Bleep/DreamPort nasal mask review thread

[Pugsy]

Yes, just the shipping cost. Not too bad for a years worth.

Yeah but the 12 months worth of ports cost is going to suck.

Maybe with luck and good sales the demand will increase and production costs can come down when in larger blocks of orders.

[palerider]

Yes, just the shipping cost. Not too bad for a years worth.

All in all, not so bad.

[Dreaming1]

I got a discount when I called...bet a years worth calling gets you more.

[Jas_williams]

There’s also the vat to pay on import it’s not a cheap game....

[zoomzoom]

I didn't have any of the standard mesh ResMed filters, that I could find anyway, other than the denser hypo allergenic filters

Which denser hypo allergenic filter? I have the Autoset S10 machine and didn't realize there were other options.

Also, I just started CPAP therapy this week, so I'm very much looking forward to trying Bleep. I couldn't deal with the hose going everywhere and preventing me from sleeping on the opposite side of my machine, so I went out and bought a hose buddy, lol.

Do you think the folks over at Bleep offer a very limited trial pack (3 days or so)? I don't want to have to commit, then also change my DME from a local shop to Lincare (I think Lincare was mentioned as one carrying Bleep products) until I can confirm it works for me.

Thanks for your review and recommendation for the Lanky Lefty video for this product. I didn't know about him and his video helped seal the deal.

[palerider]

I didn't have any of the standard mesh ResMed filters, that I could find anyway, other than the denser hypo allergenic filters

Which denser hypo allergenic filter? I have the Autoset S10 machine and didn't realize there were other options.

There's the regular filter, and the hypoallergenic filter.

Pics: viewtopic/t50807/ResMed-S9-filters--Sta ... ml#p467312

[zoomzoom]

I got a discount when I called...bet a years worth calling gets you more.

Do you mind PM/DM'ing me with how much of a discount you got?

[zoomzoom]

I didn't have any of the standard mesh ResMed filters, that I could find anyway, other than the denser hypo allergenic filters

Which denser hypo allergenic filter? I have the Autoset S10 machine and didn't realize there were other options.

There's the regular filter, and the hypoallergenic filter.

Pics: viewtopic/t50807/ResMed-S9-filters--Sta ... ml#p467312

Excellent, thank you! Weird seeing people on that thread mention keeping it for 6 months. My DME tech told me every month (for the standard filters)

[palerider]

Excellent, thank you! Weird seeing people on that thread mention keeping it for 6 weeks. My DME tech told me every month (for the standard filters)

Step 1, forget *everything* your DME told you, they lie, constantly, whether maliciously, (to get you to spend more money than you need to) or out of ignorance.

If you look in the clinical manual for your machine, Resmed says to change the filter every six months, or as needed.

[zoomzoom]

Excellent, thank you! Weird seeing people on that thread mention keeping it for 6 weeks. My DME tech told me every month (for the standard filters)

Step 1, forget *everything* your DME told you, they lie, constantly, whether maliciously, (to get you to spend more money than you need to) or out of ignorance.

If you look in the clinical manual for your machine, Resmed says to change the filter every six months, or as needed.

Oops, you're right. On the thread they said 6 months. My DME said 1 month. I had a typo earlier. I do have an air purifier in my room, but I'd probably change it out 3-4 months, just due to personal preference.

[palerider]

Excellent, thank you! Weird seeing people on that thread mention keeping it for 6 weeks. My DME tech told me every month (for the standard filters)

Step 1, forget *everything* your DME told you, they lie, constantly, whether maliciously, (to get you to spend more money than you need to) or out of ignorance.

If you look in the clinical manual for your machine, Resmed says to change the filter every six months, or as needed.

Oops, you're right. On the thread they said 6 months. My DME said 1 month. I had a typo earlier. I do have an air purifier in my room, but I'd probably change it out 3-4 months, just due to personal preference.

Change it when it gets dusty. that's the whole point of the filter, to keep dust out of the machine. if it's dusty in a month, change it, if it's not dusty in 4 months, then it doesn't do any good to change it to another one.

[loggerhead12]

I tried the Dreamports for the last two nights. The first night went well for the first five hours. Completely flat line pressure right at the minimum EPAP and two lonely, short apnea events. I went without the chinstrap that I normally use to prevent mouth-breathing and it showed, as there were a few large leak episodes with the accompanying dry-mouth. At the five hour mark the vent woke me up and I switched the whole thing out for my usual Dreamwear - not a complete give-up, I just didn't want to get up and deal with it.

