Pillow care....

[Meowser]

Ok, I am having trouble with my right side/nostril of my mask...

I have the pillows and for the last few nights I can't get it to seal right... I use Lansinoh and that still doesn't seem to do the trick... I wipe them daily... I keep reading about boiling stiffens them up... is this true?

I dont think I get a new mask for another 4-5 months.... I dont remember.... I have one size bigger than what i normally wear and I can switch them out, but I dont want my other mask to go bad and I wind up having two masks that cause problems....

[Pugsy]

Check with your DME to see if you can get just the replacement nasal pillow. Depending on your insurance you shouldn't have to wait so long just for the nasal pillows. Even Medicare allows 2 per month.

Ebay is a alternate source also. I have seen some very fair "Buy it Now" prices for bulk packages of 3 nasal pillows same size.

I can't comment on boiling extending the life of the nasal pillows. I get months and months of use from them but other people find they have to replace them as often as every couple of weeks. No one knows why the difference.

I keep a little stock pile of extras for "just in case". Usually it is just in case the dog gets one.

[apneawho]

I use the same mask. Most insurances don't allow for the entire headgear until 6 months are up, but replacement pillows should be much more frequent. In my case, I can get 2 pillows per month. That is more than I have needed. I can't go months and months like Pugsy. I find I need to change about once per month. I can tell because the seal is not as good, just like you are describing, and my AHI will go about by a few tenths of a point. Change your pillow and see if that helps. I purchased several on ebay for less than my copay thru insurance. Keep on eye on ebay.

[Meowser]

Thanks guys!

I will make sure and get with my DME to find out exactly my terms for getting new masks.

I know that my 30 day trial exchange period is up... but I like the pillows.

I'm half tempted to get a Mirage FX For Her (what i used during my sleep study) nasal mask in case I ever get a cold. Never hurts to have one on hand.

[apneawho]

Good morning. To my point about the pillows, my AHI had crept up incrementally and steadily over the last 4 days from 0.1 to 1.5. My pillows were about 4 weeks old and they were not sealing as well as when new. I wash them regularly but 1 month is about all I can get out of them. I changed to new pillows last night and AHI was zero. I know is correct because the other parameters from last night are reliable and I felt fantastic this morning before I looked at my numbers. I just woke up like a youngster and hopped right out of bed. Now if we can just get our dog with dementia to sleep.

[Meowser]

When your's are about to go, do they start having alot of whistling?

I've been having a hard time trying to get them to stop whistling eventhough there is not a leak. It super annoying too.

Last few nights its been taking me 20-30mins just adjusting and getting frustrated with my mask to stop the noises. lol

[Emilia]

My pillows usually last 2-3 months and then I replace them. I have had one or two that only lasted a month...guess they were duds. I presume different manufacturing plants are used to supply vendors so quality may vary. I really like the LT because the pillows can be pivoted to the appropriate angle and you can also reverse them to accommodate nasal opens from / \ to \ /

[apneawho]

When your's are about to go, do they start having alot of whistling?

I've been having a hard time trying to get them to stop whistling eventhough there is not a leak. It super annoying too.

Last few nights its been taking me 20-30mins just adjusting and getting frustrated with my mask to stop the noises. lol

Yes, for me, lots of whistling and just not seating and sealing with the same fullness if you understand what I am saying.

[Mark184]

Interesting topic. I washed my now 30 days old Rezmed nasal pillows last week in baby shampoo and warm, not hot water. I made sure to rinse very well to get the soap out. I treated them gently, none the less, it seems the seal has not been the same, and that they are very sensitive and now more likely to leak. So for those of you posting here, saying you're getting many months out of a single pillow, is that with washing, or without? I'm not thoroughly convinced washing is necessary, especially if it causes pillows life to be shortened!

[Pugsy]

So for those of you posting here, saying you're getting many months out of a single pillow, is that with washing, or without? I'm not thoroughly convinced washing is necessary, especially if it causes pillows life to be shortened!

