New Swift LT mask expierence so far

Excellent post roncron

I agree with all of your points with the exception that I can't stand the hose clipped to my headgear. And yes, I do find that it tends to pull the pillows out of place if you aren't careful so I understand why you would want it clipped.

yeah I can't deal with it clipped to the mask either.. I have it draping off the side of the bed.. with the hose clipped to the side of the bed so that it doesn't tug on the mask.

I too went through a couple of weeks of adjusting.. of course I'm new to CPAP in general.. this being my second mask after battling with my last one for a bit over a week. I could tell right away this mask would be perfect once I worked out all the kinks. And the pillows definitely can be tricky.. I kept switching between small and medium but I think I've settled on medium.. and I've been able to get them just right very quickly (finally). And I've been sleeping through the night for the most part. Being a stomach/side sleeper, I think this is definitely the mask for me..

I was an early adopter (first page of this thread) and went through some leak issues and changed the pillows and so forth. I have no problems now. I can remove the mask and put it on completely leak free in the dark, laying in bed. I sleep on my side, under the covers, cover my head with a pillow when something is noisy, and generally sleep well if other motivations are not creating an arousal. . My leak rates are fine, AHI is fine, and in general I don't think about CPAP, this forum or sleep apnea. I'm comfortable, and the LT mask is just part of my routine now.

Your results may vary, but for me its good. Anyone who has large pillows they want to trade for small or medium, let me know.

I want to thank everyone on this posting for sharing their experiences and suggestions. I just received my Swift LT mask last week. I loved it when I first tried it on my face. It was so light and I could really turn my head side to side without worrying about the hose. I was soo excited.

Then I actually used it my first night and what a disaster. The tip of my nose was bright red and so sore. I had breakdown in my right nostril that was so sensitive that I could not even touch my nose. I had multiple episodes of being drowned with water in the night even though I had turned my humidifier almost to the off position. I was so distraught but I came on here and found this thread and read everything.

I went back and kept trying for the next 4 nights by tweeking things. I have tried all the different pillow sizes, changed the hose position, humidifier temp, and strap tightness, etc. Last night I slept the best that I have in probably 5 years. I still woke up once with a bunch of water in the pillows but I shook it out and went back to sleep. I feel so different today. I have only been on APAP for 6 days but I was beginning to think it was never going to work for me.

I found that medium pillows work best for me and that the straps have to be so much looser than I ever thought. The hose routing above my head has been best and it took time to figure out how much tension to allow. The small pillows felt good but I was really air hungry and I could hear my breathing like Darth Vader. I realized that when I put the small pillows in my nose without the hose attached, I still sounded like Darth Vader and still felt like I couldn't get enough air. I guess the size of the holes are too small for me and cause resistance to flow.

I am hopeful that tonight will be just as wonderful and that I will be on my way with APAP. Now, if I could only get this darn rain out problem fixed.

Pekoepup wrote:I want to thank everyone on this posting for sharing their experiences and suggestions. I just received my Swift LT mask last week. I loved it when I first tried it on my face. It was so light and I could really turn my head side to side without worrying about the hose. I was soo excited.

Then I actually used it my first night and what a disaster. The tip of my nose was bright red and so sore. I had breakdown in my right nostril that was so sensitive that I could not even touch my nose. I had multiple episodes of being drowned with water in the night even though I had turned my humidifier almost to the off position. I was so distraught but I came on here and found this thread and read everything.

I went back and kept trying for the next 4 nights by tweeking things. I have tried all the different pillow sizes, changed the hose position, humidifier temp, and strap tightness, etc. Last night I slept the best that I have in probably 5 years. I still woke up once with a bunch of water in the pillows but I shook it out and went back to sleep. I feel so different today. I have only been on APAP for 6 days but I was beginning to think it was never going to work for me.

I found that medium pillows work best for me and that the straps have to be so much looser than I ever thought. The hose routing above my head has been best and it took time to figure out how much tension to allow. The small pillows felt good but I was really air hungry and I could hear my breathing like Darth Vader. I realized that when I put the small pillows in my nose without the hose attached, I still sounded like Darth Vader and still felt like I couldn't get enough air. I guess the size of the holes are too small for me and cause resistance to flow.

I am hopeful that tonight will be just as wonderful and that I will be on my way with APAP. Now, if I could only get this darn rain out problem fixed.

You can use a coiled plastic key chain (~ $2) with a strip of velcro that will help keep the hose at the right tension/height while allowing slack when you need it. I have mine hooked onto a piece of insulated wire (see pic below).

Pekoepup Welcome to the forum!

A Aussie Heated Hose would totally eliminate the water/rainout in the mask!
I think they are around $145.00 and that includes the S&H charges. It can be found at http://www.sleepzone.com.au/index.html . I was on cpap for 4 to 6 months before I finally wised up and bought one. When to get to this site, scroll to the bottom of the page to check out the U.S.A. hose.

I mostly use the Swift 11, the headrest and the opus (all of which are nasal pillow masks) and I was drowning every time I used it... To me the heated humidifier wasn't quite warm enough being on the setting of 1 but now with the electric warm hose and the HH on 1, it's alot better. I won't set the HH to 2 because I am trying to avoid all rainout altogother!!!

