroom, and neither the Dreamstation nor the DreamMapper software showed any unusual disconnects or leaks. So far, so good!

[MrsAgathon]

Yes Jean - I can see now that there are a lot of things to consider when trying to find a comfortable set-up. I ended up buying an adjustable beanie through Amazon from a company called Satin Life. The outside is cotton jersey and the inside is satin to protect hair. It's adjustable with drawstrings that tie in the back. I love it. I'm able to get all of my hair into it, and then I put the chinstrap on, followed by my eye mask (I need a very dark room) that sits on my forehead till I go to sleep, and then my DreamWear mask. I really like it the hat and am going to invest in a couple more, and I'm going to look for the African butterfly clips because in the summer, I might not want the heat retaining power of a hat.

[Grace~~~]

Top Knot.

Stabilizes the hose connection on top of head and the straps just take care of themselves.
Also if hair is going to break, don't you want any damaged hair to be on the underside? Then the breaks just add volume and surface of hair remains smooth and shiny.

I love my dreamwear mask.
I really like wearing the larger size way back on my head at my ears so my face is totally free.
(though I need the small nose piece)