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I will buy some neutragena soap tonight on the way home. I'm also going to find some ivory liquid soap. I don't think it has perfumes in it. The dishsoap I'm using, which it's not anti-bacterial, fortunately, is the color green and I think that has dye in it as well as possibly perfume. It's next to impossible to find the right kind of soap nowadays.

The premium level, Activa mask from ResMed receives excellent reviews and many “buy” recommendations. The Activa is a unique mask worth consideration. The plus side of the story has been well documented in this post but in an effort for fair and balanced information, I offer the following supplement to the above reviews.

The primary sealing membrane is a duplicate of the Respironics Comfort Classic membrane with the addition of a single accordion type fold (Active Cell) that serves to disconnect the sealing surface from the plastic frame and headgear. The fold provides the extra material required to allow the frame to move somewhat independent of the sealing surface. The cushion folds to the outside causing the material to extend beyond the mask. Side sleepers will notice the fold contacting their pillow. While the contact might be irritating, it doesn’t seem to affect the seal. The “T” shaped forehead support may not be as comfortable for side sleepers as a post type support found on other masks.

ResMed supplied my mask with a written Addendum that states, “CAUTION – The Mirage Activa is not recommended for use with the ResMed AutoSet T device. AutoPAPs, including the AutoSet T, make pressure adjustments based on very slight changes of backpressure in the supply line. An expandable, bellows type cushion, can dampen the pressure changes and possibly confuse the PAP; hence, the technical and legal disclaimer. Many people on Apnea web sites claim to use the Activa with APAPs without any apparent problem. But that may not be true for all APAPs. Between 6 and 12 cm H2O, my AutoSet T seems to work fine with the Activa mask. I find no visible differences between the computer data among the Activa and the other 4 masks I wear on a rotating basis. Not surprisingly, BiPAPs can cause the Activa mask to pulse like an alien.

The Activa is the heaviest mask assembly of the 15+ I own, 6 ounces compared to 4 ounces for the Profile Lite and 3.3 ounces for the Custom Classic. That may not seem like a major difference but weight is only half the story. The center of gravity of the Activa is approximately 2.75 inches from your face compared to 1.25 inches for the Profile Lite and 1 inch for the Custom Classic. When you combine the weight with the center of gravity, the Activa is effectively 5 times the weight of the Classic. Think of holding a bag of sugar against your chest and holding the same bag of sugar at arms length and you can appreciate the effect of center of gravity. The difference in weight might not be significant to 250 pound football player, but could be significant to an 85 pound female or a restless sleeper. As a restless sleeper, I find the extra load to be an irritant.

The Activa has a fixed position exhaust vent on the elbow that directs the flow at a slight angle away from, but along the inlet hose. DeVilbiss uses the same exhaust angle but has a port that can be rotated to direct the flow up, down or to either side. Both vents direct the flow away from the user without blowing on your bed partner. The Activa creates a high volume stream of air that creates a good deal of noise at the mask and on any bedding the air strikes. The mask can be quieted by removing the ring that is attached to the vent and surrounds the plastic supply pipe, but the impact noise remains.

The Activa has a very complex and potentially intimidating design. There are a lot of parts and adjustments. Re-assembling the mask correctly after a thorough cleaning may be a problem for some people.

The Activa is a fine mask but may not be the ultimate solution for everyone. Hope this information plus the other posts on this site help you decide whether to spend money on this mask.

Well, it became apparent that I had put the mask back together wrong, after noticing high leaks the night before. The night before I had fallen asleep on the couch watching TV and didn't have my CPAP for over half the night. I realized I was not wearing it at 4:30am and proceeded to go to the bedroom and put it on so I could get 2.5 hours of "good" sleep. But in the morning my results were all weird: Press 2.2 Leak: 1.32 L/S AHI: 1.3 AI: 0.0 and HI 1.3! Crazy!

Anyway, I put it on last night and see the message "high leaks in last session" and "high leak, please adjust mask". So, I kept adjusting it (not taking it apart) thinking I just didn't have a good seal. I thought the massive amount of air coming out the front was strange but it WAS put together (I thought) correctly. So, I finally just about give up using it for the night with a big question mark over my head but I decided to take it apart and put it back together again as a last resort. Good thing I did NOT give up. I had the little blue ring just outside it's seal lip on one of three corners. I slide that into place and wala! I put it all back together. I put the mask on and turned the air on first as the DME suggested and the pulled it out a bit to readjust. Then clicked the straps. Now, the air exhaust is headed just at the hose and not near as much.

No more high leak display. So what did I get? Oh yes, I also followed GoofyUT's advice and turned up my settling time to 30 minutes. Press: 14.2 Leak: 0.14 L/S AHI: 3.7 AI: 0.2 HI: 3.5

I would say these are my best numbers yet. For the first time my AHI is below 5. Amazing. Perhaps I don't have acid reflux damage afterall. Or the little purple pill is working maybe. Who knows?! And I'm ok with the pressure creeping up to 14.2 if that's what it takes to get those kind of results. Previously it had creeped up to 9.6 but had a leak rate of 0.56 and AHI of 10.7 Yikes!

Then I went back to bed after 7.25 hours of sleep. I had gotten up for about 2 hours because lying in any position wasn't comfortable. I noticed the mask doesn't make hardly any audible sound so I must've had something put together wrong all along. Probably exactly what I found it to be.

