Offer up your un-wanted masks to newbies

mellabella · Post by **mellabella** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 10:11 pm

I need to hang on to my Hybrid and Quattro masks (I alternate between the two right now, with varying degrees of muttering and swearing).

What I do have to offer newbies is a drawerful of crap--masks good for salvage parts, or for the truly desperate:

--A Mirage Swift (that's the original, not the Swift II) with only the small pillow. (Thanks, local DME!) You can buy yourself a fresh pillow for it on CPAP.com or eBay, or even Resmed's conversion kit to turn it into a Swift II. (I only wish they had a kit to turn it into a Swift LT!!) Full disclosure: this sucker is LOUD at higher pressures.

--A size medium frame for the UMFF, with headgear. You'd have to buy the soft forehead pad and a mouth cushion for it, since I'm not comfortable passing those along for sanitary reasons (this was my main mask for over a year). If you're broke and desperate to see if a size M UMFF mask will fit you, you're welcome to it.

I would send either of these C.O.D., with pleasure, if anyone actually could find a good use for them. (I paid sticker price for both so can't bear to just toss if they might help...even if just for a bizarre art project.)

I have a hated Opus 360 I bought new and wore two nights. Hated it both nights. (Couldn't get a comfortable seal.) Some really love this mask. Will probably put it up on cpapacution.com, but might possibly get my arm twisted into a try-before-you-buy scheme like Babette has going. I need to wash some money back in the mask fund, and I'm cagey about trusting strangers, so I don't know.

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): resmed, mirage, cpap.com, swift, DME, seal

echo · Post by **echo** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:36 am

Well, for the truly desperate to trial-run an Activa I could send out my backup Activa. BUT, and that's big BUT, I've already used it for 4 or 5 months, and the silicone itself isn't as sticky as a new mask (and therefore doesn't seal as well as new one, but it's still not bad), because I have really hard water. The color has also turned a cloudy white, I suspect either from the vinegar or the hard water. Also note, my house is non-smoking but I am a smoker (though not with the CPAP on )
(and THAT's why I haven't started an Activa trial run yet!)

I'll pay for shipping if you're willing to try it with a less-than-new seal.

PM me with your details.

feeling_better · Post by **feeling_better** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 9:38 am

echo wrote:... the silicone itself isn't as sticky as a new mask (and therefore doesn't seal as well as new one, but it's still not bad), because I have really hard water.

Just a thought. While hard water is considered healthier to drink than soft water, you may want to look into what possible bad effects the salts/minerals in the hard water getting deposited in your lungs day after day. Lungs did not evolve (yet) the way stomach did to handle many minerals and toxins

echo · Post by **echo** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:40 am

feeling_better wrote:Just a thought. While hard water is considered healthier to drink than soft water, you may want to look into what possible bad effects the salts/minerals in the hard water getting deposited in your lungs day after day. Lungs did not evolve (yet) the way stomach did to handle many minerals and toxins

Interesting thought indeed! I soak the mask in 1/2 vinegar , 1/2 distilled water every day, but rinse with the normal tap water. I don't notice deposits on the mask. IN fact most of the mask is still OK, just the flappy bit that makes contact with the skin seems to change color. I figured if the salts were depositing on the mask, there would be white spots, and all over the mask. Great, another thing to worry about
Maybe I should do a final dip rinse with distlled water...

feeling_better · Post by **feeling_better** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:17 am

echo wrote:
feeling_better wrote:Just a thought. While hard water is considered healthier to drink than soft water, you may want to look into what possible bad effects the salts/minerals in the hard water getting deposited in your lungs day after day. Lungs did not evolve (yet) the way stomach did to handle many minerals and toxins
Interesting thought indeed! I soak the mask in 1/2 vinegar , 1/2 distilled water every day, but rinse with the normal tap water. I don't notice deposits on the mask. IN fact most of the mask is still OK, just the flappy bit that makes contact with the skin seems to change color. I figured if the salts were depositing on the mask, there would be white spots, and all over the mask. Great, another thing to worry about
Maybe I should do a final dip rinse with distilled water...

I would not worry about that. The amount remaining on your mask after a rinse will be negligible. Similar to the little amounts of dust we breath in daily normally is easily handled by the body.

I was talking about the water used in the humidifier. That water with minerals (which can get into the fast moving air stream in the evaporator, even though the minerals do not generally evaporate easily) is getting deposited into your lungs over the long term.

echo · Post by **echo** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:21 am

feeling_better wrote:I was talking about the water used in the humidifier. That water with minerals (which can get into the fast moving air stream in the evaporator, even though the minerals do not generally evaporate easily) is getting deposited into your lungs over the long term.

Silly me! Thanks for the clarification

I agree with your comment... personally I always try to use distilled water.

jenjochach · Post by **jenjochach** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 9:25 pm

i think this is a fantastic idea. I'm still working my way thru masks, trying to figure out what works... I don't have insurance coverage for DME, so I'm on my own. I think the Opus 360 is going to wori for me... really good seal, but I have to figure out what to do about strap marks that seeem to linnger on my face until noon or so (yoikes!)

Anyway, here are some masks I'd be willing to farm out for folks to try/buy if they like:

Mirage Swift II
Comfort Curve
Nasal Aire II (Babette, maybe you can give me some tips ont his one. I really want it to work. Starts out good when i go to bed, but by 3-4 am I have horrendeous leaks! )

Anyoine who wants to give one of these a try, pm me, send me postage, and I'll forward so you can take them out for a spin.

j

neverbetter · Post by **neverbetter** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 3:12 pm

Babs is my hero, too.
If there were more people like her the world would be a better place!

This woman uses her own time and unlimited kindness to help people find comfortable masks and I have only known her to offer the top of the line gold standard, nasal-aire II, but if she wants to offer other masks as well, we should be thanking her.