Reoccurring issues with the blower

[Taheerah]

Dear all,

I haven't been posting in a while as we have had quiet a few issues with our devise and my dh is totally put off using it. We are sleeping in separate beds as he is not able to get effective treatment and both of us don't get any sleep.

We have handed back the CPAP (Dreamstation CPAP Pro and Amara View mask) 6 times over the past year as we felt that the blower had been noisier than usual. Philips has been an absolute disaster in the country we live in and till today they haven't been able to assist. Their internal reports always come back showing that our machine is totally fine which in our opinion is not. There are no visible leakages and as suggested we purchased the snuggle hose which reduced the sound a bit.

We once had a replacement devise which was very tolerable in terms of the noise (same brand and make) and as soon as we got our machine back, the same issue persisted. They have changed the blower which made a difference for a few weeks but then the noise came back again.

I am really tired of the engineers trying to tell us that it is all in our heads and that the machine is the quietest in the market.
I have complained to the US office but they didn't seem to interfere at all.

This morning I have been informed that our devise will be replaced but of course I am so worried that we will have the same issue.

Has anyone else been through this with the Philips Dreamstation, Auto CPAP, and would be able to shed some light on our issue?

I would be grateful for your thoughts and suggestions.
Thanks a lot.

[MrsRinPDX]

Hi Taheerah,

I am sorry you are having such problems. I run a humidifier and/or air purifier at night which helps drown out any machine noise. I too use a snuggle hose.

I wouldn't say my machine is overly loud, but I do notice a difference in sound based upon the mask I am using (full face mask vs. nasal pillow). I know this isn't much help, but I did want to bump your post to the top of the list so it is seen by others.

Best of luck with the new machine and finding an answer,

MrsRinPDX

[Taheerah]

Thanks so much. This is very kind of you! We are really at our wits end. Once again they will take the machine this week so see if they can find a fault.
My dh is using a full face mask. Out of your experience having tried both, which would you say is the 'quieter' and of course more effective option?

[MrsRinPDX]

Thanks so much. This is very kind of you! We are really at our wits end. Once again they will take the machine this week so see if they can find a fault.
My dh is using a full face mask. Out of your experience having tried both, which would you say is the 'quieter' and of course more effective option?

The Nuance Pro Nasal Pillow mask is quieter in my opinion, but neither is more effective when it comes to AHI for me. My average AHI with either mask is 1, which is pretty darn good.

But I am a mouth breather, so I use the Airfit F20 full face mask most often. I bought the nasal pillow mask after my neck surgery; it has fewer straps and wasn't pulling on my stitches. It is a lot cooler on hot days, and has fewer points of contact with my skin to cause leaks, so I continued to use it and just taped my mouth closed to compensate. Unfortunately, I get chipmunk cheeks with the Nuance Pro mask more easily and I found that annoying. So back to the full face mask.

[Taheerah]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Sorry about the issues you faced with the Nuance Pro Mask. We have had the full face mask since pretty much from the beginning and my husband think it works better for him. That being said, I still don't know if he is a mouth or nose snorer. Could it be both?
In any case, we are still struggling with the manufacturer. Sighhh. I hope that we will find a solution soon. I would have never thought that it would take so long for us to adjust. It has almost been two years.

[knothead]

Dear all,

I haven't been posting in a while as we have had quiet a few issues with our devise and my dh is totally put off using it. We are sleeping in separate beds as he is not able to get effective treatment and both of us don't get any sleep.

We have handed back the CPAP (Dreamstation CPAP Pro and Amara View mask) 6 times over the past year as we felt that the blower had been noisier than usual. Philips has been an absolute disaster in the country we live in and till today they haven't been able to assist. Their internal reports always come back showing that our machine is totally fine which in our opinion is not. There are no visible leakages and as suggested we purchased the snuggle hose which reduced the sound a bit.

We once had a replacement devise which was very tolerable in terms of the noise (same brand and make) and as soon as we got our machine back, the same issue persisted. They have changed the blower which made a difference for a few weeks but then the noise came back again.

I am really tired of the engineers trying to tell us that it is all in our heads and that the machine is the quietest in the market.
I have complained to the US office but they didn't seem to interfere at all.

