Nasal Pillows?

I'm planning to get my CPAP this week, just curious what those who wear nasal pillows think? I read a review once that said you can't breath through your mouth with it on...I know I sleep with my mouth wide open right now, but I like the idea of the nasal pillows...any advice? Thanks in advance!

If you don't wear a full face mask (vs nasal) and you mouth breathe, you lose lots of therapy air that way, and your AHI shoots up, never mind how lousy you feel the next day or that you have a very dry mouth. Pillows may seem cool, but if they don't do the job, you need to use other methods/masks.

I've used nasal pillows for 5 years. I could not manage the leaks with a conventional nasal mask,
I find them particularly comfortable.
With any nasal mask you need to be able to prevent air from blowing out through your mouth,
My sleep doctor does comment that my leak rate is high. I find it does not impact my AHI or sleep quality.

Julie wrote:If you don't wear a full face mask (vs nasal) and you mouth breathe, you lose lots of therapy air that way, and your AHI shoots up, never mind how lousy you feel the next day or that you have a very dry mouth. Pillows may seem cool, but if they don't do the job, you need to use other methods/masks.

BobHale wrote:I've used nasal pillows for 5 years. I could not manage the leaks with a conventional nasal mask,
I find them particularly comfortable.
With any nasal mask you need to be able to prevent air from blowing out through your mouth,
My sleep doctor does comment that my leak rate is high. I find it does not impact my AHI or sleep quality.

Thank you both very much! Julie, what face mask would you recommend? I would really like something I can easily remove as I have 2 young kids that I often have to get up in the night with.

Most masks are pretty easy to remove.

Have you looked at the hybrid masks? There are two brands that have a mask that has pillows for the nose and a bubble around the mouth. You could have your pillows without the risk of losing therapy if you open your mouth.

Hi, sorry but I wouldn't recommend any mask to anyone else because our faces are so different... but I will say that you should always try them lying down because your face changes a lot then vs sitting up. Cpap.com has such a great variety at great prices, with lots of info and graphics, reviews, etc. Plus look at the sig. (blue) lines of everyone else's notes here to see what's popular, though I wouldn't ever buy one based just on that without trying it on. Cpap.com also lets you try on masks x 30 days and return them... something most dealers won't do.

I switched to a pillow, the AirFit P10 and use a chin strap. It is comfortable and doesn't leak as much as my full face mask. I am a side sleeper and finding a FF mask that didn't leak when on my side was tough. The best FF mask I tried was the Mirage Quattro FX.

My ResMed daily numbers are usually good, AHI under control, minimal leakage.

Good luck.