Dream Wear Mask - My opinion

Last night was my second night with the Dream Wear, and I loved it! I used the small cushion and the fit was great. Machine showed 0 leaks this morning! I slept very well, and I did not have to tug on the mask at all during the night, which was not always the case with the Activa mask I have been using. I did not use the covers that came with the mask. The side pieces of the fame did not bother me, although when I took the mask off this morning, I noticed that the plastic wanted to stick to my face just a bit. I am going to try the covers, hopefully tonight. I did not have any issues with air blowing on me anywhere. There is some sound of air rushing, though. I wish it were a bit quieter, but that did not keep me awake nor wake me up. I enjoyed the hose being routed over my head, I did not have to do any repositioning of the hose at all when changing position. Overall, I was very pleased, and I do think this will be my new mask.

I slept better last night. Not nearly as many wake ups related to mask fiddling.
I removed the fleece side covers for last night but this morning my chubby little cheeks had some dents. Not unusual for me as I tend to get dents from the least little pressure. Even a wrinkle in the pillow case will give me a crease on my cheeks. So I guess I need to find maybe a happy medium between the thick fleece side covers and maybe something not quite so thick.

It still feels weird to have air actually blowing on my skin around the nostril area. Gut reaction is "fix the leak" but there is no leak.

I had one 15 minute time frame with leak up around 26 L/min and I have no idea what it was from as I seemed to have slept right through it. Maybe my mouth was open or maybe the mask moved a little.
Otherwise leaks were well within acceptable limits (and I actually don't worry about 26 L/min) and I seemed to have slept through them.
Also didn't seem to have much issue with vented air bouncing back off the bed covers last night.

So overall...a much better quality sleep last night when compared to the previous night.
Not unexpected as I anticipated that this new type of mask will take a bit of adjustment all around.
At this point I don't see it replacing nasal pillows though..that would take some major changes and I don't see it happening. But that was never the goal in this experiment anyway.
I will probably put the thick fleece covers back on tonight and see if they play any part in the overall "this feels weird" thing or maybe see if I have something a little less thick to maybe help with the dents.
The problem with the side covers is it adds bulk which to me equates with "more stuff on my face" and that's a negative for me. Not a monumental negative but a negative none the less.

The nasal cradle is tempting. I was hoping for a full face mask I could finally wear, so
I tried the Amara View. Sadly, "small" is waaaay too large for me.
The Dream Wear was mentioned, but I don't really need another nasal mask--I love my P10.
Anyhoo, I bet the small in that model would still be too big.

I, too, have yet to find a full face mask that I can wear without excessive leaks.

Last night with the Dream Wear, I had some leaks. I actually did not check the stats when I got up, but I could tell a few times during the night that I was having some leaks, although I suspect they were not in the excessive territory. It was still very comfortable, MUCH less on my face than with the Activa, that's for sure!

Strange request but is anyone willing t post a picture of themselves with the mask on? It is so hard to really get a picture in my mind of what the mask or any mask really looks like or how it sits on CPAP.com because of the white mannequins. I am always looking at them but just can't really tell.

Just thought I would ask.

So the Dream Wear actually has nothing that goes directly in or sits directly under the nostrils?

cancun wrote:So the Dream Wear actually has nothing that goes directly in or sits directly under the nostrils?

See if the images here help you visualize it.
Nothing is in the nostrils like with nasal pillows and there is an empty area immediately below the nostrils but there is soft silicone stuff all around it.
http://www.directhomemedical.com/respir ... iGS7ivkPXV

Pugsy wrote:

cancun wrote:So the Dream Wear actually has nothing that goes directly in or sits directly under the nostrils?