This morning I have been informed that our devise will be replaced but of course I am so worried that we will have the same issue.

Has anyone else been through this with the Philips Dreamstation, Auto CPAP, and would be able to shed some light on our issue?

I would be grateful for your thoughts and suggestions.
Thanks a lot.

Have you thought about changing machines? Not to another Dreamstation but another brand....might be worth a try.

[Tahera11979]

Yes we have but I keep being told that the Dreamstation is the quietest one in the market hence I didn’t follow up more. Also our insurance decided to stop covering sleep apnea so we would have to pay it.
Out of experience are there machines that are quieter?

[palerider]

Yes we have but I keep being told that the Dreamstation is the quietest one in the market hence I didn’t follow up more.

It's not. Resmeds are quieter.... not a lot quieter, but quieter.

[MrsRinPDX]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Sorry about the issues you faced with the Nuance Pro Mask. We have had the full face mask since pretty much from the beginning and my husband think it works better for him. That being said, I still don't know if he is a mouth or nose snorer. Could it be both?
In any case, we are still struggling with the manufacturer. Sighhh. I hope that we will find a solution soon. I would have never thought that it would take so long for us to adjust. It has almost been two years.

Hi Taheerah,

I'm wondering. You mentioned your husband's snoring and that it's taken you two years to adjust. Have you ever posted Sleepyhead graphs? I'm certainly no expert, but snoring is usually a red flag that your machine settings aren't right. If you're going to get another machine brand anyway, let's make sure it meets your needs.

[Taheerah]

That is good to know about the Resmed. We might try it in the future. Also do you guys recommend to put the machine in a drawer or on the floor to reduce noise?

Currently we are getting the blower exchanged as it seems like that there is an issue.We had posted graphs a while back and the readings seemed to be fine according to others on this forum.

We have adjusted the therapy with using a neck collar and mask liners and it seemed to have helped for a while. That being said, my dh has not used the machine in a while as it has been going back and forth to the clinic and engineers. I will post some more results as soon as we have used it for a while.

I just really hope that this time we can sort it all out as my husband is much more tired than usual which is not a surprise as he hasn't been treated for his sleep apnea at all.

[Taheerah]

Oh and I would like to add one thing. Whenever my husband does use the CPAP, he also complaints that he is not well rested. I remember when he had the sleep study done he felt like new born and he was so keen and excited about using it at home. Now almost 2 years later he still didn't adjust and he says it is totally not the same like in the laboratory. Can anyone relate and is there anything else we could do to make the treatment better for him? Could it be related to the pressure setting? The doctor started us with a pressure of 6-12 and the snoring was still severe so we increased the pressure bit by bit till we now reached 14-20 which seems to block out most snoring. I appreciate all your useful advise.

[knothead]

That is good to know about the Resmed. We might try it in the future. Also do you guys recommend to put the machine in a drawer or on the floor to reduce noise?


Hi Tah,

I used to have my machine on nite stand, I now have it placed on the floor next to the bed so when the light comes on it won't wake the boss. It doesn't hurt a thing sitting on the floor, just change filters regularly... Give it a try, hose is plenty long.

[Taheerah]

Thanks a lot and that is good to know. I usually cover the light. Our engineers told us under no circumstance to put the machine on the floor. I didn't think it would be a problem so will try it as well.

[MrsRinPDX]

Thanks a lot and that is good to know. I usually cover the light. Our engineers told us under no circumstance to put the machine on the floor. I didn't think it would be a problem so will try it as well.

The concern with the floor is the carpet according to page 7 of your user's manual. I'd say no carpet no problem.

I place my machine lower than the bed on one of those sturdy wooden storage cubes. But again, noise usually isn't a problem for me as I have a humidifier and air purifier going and their fans create enough white noise to mask any breathing noise that occurs.

[Taheerah]

That is great to know. We don't have carpets so will try that for sure. My dh is travelling again so I won't have the CD card but I will post the results as soon as I can. He had vibratory snores over the last two days which kept waking me up again. It wasn't horrible but loud enough to make the bed vibrate and wake me up.
Is it normal to have these and out of experience is there anything else we can do? There are no leaks as he is using the mask liner and the pressure is 14-20. Are we missing anything?