Swift FX vs Dreamwear

hi everyone,

I thought I'd post a little feedback on these 2 masks. I have been using a CPAP machine (S9) for about 9 months now. Overall, I have been pretty happy with the Swift FX. Only a few things have been bothering me:
- the hanging tube if too short can pull your mask and wake you up and you turn around
- the hanging tube if too long can fall on your face and wake you up and you turn around
- the front section of the mask expels a lot of air so I would sometimes wake up because it would start to make noises on the pillow. Also sometimes that same air would wake up my wife because I would advertently face her in my sleep and she would get air in her face.

I have used the Dreamwear for 3 days now and these issues are gone (except for issue #3 but that's much better) but I am still in the phase where I am trying to adjust my mask properly... Not sure yet what's too tight and what's not but overall what wakes me up is the mask moving around and leaking. In other words, the Dreamwear seems to be a leaking way more for me than the Swift FX so far. One thing to note is that I was using the L size on the Swift FX and I am using the M size on the Dreamwear because the L seemed to leak too much.

Anyway, I wanted to give some early feedback. I am still going to stick with the Dreamwear for another week because that's really what it takes to get accustomed to a new mask it seems.

Also does anybody have any feedback or suggestion on how best to fit the Dreamwear. How much do you tighten it?

thanks!

Franck-

FranckDG wrote: Also does anybody have any feedback or suggestion on how best to fit the Dreamwear. How much do you tighten it?

thanks!

Franck-

Hi Franck... well, if you tighten it too much, it will leak. Not tight enough, it will leak also, just like most masks. My suggestion is that you do a search here at the top of the first page for the DreamWear. There are four or five threads on this very mask. The threads will give you tips on how to best get this mask to work for you.

ok thanks! I will do a search!

Hi Frank,

I've found that unlike nasal pillow masks the Dreamwear has to be somewhat tight. Not pig-nosed tight but firmly up against your nose. Try also pulling the straps on the back of your head down a little in back.

There is a fitting guide that should have come with your mask and you can look and see if the sizing seems right. You just hold the guide up below your nose. Also, there are sizes for the headgear in case you need to go up or down a size.

I find that once I get it just right the mask is very quiet and virtually no leaks. With hose attached to the top, I can move around without difficulty in bed--it's very stable. It is now my #1 favorite mask.

On the Swift FX, I've used a hose hanger with it for years, and don't have any problems with the hose getting in the way. It kind of comes out of the sky, so it doesn't pull on anything or lay anywhere that it shouldn't *smile*.

On the other hand, I also noticed that the Dreamwear doesn't have a problem with hose management without the hose hanger. For me, the Dreamwear was too noisy, but it apparently works well for you. Glad to hear it *smile*.

I"ve got the Dreamwear with M frame and S nose piece. I've found that if you pull the frame too high on the crown of your head that this pushes it too hard into your nose and also restricts airflow. I suspect that it also increases leaks because that area is now far too rigid.

What I do is push the frame forward on my head, just enough to loosen up the nose piece, where you don't feel the upward pressure on your nose. I can feel the increased airflow when I do this.

I've also got the S9 and this gives me a green smiley face in the morning. While I couldn't 'love' any mask, this is the least obtrusive and having the hose at the top of the head is a godsend. I can even rotate my body through 360 degrees if I want to - not that I would.

I'm a big fan of the Dreamwear. I moved the wraps it came with to the upper sections on either side of the hose connector, and used wraps from another mask on the lower sections that rest on my face. This seems to keep everything from slipping on my hair, or from shifting on my face when I lie on my side. When I adjusted the fit, I loosened the straps and tightened just until there was no leak around my nostrils. Then I turned onto my side, heard a bit of a leak, and tightened it just a tiny bit on that side.

I still use my hose hanger with the DreamWear. It just keeps the hose entirely out of my way so I don't have to rearrange anything when I turn in bed. I'm sleeping so much better because moving in bed is no longer a multi-step process. I don't have to be as awake to turn.

Whomever designed this mask must have talked to real users when designing it!

Janknitz wrote:I still use my hose hanger with the DreamWear. It just keeps the hose entirely out of my way so I don't have to rearrange anything when I turn in bed. I'm sleeping so much better because moving in bed is no longer a multi-step process. I don't have to be as awake to turn.

Whomever designed this mask must have talked to real users when designing it! :shock:

Well, about time *smile*. What I see too often is a mask with one great feature, and then there's something about it that doesn't work (for me, anyways). Like the P10, love the light weight and quietness of the diffused venting, but the headgear just doesn't make it. I'm going to try the Dreamwear once more, since I'd really like a nasal mask alternative to nasal pillows. We'll see what I can do with it if I really work on it *smile*. Maybe try it with my other two pillows, too, that might help.