Help with Bleep Dreamport mask "leaking"

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ReverseBall
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Help with Bleep Dreamport mask "leaking"

Post by ReverseBall » Tue Jun 21, 2022 7:03 pm

I've been trying the Bleep for just about a week now. The comfort is decent and I like that it's relatively lightweight, but still haven't nailed down the basics yet:

It feels like a small "leak" where the plastic connector meets the adhesive fabric. It produces a whistling/rustling sound on inhale, but weirdly not on exhale (which makes me think it isn't a real leak, but rather some design/manufacturing issue). But it's not the sound that bothers me so much as the feeling of air brushing past the edges of my nose. Just absolutely hate the feeling and the stimulation makes it harder to sleep. It's not too bad at the start of the night but it wakes me up after a couple of hours, and it is much more pronounced by then. It just feels different compared to when I get a perfect seal on the P10 or Swift FX where there's no rustling at all.

The funny thing is, if I use my hand to push the entire Bleep apparatus into my face, this effect goes away. This is obviously not a viable solution because it requires active effort from my hand, but I'm suspecting that there's a bit of a mismatch between the shape of the Dreamport plastic cylinder and the shape of my nostrils. I don't have the means of changing either shape, but wondering if there's some easy way to mitigate. Maybe I'm not getting the angle right?

I'm cleaning my nose and surrounding area using the wet wipes that Bleep sells. I'll try to be more aggressive about wiping the area, but I don't think it's a seal issue exactly. It's not an outright leak in the sense of the adhesive crumpling up to provide air a path to escape.

Have any of you encountered a similar issue and figured out steps to solve it?

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Pugsy
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Re: Help with Bleep Dreamport mask "leaking"

Post by Pugsy » Tue Jun 21, 2022 7:28 pm

Are you using the diffuser black thing?

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ReverseBall
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Location: USA

Re: Help with Bleep Dreamport mask "leaking"

Post by ReverseBall » Tue Jun 21, 2022 7:56 pm

I had actually taken it off because I was under the impression it was optional and because I couldn't detect the exhaust air with it on which made me nervous about rebreathing exhausted air. I wanted to verify that the vents were open so I took it off, but I now that I've verified I can put it back on and give it another try tonight. That said, I don't think the exhaust vents are the point of the "leak" but rather where the adhesive meets the plastic tube on the Dreamport.

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palerider
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Re: Help with Bleep Dreamport mask "leaking"

Post by palerider » Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:27 pm

ReverseBall wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 7:56 pm
I had actually taken it off because I was under the impression it was optional and because I couldn't detect the exhaust air with it on which made me nervous about rebreathing exhausted air. I wanted to verify that the vents were open so I took it off, but I now that I've verified I can put it back on and give it another try tonight. That said, I don't think the exhaust vents are the point of the "leak" but rather where the adhesive meets the plastic tube on the Dreamport.
there's pretty much no way that there can be a leak between the port and the adhesive.

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Pugsy
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Re: Help with Bleep Dreamport mask "leaking"

Post by Pugsy » Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:46 pm

palerider wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:27 pm
ReverseBall wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 7:56 pm
I had actually taken it off because I was under the impression it was optional and because I couldn't detect the exhaust air with it on which made me nervous about rebreathing exhausted air. I wanted to verify that the vents were open so I took it off, but I now that I've verified I can put it back on and give it another try tonight. That said, I don't think the exhaust vents are the point of the "leak" but rather where the adhesive meets the plastic tube on the Dreamport.
there's pretty much no way that there can be a leak between the port and the adhesive.
That's pretty much what I think as well but I will share this little story about myself. Been a nasal pillow user for many, many years and conditioned so that anytime I felt air blowing around my nose it was likely a leak. One of the things I noticed with the first version of the Bleep was that with the opening of the ports at the nostrils I sometimes felt air on the skin of my nostrils right where the ports were attached. Now this may or may not be something associated with the shape of the nostrils and a tiny bit of skin inside the ports being exposed to the air flowing over it.
I never put 2 and 2 together about that little thing until I got a chance to try the Eclipse in the child size version of the holes....no more weird little feelings of air touching the skin of my nostrils. My nostril openings aren't all that large and the child size magnet holes were something I really noticed and actually preferred. I expressed my thoughts to Stuart about the sensation difference between the regular size and the child size halos. I actually preferred the smaller holed version of the Eclipse.

