Swift LT issues/questions

[NavyJeremy]

Ok y'all so I just got my S9 Auto w/H5i two days ago. When the tech came over to deliver the goods I choose to go with a Swift LT. Well the past two night my wife has told me that in the middle of the night I take the mask off. The first night machine said mask time was 3.1 hours and last night said it was 4.1 hours. Wondering if it takes time to get used to the pillows or if it would be better to switch to a nasal mask. AHI last night was 4.3 with my pressure set at 12 and humidity set at 5. Was thinking about going out today and getting chin strap but not sure if that will help.

***Also forgot to add that I switched to the small pillows and it felt like I had a better seal but leak was at 21***

Any guidance I can get would be greatly appreciated.

[locust78]

If you're unconsciously pulling off your mask in the middle of the night, I don't think it's going to matter what kind of mask you're using. That said, I think the Swift LT is a good choice for a first mask. It's not terribly constricting, yet it offers a good amount of stability. But masks are like shoes. Every individual has to determine what's right for them.

The whole CPAP experience is a pretty foreign thing. Don't get discouraged if things don't come together as quickly as you hope. It may take a little time before you work out all the glitches and get yourself running smooth. One of the most important pieces of advice given me was to be patient. Take advantage of forums like this to discover tips & tricks that your DME might not offer.

[Pugsy]

For some people it takes the brain a little while to get used to having that alien thing strapped to the face. So in the middle of the night the brain says "hey dude...there's an alien stuck to your face...I am going to tell you to remove it..you won't remember it but it's going to come off the face"...
This is actually fairly common and after a while the brain comes to realize that the alien is a good thing but it takes a while.
You can try adding some sort of tape to the straps in a couple of places on your cheeks so that when the mask gets removed then the discomfort from the tape pulling on the skin will hopefully wake you up enough so that you can stop the brain from causing you to remove the mask.

It would likely happen with any mask.

Leaks...where are you getting that 21 number? Off the machine or software?
If this is the 95% leak number that just means for 95% of the time you were at OR below that amount of leak. People tend to forget the or below part and get all into a panic. It may or may not indicate a leak or mouth breathing problem.
For newbies especially...because there is usually a lot of mask fiddling and reseating going on which causes leak spikes and affect the 95% numbers.
When you look at the software reports and actually see the leak line graphs...24 L/min is where you don't want to go for very long. That is the beginning of large leak territory for the S9 machine. Stay below that line for the bulk of the night and you will be fine.

Right now don't worry so much about "numbers"...just concentrate on learning to sleep with the mask and machine.
Now if you are having a lot of mask discomfort or leaks that wake you up often then we need to talk about how to stop whatever is causing sleep disruptions because anything that disturbs sleep is unwanted.

[NavyJeremy]

Can someone tell me how to input my screenshots of sleepyhead data?

[NavyJeremy]

http://s57.photobucket.com/user/cadbean ... sort=3&o=0

[Pugsy]

Copy/paste that last line in the box of addresses and you get this image below
You will see code until you either click the preview button or click submit.
That 95% number...may or may not be all that exciting. You need to look at the leak graph itself to see how much time was really spent with the leaks in the 20s. It may not have been all that much time. Sometimes the 95% number looks worse than it really is because of the "or below" part of the definition.



I have a good example of why the 95% number is sometime really scarey when it has no reason to be.
See this thread where I have my example. It's a ResScan report but I think you can get the idea.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=86705&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=45

[christinegoodno]

The Swift LT is an older model that had many problems. Shame on your tech who gave it to you. The Swift FX is far superior with much less problems. See if you can switch them out under the 30 day ResMed mask guarantee. Tell the person it is breaking down your skin inside one nostril for a reason.

Don't tape your face - that could cause skin problems.

Chances are your wife is hearing you snore. Enlist her help; if you are snoring, have her nudge you to put it back on. She will also be able to hear "large leaks". I agree with the one guy who said not to get too caught up in the numbers. If anything, check out your AHI (how many apneas you are having per hour) for encouragement. If you have a dry mouth in the morning, then you are leaking out of your mouth leaving you with three options. Wait about one week and you might retrain to keep your mouth closed. Get a chin strap. Or, get a full face mask. Mainly don't overreact to a little leak on your nasal mask because moving on to these other options or bouncing around can be quite frustrating.