New numbers: Press: 14.2, Leak: 0.12 L/S, AHI: 5.2, AI: 0.6 and HI: 4.6. So my number went up a bit but not too bad. I can live with 5.2 AHI. And if I can hear the mask at all once it's sealed, then I have it put together wrong.

My wife just said she saw an apnea after I went back to sleep. She said I wiggled my feet like I was swimming for a few seconds and then stopped. Also, she said you can't hear the S8 or the mask anymore when I have the mask put together correctly. Before she said it always sounded like I was in the shower but she'd reach over and I was right there. This was ALL mask and zero machine. Now it's where it should be: zero for both.

I'll keep logging the numbers every morning in my little notebook here.

Each person has their own cleaning routine they're comfortable with. I never, never, never take any mask apart to clean it. Too much chance of parts not fitting back together as tightly as they do from the factory or from first assembly.

Interesting. You have more experience than I do. With both masks I've used upon inspecting the dvd on how to clean and all that other business. I never once thought it might be bad for the mask. And I also assumed that my seal with the aptiva might become hard to use if not cleaned. Good to know. So, this is with all masks you use eh? I could see where it would've been easier with the Swift.

Larry, while indeed NO mask will be the end all and be all for everyone, I still stand behind the fact I feel the Activa will, for a great majority, work better than most of the current offerings out there. So far I don't care if it isn't compatible with an APAP as that isn't what I use. Indeed it should be a concern for an APAP user to look at other offerings as the Activa may not be best due to it's rather unconventional design.

I will also take issue with your describing it as LOUD....it is about the quietest mask I've used to date. I also find the exhaust outlet being on the hose, where it can EASILY be rotated to a direction a person prefers is a huge plus. NO more fixed outputs for me thanks. As for cleaning....after the first cleaning, which I did like the disc described (completely dismantled, cleaned, rinsed and dried) I no longer feel it is essential to dismantle it to clean it. I mearly removed the straps, and place basic soap around the exterior and interior seal, then inside, on and around most areas rinsing it thoroughly. I then shake it off and let dry. Works fine. Indeed that blue seal is critical in the way it seals. It has to be virtually perfect with no binding or it won't allow the mask to work properly. Glad you figured it out Rastaman.

My S8 Autoset Vantage has an "Aptiva" mask setting. I wonder why that is, if it's not supposed to work with it.

I want to make sure ya'll are talking about the Resmed Activa mask. Is there such thing as an Aptiva too or is that a typo?

I LOVE my Activa. LOVE it. I've tried others and they just didn't work for me.

Before going to bed I'll use Sea Breeze and a round cotton disc to remove the oil from my face.

Not only does this make the mask seal properly; it's also done wonders for my complexion!

This too sounds like a good idea. Astringent!

I'm left wondering what an "autoset T" is though. Is that the S8 Autoset Vantage? Or some other brand/model?

Oh yeah, and it appears that I've figure out my pressure problem. Pressures were NOT low due to just the Activa mask. They were low because I had the seal wrong. Once I got it right, then it seems to work every time but the pressures are creeping up. 16.2 last night was 95% or less amount. However, my AHI is now down to 5.1, which is an all-time low. The Swift is too easy to put together wrong so I know I had put that back together correctly each time I used it. And on the file day of use my AHI got down to 6.2

I found the secret to lower numbers was putting the settling time on 30 minutes as GoofyUT suggested. Worked great. I'll bet the Swift would've gotten much lower number than it did If I had done that too.

All and all, a week and a half after switching masks I'm doing quite well IMHO. It's easy. That's the main part. My settling pressure is on 8 though and I almost want to turn the minimum up a notch or two. Seems like I have to take really deep breaths before I fall asleep to feel like I'm getting a full breath. I can only imagine what 6 or 7 is doing to people.

Thank you Larry for the EXCELLENT post regarding the Activa. I started with the Activa but switched to the Swift. I found many of your observations regarding the Activa to be spot-on.

Rastaman, if your S8 has an Aptiva setting in its mask menu, then you ought to return it to your DME IMMEDIATELY!!! Its suffering from mis-spelling and needs to be replaced as soon as you are able! Plus, it'll have to stay after school as well.

BTW, the Autoset-T was an older and virtually original Auto device from ResMed.

Chuck

mikemoran wrote:Cpapjack,

I am a side sleeper and find that if I turn and a minor leak starts I just push the mask more into my pillow and just burrow my nose in. Always seals fine then. But leaks don't happen that often. I find that keeping the top straps tight and adjusting the forhead support so the mask ballons at the top, then leaving the lower straps much looser works best.

This allows the bellows to work well and keep the seal at the bridge of my nose with a comfortable pressure on my upper lip.

I must say mikemoran, this seems to have worked. I think I've slept on my side successfully these past two night without any leaks. Yeah !!!

[quote="GoofyUT"]Thank you Larry for the EXCELLENT post regarding the Activa. I started with the Activa but switched to the Swift. I found many of your observations regarding the Activa to be spot-on.

Rastaman, if your S8 has an Aptiva setting in its mask menu, then you ought to return it to your DME IMMEDIATELY!!! Its suffering from mis-spelling and needs to be replaced as soon as you are able! Plus, it'll have to stay after school as well.

BTW, the Autoset-T was an older and virtually original Auto device from ResMed.

Chuck