With the regular size halo I would sometimes feel the same sensation as I had with the DreamPorts....air blowing over the skin making my brain think "leak" when it really wasn't a leak at all.

I have no idea if the OP here is experiencing the same sensation or if maybe he's just experiencing a little vented air bouncing back and the brain is thinking "leak" when it isn't a leak.
In all the nights I have ever used the Dreamports though....never, ever a leak at the port/adhesive contact point itself. Remember when we were trying to figure out ways to save money and reuse those ports??? They were terribly difficult to pry loose from the adhesive. I just don't see them failing at that particular area at all.

My first suspect was vented air bouncing back a little...which is why I asked about using the diffuser or not.

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.

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ozij
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Re: Help with Bleep Dreamport mask "leaking"

Post by ozij » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:05 pm

ReverseBall wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 7:03 pm
I've been trying the Bleep for just about a week now. The comfort is decent and I like that it's relatively lightweight, but still haven't nailed down the basics yet:

It feels like a small "leak" where the plastic connector meets the adhesive fabric. It produces a whistling/rustling sound on inhale, but weirdly not on exhale (which makes me think it isn't a real leak, but rather some design/manufacturing issue). But it's not the sound that bothers me so much as the feeling of air brushing past the edges of my nose. Just absolutely hate the feeling and the stimulation makes it harder to sleep. It's not too bad at the start of the night but it wakes me up after a couple of hours, and it is much more pronounced by then. It just feels different compared to when I get a perfect seal on the P10 or Swift FX where there's no rustling at all.

The funny thing is, if I use my hand to push the entire Bleep apparatus into my face, this effect goes away. This is obviously not a viable solution because it requires active effort from my hand, but I'm suspecting that there's a bit of a mismatch between the shape of the Dreamport plastic cylinder and the shape of my nostrils. I don't have the means of changing either shape, but wondering if there's some easy way to mitigate. Maybe I'm not getting the angle right?

I'm cleaning my nose and surrounding area using the wet wipes that Bleep sells. I'll try to be more aggressive about wiping the area, but I don't think it's a seal issue exactly. It's not an outright leak in the sense of the adhesive crumpling up to provide air a path to escape.

Have any of you encountered a similar issue and figured out steps to solve it?
Encountered: Yes.
Solved: not really.

There are parts of the ports where the adhesive does not cover the plastic, properly.

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ReverseBall
Posts: 39
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Location: USA

Re: Help with Bleep Dreamport mask "leaking"

Post by ReverseBall » Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:21 pm

Pugsy wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:46 pm
palerider wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:27 pm
ReverseBall wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 7:56 pm
I had actually taken it off because I was under the impression it was optional and because I couldn't detect the exhaust air with it on which made me nervous about rebreathing exhausted air. I wanted to verify that the vents were open so I took it off, but I now that I've verified I can put it back on and give it another try tonight. That said, I don't think the exhaust vents are the point of the "leak" but rather where the adhesive meets the plastic tube on the Dreamport.
there's pretty much no way that there can be a leak between the port and the adhesive.
That's pretty much what I think as well but I will share this little story about myself. Been a nasal pillow user for many, many years and conditioned so that anytime I felt air blowing around my nose it was likely a leak. One of the things I noticed with the first version of the Bleep was that with the opening of the ports at the nostrils I sometimes felt air on the skin of my nostrils right where the ports were attached. Now this may or may not be something associated with the shape of the nostrils and a tiny bit of skin inside the ports being exposed to the air flowing over it.
I never put 2 and 2 together about that little thing until I got a chance to try the Eclipse in the child size version of the holes....no more weird little feelings of air touching the skin of my nostrils. My nostril openings aren't all that large and the child size magnet holes were something I really noticed and actually preferred. I expressed my thoughts to Stuart about the sensation difference between the regular size and the child size halos. I actually preferred the smaller holed version of the Eclipse.