When I started cpap therapy I was "OMG must be washed every day" which got old real quick mainly because I am just lazy. So I normally wash the pillows once a week or so. Gently lathered with mild liquid soap for a few seconds and rinsed and left out to air dry. So I discovered that after 4 to 6 weeks I might see a little more leak than normal. Being the tightwad that I am I did wash it but just put it aside instead of tossing it out and would change to another pillow. About 4 to 6 weeks and that one would seem to get a little tired. Since I am a tightwad...before I opened a new pillow I decided to revisit the first one that I had set aside. Low and behold it seemed to work like new. Why? I have no idea but I can use the Small and XSmall so between rotating them this way I do use them for months and months. I am now still using the pillows I got with a new mask last December. The other night I had a perfect straight zero leak line. 0.0 leak which for me is quite amazing because I normally toss and turn a lot.

This has been pretty much my routine for 2 1/2 years. I got months of use out of the Swift LT which I used that mask before the Swift FX came out. I have plenty of spares but I just don't seem to come to a point where they leak horribly consistently. I do use the barrel cozy now since last Feb but I had the same long life before I got the barrel cozy. I don't do anything special. Does letting them sit for 4 to 6 weeks do anything? I have no idea.
I rotate the use and they work for me. That is all I know.

[Mark184]

That's funny Pugsy. I've been doing this CPAP thing for a few months now. I am barley cleaning the pillows or any other part of the unit once a week, if at all! I started cleaning the pillows thinking that would prevent them from leaking (I thought read that somewhere here). But I too have also never thrown the replaced pillows away. I guess we both have spending apnea

I'll pull out one of the old ones and give the current one "a rest". (purely in the interest of science)... and to possibly save a buck.

For what it's worth- my insurance covers two pillows per month, but come the new year, I'm gonna have a whopping deductable to meet, so I'm trying to figure out how to manage the pillow habit!

[Pugsy]

For what it's worth- my insurance covers two pillows per month, but come the new year, I'm gonna have a whopping deductable to meet, so I'm trying to figure out how to manage the pillow habit!

Maybe you will get lucky and find the "old" one acts like new again. We can hope.

Use your insurance to stock pile till the end of the year. After that watch Ebay. I have seen packages of 3 of the same size with Buy it now prices for around $15. Deals can be found, shop often and smart. Some are over priced for sure but some are very fairly priced. Especially if deductible has to be met.

[pap4life]

I think you might need to try out a different head gear style of pillows. I am male, and use the Swift LT, which is available in the "FOR HER" model. It fits firmly with no leaking either with laying on my back, side or stomach. No need to boil, bake or otherwise modify these puppies and they could last me for several months. Gently wash them weekly. I receive several per month, per insurance, so I exchange an old to a new one probably prematurely. They have double walls in them just like your FX pillows.

As Emilia, suggested, the pillows can be rotated up or down to accomadate nose structure differences.

Like Mark, Pugsy and others. I am frugal and stockpile even the replaced ones.

Insurance normall will replace your complete headgear (the strap part) every 6 months,...the pillows two every month (or 6 per quarter).

[pap4life]

I think you might need to try out a different head gear style of pillows. I am male, and use the Swift LT, which is available in the "FOR HER" model. It fits firmly with no leaking either with laying on my back, side or stomach. No need to boil, bake or otherwise modify these puppies and they could last me for several months. Gently wash them weekly. I receive several per month, per insurance, so I exchange an old to a new one probably prematurely. They have double walls in them just like your FX pillows.

As Emilia, suggested, the pillows can be rotated up or down to accomadate nose structure differences.

Like Mark, Pugsy and others. I am frugal and stockpile even the replaced ones. It hurts to throw away something that still works.

Insurance normally will replace your complete headgear (the strap part + pillows) every 6 months,...just the pillows ; two every month (or 6 per quarter).

[JointPain]

So for those of you posting here, saying you're getting many months out of a single pillow, is that with washing, or without?

I cleaned my first set every night using the cheap mask wipes from cpap.com and washed them about weekly. They lasted a month or so. Being a newbie to pillows I may have swapped them out too early. I still have them, so perhaps they'll be good again.

I clean the second set very rarely. Once they look visibly yucky I wipe them down. I don't recall ever washing them. They have last about three months and I'm still using them. They do feel "less inflated", but as long as I have the tights between them and my skin they are okay. My leak numbers have been very good.

Two data points don't really justify much in the way of conclusions.

I changed to new pillows last night and AHI was zero.

Why do you go by the AHI numbers instead of the leak numbers?