NA II and Quick Connect (Babette's fault)

Just in case anyone is interested I figured out a fix for using the quick connect on the NA II. The swivel on the NA II is so undersized the quick connect won't come close to fitting. I wonder if they made it small so that it would be easier to get out of the rubber hose connectors. Reading the repair notes on the Quattro I got out the roll of teflon tape. Wrapped the NA II swivel until one of the quick connectors would fit tightly. Put a second connector on the hose, now the 2 connectors hook together and work like they are supposed to. Only problem is it cost me $8.00 instead of $4.00 because it took 2 connectors. I could not disconnect the hose from the CPAP because I have the hose tied down to keep me from pulling the machine and spilling the humidifier into the blower. Tried it last night and it worked fine. Only minor thing I noticed was that it made the swivel with 2 connectors a bit heaver but laying on the pillow it was not a problem.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): humidifier, hose, CPAP

I have had to wrap cloth surgical tape around the swivel connector on my Hybrid to make it stay together. Now, the swivel (as far as I know--bought it from a fellow forum member) is supposed to connect with the hose.

Isn't it FRUSTRATING that these things are not easily disconnected so that one can easily use the bathroom during the night? Honestly, after putting on the mask and adjusting all of the fitting straps for the night, it is not something that I care to do all over again while returning to sleep after a bout of being somnambulant.

I know that the quick disconnect is available, but is it any wonder that there is a great percentage of non-compliance? We also have to tweak our masks (with pantyhose, Velcro, safety pins, sewing, thread wraps, Teflon tape or some kind of adhesive tape, fishing line, and/or twist ties), buy Pad-A-Cheeks, get hose guides to avoid becoming entangled (if not choked), tape our mouths, rig homemade chin straps, and buy hose covers and quick disconnect additions.

That is only a START!! I have not even added the usage of software and analysis, nor the HASSLE so many of us have with DME providers! And, how about those endless little adjustments to get the quiet operation some of us require?

For the cost of these medical devices, and the amount of research and development, wouldn't one think that we could have something that works without all of that? I find the adjustments are often somewhat inadequate, so that our treatment is compromised. We need more options in sizes of nasal pillows or interfaces, and masks.

I know the designs are MUCH better now than a few years ago. Thank you to those who tolerated those less-than-adequate treatment conditions. Where would the equipment field be NOW without the input of all y'all? (That last phrase is a tribute to our Southern folk, and it is so descriptive! Northerners can use it, too.)

How many of us know that EVERY mask company has a 30-day return policy? Or that after titration, when we walk out sore and marked, the techs haven't even mentioned that there are other mask options? Surely, some are exceedingly wonderful but...what about those problems that are not even NOTICED? I believe that may be because labs are not allowed to have any other mask options. If the techs don't have them, they cannot allow us to try them.

It just irritates me so exceedingly much to have a field of medicine that just seems to be SLIGHTLY off in effectiveness. I'm doing my part to educate the medical professionals (in ER's no less, as well as surgeons who order several worthless tests) about my bleeding disorders, of which one is the MOST common. Let us also start to do the same on the xPAP field. Maybe we can make a difference in this way.

Well, I've vented now, so I'll end my rant. Thank you for reading, and PLEASE go forth and MULTIPLY those medical professionals whose knowledge base includes some good information on sleep disordered breathing. We will all benefit in the end.

I'm sorry, I'm just LAUGHING MY ASS OFF RIGHT NOW!!!!

I never bother to disconnect my mask from the hose, until I'm ready to clean it.

When I need a potty break, I sit up, pull the mask off, and go potty. I come back, put the mask back on, and go to sleep.

The NAII requires no adjusting. You just poke the prongs in and you're done. You might need to pull the side tubes up through their velcro loops, or pull the ponytail back or forth, but it's NOTHING like adjusting a "regular" mask with straps and clips.

Give this a shot. I think you'll become very proficient with it within a night or two.

Cheers,
B.

Babette, you are the cause of this, you know. I took your advise and went to the larger (Medium) prongs and now I can't get them in unless I roll them up before I put them in. The first one goes in ok but the other one is hard to get rolled up. They don't pull as bad and seal is a bit better although the SM seemed not to leak but were a bit easy to pull out. Now they were easy to put back in, I could take them off and put them in in the dark.

The headgear is a bit*h. It sticks to itself and I have to turn on the light to untangle it. Thinking about cutting the top over the head strap off, maybe won't tangle as bad. I don't need a chin strap (I'm sleeping with my mouth closed and so far almost no mouth leaks) so I have not tried your conversion with the chin strap. Chin strap seems so confining but it might be better than what I have.

