What am I doing wrong?

Using a Zest nasal mask for a month resulted in dry (yet watering) eyes, so I bought Optilife nasal pillows which have been utterly unsuccessful because I cannot get them to stay in my nose regardless of which size I use. Even the slightest head movement causes leakage. Please help!

Are you able to return the Optilife nasal pillows to try other ones? A lot of DMEs allow you to return your masks before 30 days. You might have to go through a number of masks before you find the right one for you. Also it would help if we knew your information ( such as your machine type). go to User Control Panel and under the profile tab edit your equipment.
It sounds to me that your first mask was leaking.

Duane, sorry to hear you're having these difficulties. Finding the best mask can be tricky, but it's essential to good therapy. Eye irritation can happen with any mask, because some of the air being blown into your nose goes through the ducts into your eyes. These are the same ducts that cause noses to run when we cry. This condition can be improved by using ointment for dry eyes at night, or artificial tears during the day, or both; there is also a medical procedure that inserts plugs in your ducts to stop the airflow problem. Wearing an eye mask while you sleep can also help. As for the Optilife pillows, you might want to try Lansinoh cream (it only takes a tiny bit!), and don't forget to check out the lab rat fixes to see what others have tried.

This may not help you, but I've found that tying a homemade strap around a nasal pillows mask will often cradle the pillows better against the nostrils and keep the nasal pillows steadier.

Every nasal pillows mask I've ever tried will start leaking when I move my head around much or turn over. Some worse than others. I have to use a homemade strap with just about any nasal pillows mask. For me -- without the strap...leaky, leaky, leaky. With the strap... a much better "fit."

Sometimes a completely unusable mask can be turned into a "best mask ever" -- with the simple addition of a soft, stretchy, stabilizing homemade strap. The leg cut off a pair of pantyhose tights makes a good homemade strap. "Tights"... not just plain pantyhose. There is a difference in the material.

Using homemade straps -- good for stablilizing many masks, not just the one shown.


DoubleStart Knot - How to tie a flat knot behind head when using a homemade strap.
http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/doublestartknot.htm

Also helpful with just about any mask -- air hose management to prevent the main air hose from tugging at a mask when you turn over:

LINKS to Hose hangers and methods of managing the air hose
viewtopic.php?t=10640

These are wonderful suggestions; thank you! I will try them and would like to edit my profile so it's obvious to those who read my posts what equipment I'm using. However, I don't see the control panel. If someone could enlighten me, I would appreciate it. Hopefully, there's also an option there to be alerted as to when someone has responded to a post. (Don't know if there will be an option which would prevent me from having to fill in the confirmation code every time I type here. We'll see.) Thanks again to everyone.

have you ever registered??

When you register and sign in the control panel will be above the CPAP and Sleep Apnea News.

Your name is showing in black so I believe you haven't officially 'registered' yet... Once you do, you will then see User Control Panel in the upper left corner. Click that....then go to Profile.....fill in that information. Now click on Edit Equipment under the Profile tab in left column.....choose your gear from the pull down menus. Then choose to show your choices in TEXT not icons.