See if the images here help you visualize it.
Nothing is in the nostrils like with nasal pillows and there is an empty area immediately below the nostrils but there is soft silicone stuff all around it.
http://www.directhomemedical.com/respir ... iGS7ivkPXV

Thanks Pugsy, that definitely gives me a better idea of how it would fit and work! I might have to give that a try. I have kind of given up on the CPAP, not completely but haven't used it like I should but I think this would definitely not be claustrophobic and not feel like it is not letting my nose breath. (even though I know in my head it is helping me breath)

Update on the small frame: I loved it. The small frame did make a big difference. I didn't need to use the thick covers and my average leak rate was 0 with a max of 6. And I didn't get the movement of the mask that I had gotten with the medium frame.

chunkyfrog wrote:The nasal cradle is tempting. I was hoping for a full face mask I could finally wear, so
I tried the Amara View. Sadly, "small" is waaaay too large for me.
The Dream Wear was mentioned, but I don't really need another nasal mask--I love my P10.
Anyhoo, I bet the small in that model would still be too big.

chunkyfrog - I don't know how you define "waaaay to large" on the Amara View but for me, it was too wide across the mouth, it might not have been too wide if it curved more but I couldn't maintain a seal even while sitting up. When I had my titration, the tech said I have a child sized face and I do find that I generally have to pull any headgear straps further than indicated (while not over tightening). So, the small frame with small cushion may work for you. I know you're happy with your mask and not looking for a new one but if you wanted to try it (with free return insurance!) it might work.

Looks like it's going back - cannot get enough airflow from the "slit" instead of two pillows whether I use the medium wide or the large cushion. When I lay on my side the airflow drops even more.

Plus the noise from the nose piece and the swivel above my head keep disturbing me.

Sticking with the P10 whose large pillows blow my cobwebs away every night.

My nose just about drops right through the hole on top and the mask support points
gouge my face just below the inside edge of my cheekbones---PAINFULLY.
Amazing how such an "abnormal" face can be so darned CUTE.

chunkyfrog wrote:My nose just about drops right through the hole on top and the mask support points
gouge my face just below the inside edge of my cheekbones---PAINFULLY.
Amazing how such an "abnormal" face can be so darned CUTE.

The slit is smaller and there's no hard plastic like there is on the Amara View. Just sayin' (really not trying to convince you )
Normal is boring anyway.

I've slept with the Dream Wear mask for 3 nights now. I had to move my cpap machine, so it's above my head, like the hose is. I absolutely love the hose being routed above my head. It's such freedom. Although I measure to a small nasal mask in many kinds, I found that I measured just a tad over the medium line with the template for the Dream Wear. I tried both the large and the medium pieces. Both seemed to work ok, although, I thought the medium size was leaking this morning, and trying to adjust it was frustrating. I would have loved to have been able to check the cpap data card on Sleepyhead or Redmed, but I seem to have botched something up, and can't get any data. Then, when I put the card back into the machine, it makes me erase it or it won't work at all. Do you think I ruined the data card? But, back to the Dream Wear mask. I love it so far. It's so lightweight that I hardly know it's there, and I find breathing in it is working fine too. I do find the headgear back strap slips up, so I will try the trick mentioned here with the velcro tape. I have a question for you that are using it. Do you really think it's necessary to wash all of the silicone parts every day - which means detaching the headgear, or do you think it's okay to just wash the part you that goes on your nose? If you have to disconnect the headgear every day, it means you have to readjust the straps every day too.

2kittymom wrote: Do you really think it's necessary to wash all of the silicone parts every day - which means detaching the headgear, or do you think it's okay to just wash the part you that goes on your nose? If you have to disconnect the headgear every day, it means you have to readjust the straps every day too.

I don't. I just wash the cushion every day.

I know they recommend to wash each part every day. I do that because this year, I delayed washing the Airfit P10 nasal pillows and I got a severe sinus infection. Was it from not washing the pillows? I will never know. But I take the extra time out in the very early morning to wash each part out. Getting the elbow back into the hole is a real challenge. It doesn't always want to go in and I have to squeeze it in for a few minutes. It is a hassle washing, but I want to make sure that if I get another severe sinus infection that it doesn't come from bacteria going into my CPAP equipment.

For those who don't like the thick fleece cheek cushions that were included with this mask, I have a solution.

I tried out the soft wraps that came with my Swift FX Nano, and they are pretty much a perfect fit. I'll give them a couple to see how they work, but it looks like a good option for those like me who tend to get red marks after awhile from silicone masks.

You can purchase them separately here:
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... -wrap.html