Good News

Hi - my tech just read me the results of the computer chip that has been reading my cpap machine results since I got it October 2nd. Good News (for those who like to hear good news:

My sleep study I had like 78 apeas that night. Well with cpap, the first month, I was mouth breathing and had 3 apneas per hour approx. With chin strap (closed mouth) i now have like 1.9 apneas a night. He said 0 - 5 is good! YAY!

I'm also sleeping about 7 hours a night!

I'm going to try the Quattro FF mask because people have reported it is better than nose pillows.

Yay! I'm real happy with my machine, now I'm dealing with my sneezing problem during the day (another topic) but I'm going to get some Ayr gel you put in your nostrils that help with dry air.

Great !!!!! Congratulations Mary T, that's really good news

Excellent! Good for you!

I'm going to try the Quattro FF mask because people have reported it is better than nose pillows.

Sez who??? Be prepared to deal with leaks and a sore nose with the Quattro. Some people find the Quattro a great mask for their particular face, but not everyone for sure. IMHO, the FX is the best mask out there.

Still, it's good to have a FF mask like the Quattro on hand for colds and such.

Hi - I'm going to trade off the Quattro with my nasal pillows (which i love actually but causing a few minor problems i.e. sore nostrils and chin strap - my head could use a break from the constriction of the chin strap on my head once in a while .... I have a cold or something, so this might be good when i have to trade it off due to congestion, and well, I shall see

but for the most part, thank God, i won't die in my sleep from not breathing and/or getting a heart attack from not breathing, so any of the above minor issues are worth it

And you know the BEST part? I love the nice humidified fresh air I am breathing on the cpap. I wish i could bring it to work where i tend to sneeze, something in the dry air there tickling my nose hence causing sneezing fits.

Mary,

I do like your attitude and approach to CPAP and is the one I carry as well. As much as it is a pain sometimes, the benefits (like not dying, for example) make it worth the effort.

As Janknitz suggested with her "sez who?" comment, the FX is a very good mask. I like mine rather a lot and tend to use it the most. However, there are times when, as lovely as it is most of the times, sometimes it feels like I am attempting to shove crumpled up toilet paper rolls into my nose.

When I first started on this journey, I was having a horrid time and whipped out the old CC to get quite a few masks. I could have kept jumping up and down at my DME for different masks but a) I couldn't face the bureaucracy and coincident toll on my sanity and b) figured that a variety of masks to have just the right one for a particular night on hand would be good. While the latter thought was naively embarked on in the beginning, it has serendipitously proven to work well for me.

While my "main" mask is the FX, I do sometimes either by preference for another or loathing for the FX on a particular night, change to a different type of mask and the Quattro FFM is one of those that I do use as an alternate. Of course, also as Janknitz states, I use it when I have a cold or otherwise compromised sinuses. The other type is to, while I loathed them in the beginning, I am coming to like a nasal mask from time to time.

For me, having the selection when a mask either doesn't suit or, as in your case, is starting to actually hurt to use has been a blessing.

Hi - wow we must be twins with our success and finding out what can be more comfortable for us.

by far, i luv my nasal pillows, only my chin strap which i must wear seems to be taking a bit to get used to since it is elastic, and has to be kinda tight, when i wake up i have to rub my face a bit.. haha.. but its keeping my mouth shut to 1.9 apneas a night success

GREAT NEWS you might like - i tried the Ayl ointment (gel) dabbed a little inside my nose at work - NO SNEEZING! it even made my breathing at work better, must be coz its' moisterizing the nostrils. HALLELUJAH!!! (and im not religous but i feel like i could be right now thank God!). today i felt my nose twitch a bit and i put some on a Q-tip, rubbed it inside, and VOILA! tweaking - GONE!!!

I'm gonna try the Quattro this week, but i've been having other issues and i did not want to deal with changing up to anew FF mask ... but i will this week.

Thank you, and thank you to all who have suggested Ayr for the nose!

Good luck with the FFM. I have the Quattro and also the Zzz-Mask. I bought the latter since it looked so cool and light without the forehead brace and do use it once in a while but the Quattro is so much more secure, doesn't move on my face in the night (which the Zzz-Mask will occasionally), and is equally comfortable unless one is trying to read before sleeping.

In fact, it is secure enough that, should you be a side or stomach sleeper who likes to have a significant portion of your face buried in pillow, the Quattro will stay put once you get past the psychological mistrust of slamming the mask into the pillow. The vents are placed in that nice narrow band in the middle and protected so they won't be blocked by any normal amount of that and if you did block them, the equivalent to sleeping without the mask is one's nose right in the pillow.... hardly likely.

The Swift FX is lovely but like other "barely there" masks, I find it is rather easy to displace them either through a hose yank or against the bedding. I have actually changed to the Quattro in the night even if my sinuses are "all lanes open" if I am extra restless or cannot get comfortable any way that doesn't dislodge the Swift FX.