Dreamwear vs Resmed F20 vs F30

[Daveros]

I currently use the Amara View but am having problems with an extremely dry mouth that is very uncomfortable. My Sleep Specialist has recommended a mask change to Resmed F20, Resmed F30 or Phillips Dreamwear. I like to watch TV and read before sleep so a mask that I can wear glasses with is needed. I have a small sized face so I’m not sure if that also makes a difference.
Does anyone has thoughts on the relative merits of any of these.
Thanks heaps as I’m completely lost.

[Pugsy]

Welcome to the forum.

I have experience with the Amara View and the DreamWear Full face mask. No experience at all with the F20 of F30.

To me the DreamWear was a new and improved mask very similar to Amara view overall and not in just the frame and headgear but the mask itself. The mask part has a lower profile and it doesn't have all the hard plastic that the Amara view. What little firm plastic that is used is very small area and it's not as hard as the View frame plastic.
I liked it much better than the View. Frame size (the tubes that the air goes through) have to be fitted correctly so there are 3 sizes of the frame itself.

The Dreamwear cushion is on the left....Amara View on the right



DreamWear on the bottom and Amara on the top


I doubt a mask change is going to help with the dry mouth though if the dry mouth is from mouth breathing.
If you can you might increase the moisture content of the air from the humidifier....that might help.
If no you may need to get one of those oral hydrating agents...something like Biotene or Xylimelts.

[alexander]

As Pugsy says, changing mask probably won’t solve your dry mouth problem, but I’ll share my experience with the ResMed masks. Haven’t used Dreamwear, but I’ve used F20, and tried an F30.

F20 comes with either silicon (AirFit) or foam cushion (AirTouch). If you have the means then I would consider choosing AirTouch F20. It’s much more comfortable, and it might seal better than AirFit F20. I have tried some different masks, and to me it’s easier to get a good seal with AirTouch F20 than other masks. I use medium size.

I have tried F30, but I should have chosen small instead of medium. It was almost impossible to get it leak-free, and I have only tested it during daytime.

What you should know is that if F20 medium fits you, then that doesn’t mean that medium is the right size for F30.

[Brett_Coon]

I started with an F20, and it works fairly well for me, but for the past five or so months have mostly been using an F30.
I also tried out both the Amara View and the Philips Dreamwear.

I have a fairly large nose, and that ends up being my biggest challenge for masks. So YMMV.

• I'm able to get a fairly comfortable leak-free seal with a large F20 (but only the regular AirFit version, *not* the foam AirTouch version). However, it irritates the bridge of my nose. The AirTouch version won't seal around my nose, so even though it's nice and soft, it leaks too much for me.
• The Amara View didn't fit me at all, because my nose is too long. Even with the largest mask, there's a flap of silicon that wraps around in front of your nose, and it put constant annoying pressure on my nose that caused pain by morning.
• Next I tried the Philips Dreamwear. That mask is the most comfortable of all the masks I've tried, once I got the large mask *and* large headgear. But my problem is with the air tubes that are integrated into the headgear: when you sleep on your side, your head squashes one of the air tubes against the pillow, which somewhat constricts your air supply. It made me feel like I was breathing through a sock. Lying on my back was fine, but when I turned my head the air was reduced. Many people don't seem to have this problem, so I think this mask is well worth trying. Maybe a softer pillow would have solved it for me; I don't know.
• Finally, the F30 is the mask I've been using. It's pretty comfortable and doesn't leak too much. But strangely ResMed only makes it in small and medium, and I really think a large would fit me better. I often wake up with the lower edge of the mask resting on my lower lip, pushing on my teeth, because the mask is so short. I also find that the headgear doesn't hold it very solidly in place, so it's easy to move your head and have it start leaking a little. So I'm probably going to try other masks again soon.

When I wake up with a dry mouth, it generally means that my mask has been leaking. So if that's what happening to you, changing to a mask that seals better might help. Note that my ResMed CPAP machine reports some sort of average leak rate, which is generally very low, but if I check the detailed information with SleepyHead I can see numerous spikes of large leaks during the night. So even if your machine says you have a good mask fit, there may still be room for improvement.

My recommendation would be to try the Dreamwear, since it was my favorite other than my perceived lack of air when my giant head was squashing the supply tube. And I'm pretty sure it works well with glasses.
If that doesn't work for you, then the F30 would be my second choice.

-Brett

[ragtopcircus]

I couldn't use the F20 Airtouch at all. The medium presses on the sides of my (large and deviated) nose, forcing me to breathe through my mouth only. The large is only slightly less restrictive, and the foam presses on my right eye.

The F20 Airfit isn't bad, but medium is a little too small, and large is way too big. Note that the Airtouch seems to be the same as the Airfit, with foam added (both have the silicone Airfit seal, but the Airtouch has foam bonded to the silicone. Despite that, they do fit differently.

For me, it is very important to have the outside of my nose at atmospheric pressure so that the therapy pressure inside my nose helps hold it open. While the F30 isn't perfect, it's the best I've found for me so far. It helps hold my sinuses open, it helps me keep my mouth closed, and it usually seals well.

The Dreamware FF was comfortable, but I couldn't get it to stop leaking at the bottom.

The Amara View did not get past the RT's trial fit. She held it up to my face and saw that it had no hope of sealing to the shape of my face.

[Daveros]

What exactly is sleepyhead

[alexander]

What exactly is sleepyhead

It’s a program to analyze the data registered by the CPAP machine. It recently changed name to OSCAR. See https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/.

[Daveros]

Thanks for everyone’s help, I really appreciate it