Comfort Curve - Again

[brasshopper]

Well, maybe I should have read more here - I read the review on the Comfort Curve without doing more searching - and well, IMHO that review should have added, "Warning - this mask does not work for many or most people who have tried it!"

See, I got a Comfort Curve with my new CPAP. Two nights now and I have been completely unable to use it.

First off, as I read through the old posts people talk about whistling, and leaky joints and so forth and needing to make saran wrap gaskets. That problem seems to have been completely fixed. When I can get a seal, then the mask is really quiet. No elbow leaks, no joint leaks. That is the good part.

I see people clipping the hose to their sheet - I had slightly better luck clipping the mask to my shirt so that it turned with me. Not that anything allowed me to actually use it. I am just talking about the prep time.

There were two sorts of cheek pads included. The silicone rubbery ones, and some foamed plastic ones. They seemed to be about the same thickness.

The exhaust is well diffused. Comparing it with the leaky swivel that came with my CPAP back in the late 1980's and the huge leak that is directed from the front of the Mirage Swift - the Comfort Curve worked a lot better.

This is the end of its good qualities.

The mask came with three different sizes on nosetouchers. The old joke about military supply officers having only one size, wrong,applies here - the three set of pillows were all wrong, differently wrong but still wrong.

The two different styles of cheek pads - also both wrong - it is not that the material was wrong, it was just not adjustable. OK, it is wrong.

That is reason I got the Respironics Comfort Curve - because it was approved for use with the Respironics APAP.

I'm not sure if anyone has ever used this mask. OK, that is unfair, someone probably swears by it like the guy in the review, but I swear at it - loud and long. I've tried to sleep with it two nights and each time I have swapped masks - I start with a good seal and then I move - or I yawn or something and that dislodges everything - any change in pressure on the cheek pads, up, down, left, right, in, out - bang, no seal. I think I am unable to use it because my face may just be too broad for the cheek pads or maybe it is because I am human - I thought if I could swap them so that the thick part was reversed, but no, the one has three prongs and the other has two so that there would be no left-right confusion - and no intentional left-right swap. I slept a little to one side last night - tried to tilt my head 10 degrees. Hoo boy! as soon as I relaxed a little, the thing was off my nose. I'm a strict back sleeper - I generally wake in the same position I go to sleep in - I have gotten a memory foam mattress pad to make it more comfy to do that - if I try to turn over the pain wakes me.

It feels like it is leaking because it is blowing air against the area under my nose - but it isn't - then it is, because it has moved a millimeter or you have tensed a cheek muscle which moves the whole thing. The clip for the hose that I could clip to my shirt stabilized it a little, but not enough.

The kind people at cpapforseniors.com told me that there were a lot of complaints about this mask before I ordered it - I pointed out that my next choice seemed to be a simple mask (if I could not use my breeze) and that I'd rather be out of pocket for a $45 than a comfort curve.

My next choice is more likely the ComfortLite 2. More than $45, less than $120.

Boy, how does something like this make it through testing.

I have not tried wearing a pantyhose like a bandit mask. I have not tried replacing the cheek pad with a section of thin pantyliner. I have not tried taking one of the nose pieces that is smaller than the largest one and clipping it so that it can no longer seal my nostrils shut. In a way I'm not clear why I should have to do that - or maybe I am. I sent a note to Respironics customer service asking what the risk to using the resmed mask with the APAP actually is.

Anyway, there is some good news in the Comfort Curve story - the initial quality control problems have been fixed - the fundamental design flaws still exist.

[levelbest]

I have been using it for 4+ weeks now. Tried it at first, then went to mirage nasal pillows, then came back to it. When you can get the seal, it is super quiet and great to wear.

My biggest problem is, there seems to be a need for a XL nose piece - or some sort of nose piece that contours to your nose for an exact fit. Almost like memory foam for the nose

My nose itself isn't huge (it's big but not huge), but I think my nostrils are large and flare out while breathing. So, If i did the fitting like they show in pictures on their site, it looks too small. Bottom line is I did do a little clipping with extra sharp small sewing scizzors from the left and right on the inside. Made the opening a bit wider. That seemed to help.

Honestly, it's a tough mask to fit right. Between the headgear, and the side straps which you can't adjust too tight or too loose, there seems to still be some work to be done. Took me a few nights of messing to get things adjusted right.

I occasionally have issues if I move around too much (forget it if you are a side sleeper).... but it is fairly comfortable and like I said - quiet. The mirage nasal pillow system is louder and I hated having the prongs up my nose - but dreaded a full face mask. The foam pads, while tending to be a little more comfortable and less sweaty seem to move around more than the silicone.

Anyway, I am hoping a next generation of this mask improves things further and includes a better nose piece.

[Offerocker]

I'm ready to suggest a "Comfort BAG" that fits over one's head, and we don't need to worry about a thing, except maybe taping the yapper shut.

[brasshopper]

I had to take a nap and, so, sez I, I'll try, one more time, with the new mask. If I wake up, well, all I wanted was a short nap.

Got all settled - no leaks - comfort. So what if I can't move my head at all. Fall asleep - my pressure is 8-17.

Now, the thing starts titrating me and, bye and bye, the pressure goes up.

At 10.5 the nose piece expands enough that it blows out. Literally - the leak wakes me up and at this pressure I can't get the thing to "hold" - the sides of the undernose bag are pushed out and I can't get it to seal I lay there and do all the things that initially sealed it and every time it "blows out".. I know it was 10.5 because I immediately checked the reading on the top of the APAP.

So, even if I can get it to seal at 8, it won't hold the seal through a night of titration. And so it goes. I guess Medicare goes on a three month cycle for masks.

[mikemoran]

Brasshopper,

If you ask Respironics if any maks besides one of theirs works with their machines they will give you the stock answer. "We can only certify our masks with our equipment". However if you look at some of the posts and reviews by other posters you will see that alot have Respironics machines with Resmed or other masks without any problems with their treatment or data.

Everybody knows only genuine Kodak film works in a Kodak camera

[Ritap1965]

Don't give up on it yet. It took me a week of trying, failing, getting frustrated, and I finally got it to work for me.

I had to put the headgear upside down, so the adjustment clip is the bottom strap for me. I am the one who clipped the small nose piece to make the opening bigger, and that helped me too. Use the smallest nose piece you can and make the opening bigger with small scissors. Also, when you put it on, make sure the nose piece is under the nose, as tight to your upper lip as you can get it. The nose piece has to be completely flat/horizontal for me to get it to work. Since I have a round (fat) face, I have the cheek pads at their steepest angle.

It took a lot of time to figure out everything above. And the settings that worked for me will of course be different for your face. I used to have my setting on my APAP at 8cm-16cm, and it did not leak even at 16cm when I used it that high. I now have my setting at 12-15cm, and I rarely have leaks. This mask can work for you if you give it enough time. But then again, I put on the ComfortLite2 and it worked for me from the start. I prefer the ComfortCurve to all my other masks though, it is quiet, comfortable, and gives me my best AHI numbers.

Good luck to you.

Rita