Finally found a mask I love for my small face!

New Poster, but not new to CPAP--2 year user.

So, I am super thrilled, I went to local supplier and got fitted for my new Optilife with Cradle Cushion yesterday, and had the best CPAP sleep ever last night! RT was hesitant to give me the Optilife as they had a lot of problems with leaks, and even hooked me up to a machine in the office to make sure it would work (wish they would have done this two years ago when I was having so much trouble finding a mask to begin with!). Well, I had no problems in the office, and was out the door with my new mask. I was a bit hesitant last night due to the warnings, but I slept like a baby. I usually sleep on my side and roll around on my stomach throughout the night, but I had no problems with the seal at all! This chin strap is not a functioning chin strap, but this is not a problem for me since I rarely have probs with mouth breathing.

Now, I want to mention that I have a really small face and needed the small cradle cushion It seems that if I would use the nasal pillows, I would fit the petite size, neither of which are included in the on-line version (Why are the manufacturers against those of us with small faces?) But the supplier indicated that this was the only one they had in stock, and it appeared to have been opened before I got there. So, the bag had extra parts in it, which included the Small cradle cushion and petite and small nasal pillows-which all have to be bought separately on-line! I washed it out really good just in case it had been used for a fitting before using it last night, but was really glad to not have to pay the extra $30 for the proper size cushion.

Masks I have tried before:
Mirage Micro-failed after 1 week-can't stand anything over my eyes and it caused extreme pain in my jaw.-I did keep going back to it because it worked better than the next two, but jaw pain got increasing unbearable.

Swift LT-failed the first night-can't stand anything up my nose, made me want to sneeze, and none of the pillows were small enough for my face. Never felt like I could get enough air through the thing, and felt like I was suffocating, Tried to sleep with it on anyway, and I seemed to throw it off in my sleep as I always woke up with it somewhere else in the bed.

Dreamseal-failed within hours-can't stand anything over my eyes, and this thing felt like a vise over my head! tried it b/c respiratory therapist insisted it was my only option left. (hadn't learned about on-line options yet) Woke up in a panic attack, threw it off and across the room and broke it!

At this point, the respiratory therapist started telling me there must be something wrong with my jaw causing me pain instead of the darned mask. She suggested I see a dentist, which I didn't want to/couldn't afford to do. So, I started searching on-line. I knew I slept better when I wore the mask, and kept going back to the Micro, even though it was causing me extreme pain because it worked.

Mirage Vista- used it for a year with success, but it really was too big for my small face, and I had a lot of leakage. Liked that it did not go over my eyes, up my nose or cause any pain.

Mirage Kidsta-also used for a year with success. Worked pretty food for my small face/head with less leakage than the Vista. But it is really bulky, and has caused a lot of pressure marks on my face due to sleeping on my side/stomach.

At times, I would switch between the Kidsta and Vista, like when I had surgery for some reason the Kidsta put too much pressure on my face and triggered jaw pain, so I wore the vista for two weeks.

Optilife with Small Cradle Cushion is the best yet because it does not go over my eyes or up my nose, it is small enough for my tiny child-sized face, and it has the least bulk of any mask I have tried yet.

Hope this info helps someone else out there who is struggling and hard to fit.

Good for you~
It's nice to hear success stories for those of us on the search for the Holy Grail of Masks!
Keep posting,
Shar:)

I loved the OptiLife!!! Wore it alomost 22 months until I lost a lot of wt and could no longer maintain the velolingual seal in the back of my mouth and started losing therapy air thru my now and then loose lips and went to the Hybrid. I'm glad you found it works, I wish more people with small-sih faces would give it a try, it's a really comfortable mask!