[NavyJeremy]

[NavyJeremy]

I think that I might be mouth breathing as the last two mornings I have woken up with a scratchy throat. I am going to go run out and see if I can find a chinstrap at a local DME here. Hopefully that will help my problem as I really don't want to sleep with a FF.

[Pugsy]

Before getting in a panic about mouth breathing let's evaluate the leak line itself.
Won't hurt to try a chin strap though.
It doesn't take very much mouth breathing to dry out the mouth and get you a scratchy throat.
I hear you about the full face mask thing...I know I likely mouth breath sometimes but it isn't often that it is really bad enough to impact therapy and having done the taping of the mouth and chin strap thing in the past...those items disturb my sleep much more than a little mouth breathing does.

Check your recent attempt to post an image...all I am seeing is "image" and no pictures...is it me or can you see the recent attempt?

In Photobucket..when you click on the image itself so that is the only one you see...that little box on the right side that pops up has 4 addresses in it. The last line is the one you copy...it has everything you need for the image to show up in the post.
No need to do anything else with the forum editor.

[NavyJeremy]

That big gap from about 0115 to 0220 momma told me that I took the mask off to get up and then fell back asleep with out it

[jencat824]

The Swift LT is an older model that had many problems. Shame on your tech who gave it to you. The Swift FX is far superior with much less problems. See if you can switch them out under the 30 day ResMed mask guarantee. Tell the person it is breaking down your skin inside one nostril for a reason.

Don't tape your face - that could cause skin problems.

Chances are your wife is hearing you snore. Enlist her help; if you are snoring, have her nudge you to put it back on. She will also be able to hear "large leaks". I agree with the one guy who said not to get too caught up in the numbers. If anything, check out your AHI (how many apneas you are having per hour) for encouragement. If you have a dry mouth in the morning, then you are leaking out of your mouth leaving you with three options. Wait about one week and you might retrain to keep your mouth closed. Get a chin strap. Or, get a full face mask. Mainly don't overreact to a little leak on your nasal mask because moving on to these other options or bouncing around can be quite frustrating.

I think its preference when it comes to Swift LT vs Swift FX. I've tried both & prefer the LT, why I don't know, but I think its the structure around the face that makes me feel like it stays in place better. Notice I said 'makes me feel' since it probably does nothing but give me an impression of structure. I think overall its a matter of preference. Eventually the Swift LT will probably go out of production long before the Swift FX does, since it is an older model.

Jen

[Pugsy]

Your leak line graph. It's really hard to see where the flat line really is at due to the scale that is being showing. Those large leak spikes through the scale off by a lot.
It appears that the bulk of the really bad leak is that last large block of big leak. That is probably mouth breathing or nasal pillow was totally out of the nose..
I can't see how long that large leak lasted but it it was longer than we would want to let slide by because even with the scale being hard to read I bet it was way above 24 L/min. Looks like you probably did really good

BUT...for now don't worry so much about the mouth breathing...try a chin strap if you want to. Main goal right now is to try to sleep without removing the mask. Once we can get a leak line that lets us see the scale better then we can worry about what needs to be done. 2 nights into using the machine and mask...give yourself some time to get use to things first.
One step at a time...get the sleep first..then worry about fine tuning the leaks if needed.

[Dreamingofsleep]

LOL so many of us have done this at first...kinda weird. I blamed it on the Ambien I was taking at the time, then I learned I was in good company (the many here that have had this phenomenon happen). The RT that got me started said it would happen and to grab that sucker and stick it right back on..no sleeping purposely without it. That way your body acclimates quicker. I only did this a couple of nights and it hasn't happened since.

Dreaming

[NavyJeremy]

Well looking at sleepyhead I took the mask off again last night about 0230 even with the chin strap over the mask. I think tonight I am going to try the nasal mask because when I did my titration study I kept that on all night. I am hoping that will fix everything but if not I am going to have to figure out something else. It is really frustrating. I know that you all have been there and I am just going to persevere.