After reading this whole thread I was a little more prepared for the second night. The Dreamport vents seem to put out a much more noticeable jet of air than I'm used to, so I made a vent diffuser out of a filter as suggested. That worked pretty well to deflect the flow as long as the filter stayed in place. I woke up once to push it back up, so I'll do a little tape work tonight to keep it in place.

The second change I made was to the EPAP setting. As I've shed most of 100 lbs over the past year I've been gradually lowering my EPAP from over 20 all the way down to 13 cm in small increments along the way. As I like to push things I would usually go too far a few nights and have to increase the pressure by .2 or .4 after spiking the AHI. The first night with the Dreamports the pressure felt higher than usual. I'm a SCUBA instructor and very sensitive to pressure changes through my Eustachian tubes and into the middle ear. This is pure conjecture, but I suspect the Dreamport interface is getting pressure transferred more effectively into the airway. This is supported by the fact that the EPAP for the first night never got off of the minimum, despite the mouth leaks. That's unusual for me. Given all of that and to try to minimize the mouth leaking I dropped my EPAP 2 full cm down to 11. That's a big chunk to bite off all at once, but the results are positive - less than 15 minutes of mouth leaking out of 7.5 hours and an AHI of 0.8. We'll see how that holds up over the next few nights, but it was a big rocking success last night. I'll see how low the EPAP can go before before AHI starts to go up.

As well as these are designed the vents definitely need improvement. As a Dreamwear user the hose in the face already feels foreign, and having these twin jets blowing down my chest doesn't help. I'm going to give palerider's test a try tonight to see if I can blow out a candle with the vented air. It might be close!

The last concern I have is with the connection between the hose and the piece that connects to the Dreamports, in yellow below. Mine is loose, on the verge of floppy. It already came off once. I don't see how this can be a tight enough seal to prevent leaks or even hold up long term. Is mine broken or is that the norm?



Here's the obligatory chart.

[Pugsy]

The area you circled that seems quite loose to you...not loose at all for me and actually takes quite a bit of effort for me to detach the hose there.

So I would say not normal. You might look carefully to see if there are any cracks in the hose part.

What you might do is add a little strip of tape around the part that slides into the part that goes to the hose. This will add just a bit of extra circumference to that little part and let it grip better.

To be clear...that area is supposed to swivel but it is NOT supposed to fall off or detach all by itself. It should take some effort to detach it.

The last concern I have is with the connection between the hose and the piece that connects to the Dreamports, in yellow below. Mine is loose, on the verge of floppy. It already came off once. I don't see how this can be a tight enough seal to prevent leaks or even hold up long term. Is mine broken or is that the norm?

I used some double sided tape to anchor my DIY diffuser filter material over the vent holes. There is a clip on plastic thing in the works so that any diffuser material can simply be held in place by the plastic clip on thing. I haven't seen it...just heard about it.

[palerider]

After reading this whole thread I was a little more prepared for the second night. The Dreamport vents seem to put out a much more noticeable jet of air than I'm used to, so I made a vent diffuser out of a filter as suggested. That worked pretty well to deflect the flow as long as the filter stayed in place. I woke up once to push it back up, so I'll do a little tape work tonight to keep it in place.

If you use a spare resmed course filter, and just cut the right size X in the middle, it won't go anywhere.
Pop the hose off the vent body (that loose swivel you marked below) then put that on the middle of the filter, and draw a circle around the part where the hose goes. Then cut a X or + just inside that circle. Don't cut out anything more. Then, push the filter onto the vent body, and then snap the hose back on. the filter won't go anywhere. I've had mine on for a couple weeks now.

I'm going to give palerider's test a try tonight to see if I can blow out a candle with the vented air. It might be close!

My what now?

The last concern I have is with the connection between the hose and the piece that connects to the Dreamports, in yellow below. Mine is loose, on the verge of floppy. It already came off once. I don't see how this can be a tight enough seal to prevent leaks or even hold up long term. Is mine broken or is that the norm?

[img]https://allenhost.com/gallery/d/187597-1/intfc.JPG[/img

That's the same way mine is, it's a swivel joint, both there, and where the short hose connects to the main hose. It's not meant to be tight, but the amount of air that gets through there is minor, and may be part of the intended vent rate.

I can pop the hose off there easily enough, if I try to, but it hasn't come loose by accident.

I think that Pugsy said she'd gotten a prototype, whereas the one i got was the production version.

[loggerhead12]

Thanks for that, Pugsy. I'll be talking to {the online place I bought it from} about that hose connection.

Forgot to mention - I didn't notice that the nose connection piece has a definite front and back, so I may have had it on backwards the first night. That's probably in the directions somewhere . . .

No mask lines this morning for a change, and my hair is just usual messy and not catastrophic.