Just love the prongs but am trying to make everything work. I'm glad you had a good laugh, at least I did something right today.

Okay, I accept full responsibility for your pain.

Try rigging your headgear without all the velcro. That velcro headgear DOES stick to itself horribly. Try some pantyhose legs, or an athletic headband, or some elastic out of your underwear....

Personally, I think if you ran something around your face, LIKE a chinstrap, but not all the way around the back of your head, you could attach the tubes to that, like in my pix (see my signature block), and have less velcro to catch on you and itself. Like, try an ACE bandage under your chin and up over your head.

Am I hearing that you have two different sized nostrils? That WON'T EVER WORK with the NAII, as you know... I can get one side in pretty easily, but I usually have trouble with the other one. I have a small mirror on my bedside table, and sometimes I have to flip on the light and LOOK at myself when I do it. Sometimes I can just "feel" them in, sometimes I have to look.

I'd read that the NAII will make your nostrils expand. I'm beginning to believe it. I think I have to move up to a Large now. I'm gonna look like a freakin' HORSE in a few months.

Folding and shoving is what works for me. Lately I've been shoving them all the way up, so the cannula hits my... Whatever-you-call-that-piece-of-nose-between-your-nares. You know, I never knew the word "Nares" till I joined this forum... Is there a glossary of nose terminology somewhere?

Feel free to hate me. I'm sure there are several other people here who bought NAII's on my recommendation who do too. You could start a club and throw darts at my picture.

Sorry... off to eat worms now....
B.

Babette wrote:Okay, I accept full responsibility for your pain.

Try rigging your headgear without all the velcro. That velcro headgear DOES stick to itself horribly. Try some pantyhose legs, or an athletic headband, or some elastic out of your underwear....

Personally, I think if you ran something around your face, LIKE a chinstrap, but not all the way around the back of your head, you could attach the tubes to that, like in my pix (see my signature block), and have less velcro to catch on you and itself. Like, try an ACE bandage under your chin and up over your head.

Am I hearing that you have two different sized nostrils? That WON'T EVER WORK with the NAII, as you know... I can get one side in pretty easily, but I usually have trouble with the other one. I have a small mirror on my bedside table, and sometimes I have to flip on the light and LOOK at myself when I do it. Sometimes I can just "feel" them in, sometimes I have to look.

I'd read that the NAII will make your nostrils expand. I'm beginning to believe it. I think I have to move up to a Large now. I'm gonna look like a freakin' HORSE in a few months.

Folding and shoving is what works for me. Lately I've been shoving them all the way up, so the cannula hits my... Whatever-you-call-that-piece-of-nose-between-your-nares. You know, I never knew the word "Nares" till I joined this forum... Is there a glossary of nose terminology somewhere?

Feel free to hate me. I'm sure there are several other people here who bought NAII's on my recommendation who do too. You could start a club and throw darts at my picture.

Sorry... off to eat worms now....
B.

Babs

You are so funny

I always get a kick reading your posts

Sleepdeprived

My nostrils are the same size it is just easy to fold the prongs up when I am looking at them in front of my face which allows me to get the first one in but folding the other one up when I can't see the end of my nose and without pulling the first one out takes some wakeing effort. Using the mirror helps but I am trying to keep from having to turn on the light and get the mirror and wake up my snoring spouse (haven't been able to convence her that we need to put a "Y" connector on my CPAP). I don't know, maybe that would be good, I might get back to sleep before she started snoring again.


I gotta do some work on the headgear. Thought about using the Ace bandage but seems like attaching the hoses would be a problem since the attaching hose points would be different each time you wraped the bandage unless I just used one wrap and sewed it into a loop.

Maybe if it makes my "Nares" bigger I could breathe better during the day.

I can't hate you and besides I appreciate all the help you have given me, THANKS.

VELCRO ONE WRAP. You can buy it by the roll, or yard, or as "cable organizers" in little packs. You just cut off a hunk of it, wrap it all the way around both the bandage and the tube, and hook it to itself. Make it long enough so that the loop is just barely hugging the tube, but you can slide the tube up and down when you want to adjust the cannula.

Seriously - it works better as a loop all the way around my chinstrap side piece then as a loop just velcroed to the chinstrap. The stability is nice.

Cheers,
B.

Will give it a try, Thanks.

6PtStar wrote:I gotta do some work on the headgear.

My wife is gonna question this. I'm gonna have to bring her in here and make her read this otherwise she is gonna think I a'm KINKY!!