With the regular size halo I would sometimes feel the same sensation as I had with the DreamPorts....air blowing over the skin making my brain think "leak" when it really wasn't a leak at all.

I have no idea if the OP here is experiencing the same sensation or if maybe he's just experiencing a little vented air bouncing back and the brain is thinking "leak" when it isn't a leak.
In all the nights I have ever used the Dreamports though....never, ever a leak at the port/adhesive contact point itself. Remember when we were trying to figure out ways to save money and reuse those ports??? They were terribly difficult to pry loose from the adhesive. I just don't see them failing at that particular area at all.

My first suspect was vented air bouncing back a little...which is why I asked about using the diffuser or not.
Your description sounds pretty similar to what I'm experiencing. I kept referring to the small "leak" in quotes because I don't really think there was a leak, only some strange sensation of turbulence that felt like one. It feels like it is happening at the interface between the plastic part and the nostril. I can buy that it might be air blowing over the skin- that sounds more or less like what I'm experiencing. So was the only solution to use the Eclipse with the smaller halos, or was there a workaround for the regular Dreamports?

I did try using the diffuser last night and it didn't make any difference at all regarding the issue. I don't think it has to do with the vents.

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Pugsy
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Re: Help with Bleep Dreamport mask "leaking"

Post by Pugsy » Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:45 pm

ReverseBall wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:21 pm
So was the only solution to use the Eclipse with the smaller halos, or was there a workaround for the regular Dreamports?
No...while the smaller holed halos did seem to resolve the issue those were Beta testing sizes and I have no idea if/when they might be available. Heck, right now even the Eclipse with regular Halos isn't available yet.
I only had 1 weeks worth of the smaller Halos.

What I have done it try to teach my brain that what it thinks the nose is experiencing isn't really a leak in terms of a potential issue with therapy. I tend to notice it more at the very beginning of the night and I just make a bit of an effort to just ignore it and it doesn't take long for it to go away. :lol:

Very careful placement of the ports might help reduce the chances of the air blowing actually touching bare skin inside the ports. I would think that just a little bit of off centered placement might leave a very small area of skin at the nostril being in a position for air to flow over it and the brain to think "leak" and it's not a real leak.
Also if for some reason the adhesive at the port to skin contact comes loose even a little it might make that feeling more noticeable. That's about all I can think of on my part to try to reduce that feeling. In my case it was pretty easy for me to tell my brain to ignore it so I never have bothered playing with position of anything to stop the feeling.
Plus I don't always have it happen anyway. That's why I wonder if placement of the ports and centering carefully would make a difference or not.

Like I said...I never really thought a lot about it until I got a chance to try the child sized Halos and sort of put 2 and 2 together. Before that I would put my hand up by the ports and reassure myself it wasn't leaking and then the brain was okay and it went away....at least per the brain.

I will pay more attention to the placement and see if that idea carries any water or not.

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.

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ozij
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Re: Help with Bleep Dreamport mask "leaking"

Post by ozij » Wed Jun 22, 2022 8:43 pm

Pugsy wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:45 pm
That's why I wonder if placement of the ports and centering carefully would make a difference or not.
I think it does.
Recently I've been trying to be very very careful about placement, and about having the adhesive very smooth, without creases. When I manage that, things feel better.

_________________
Mask: AirFit™ P10 Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: Machine: Resmed AirSense10 for Her with Climateline heated hose ; alternating masks.
And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Good advice is compromised by missing data
Forum member Dog Slobber Nov. 2023