Just something for you to think about getting to help you out with the dreaded "RAINOUT"!

Goodluck on your Quest!

SleepyNoMore

Pekoepup wrote: I am hopeful that tonight will be just as wonderful and that I will be on my way with APAP. Now, if I could only get this darn rain out problem fixed.

Welcome Pekoepup!

I, too, hope that tonight will be just as good for you. For some of us masks may not always work well every night. However, it *is* a darned good feeling when we've tested and tweaked and then suddenly *it works*. Good for you for sticking with it! Getting used to xPAP can take a short, medium or looooong amount of time but it is so definitely worth it. Some take longer to feel better than others.

Some nights I use my Swift II, some nights the LT and I'm still working with the NA II and Snapp X. This afternoon I took a nap and used my LT and slept like a baby

Mindy

I tried the Swift LT and liked the comfort but I felt like I could not exhale without resistance. After a while it was too tiring to push the air out and I had to take it off and put on my old Swift II. It seems as if there are not enough vent holes.

So I am bacj to the old Swift II.

I just got a Swift LT Friday, and I've tried it 2 nights. I slept all night with it Friday, but it wasn't my dream mask by any means. I need to get something which will hold the hose up over my head so the hose down pull on the nasal pillows. I started out with it last night, but I took it off after an hour and went back to my Optilife, which I am developing a love/hate relationship with. It seems more hate recently.

I'm still trying to tweak my CL2 too. Sigh......comfort is so much with this stuff.

I thought for sure that the Swift LT would be the bomb, and it isn't. At least yet. It slides on my hair like the CL2 does. I tried putting my hair up in a pony tail, but it is so uncomfortable for me. I'm not used to my hair being bound at night or any time really. Plus hubby complained about the Swift LT blowing on him. He didnt' complain about the other masks. I don't get it.

Hi Dennis,

Glad to hear it's working well for you. I'm still using mine some of the time - I never seem to cease experimenting and can't seem to stand one mask all of the time. My two favorite choices du jour seem to be the Swift LT and the Nasal Aire II.

Mindy

Edited to add: I use Nasal Aire II without the standard head gear. I have one-sided velcro sewn onto my Tiara Topaz chin strap and that works well.

Treesap wrote:I just got a Swift LT Friday, and I've tried it 2 nights. I slept all night with it Friday, but it wasn't my dream mask by any means. I need to get something which will hold the hose up over my head so the hose down pull on the nasal pillows. I started out with it last night, but I took it off after an hour and went back to my Optilife, which I am developing a love/hate relationship with. It seems more hate recently.

I'm still trying to tweak my CL2 too. Sigh......comfort is so much with this stuff.

I thought for sure that the Swift LT would be the bomb, and it isn't. At least yet. It slides on my hair like the CL2 does. I tried putting my hair up in a pony tail, but it is so uncomfortable for me. I'm not used to my hair being bound at night or any time really. Plus hubby complained about the Swift LT blowing on him. He didnt' complain about the other masks. I don't get it.

I just got a swift lt this week. Yes it does blow air on your partner. This depends on a couple of factors. It is particularly bad when you have the hose clipped to the top of your head. The vent direction is not straight away from the hose (not perpendicular to the direction of the hose). When the hose is clipped to the top of the head, it blows a little up towards the top of your head. When you sleep on the side, if you face is turn down a bit, then the air stream will be going straight at your partner. If you keep the hose down (instead of over the head), or to the side over your shoulder, the partner may not feel the air stream. I like to have the hose clipped to the top to increase stability, and so air stream at the partner is a problem for me too.

socknitster wrote:Thanks, Jeff! I think I may still have one from my swift II, but it will take some looking to find it. According to the MANUAL that came with my swift LT, it was supposed to come with BOTH the plastic clip and a velcro piece--but mine didn't. Did anyone else's?

jen

Mine did not have the velcro strap either. My pkg was not opened by the DME. Did you see some where in the manual that both were to be included or are you referring to the part number on page 2. On that page they also have pkgs with 10 qty (such as the buckles). So it might simply an option. It might be worth asking the company? They might simply send it to us...

I really don't know. I just had a baby 9 weeks ago, so I cannot be trusted to perceive reality correctly. I'm not getting a lot of sleep!

Jen

as i had a full face mask before i never had a good sleep.. i decided i wanted to buy several masks to test.. i Purchased from Cpap.com the following:

ComfortCurve Nasal Interface: very complex to use, doesnt fit well..

Breeze SleepGear CPAP Interface System with S, M, L Pillows Included same,,

IQ Nasal CPAP Mask with 3 Point Headgear - One Size Fits Most very painfull specially top of muy nose..

Mirage Swift LT Nasal Pillow System - All Size Pillows (S, M, L) slep like a baby .. very light, doesnt leak, excellent..

i am on 10 and 14 BIPAP .. i loved it on biflex setting of 3

I cannot tell if the small diameter hose is simply slipped on to the elbow or it is glued on. Mine in too new ( only a couple of days) to try this, dont want to break it yet If it can be slipped off easily, I am hoping to use a little longer hose to get beyond the clip at the top. If somebody has already removed it, I can try it with more confidence

I really don't like that connector and my big hose so close there. I use a memory foam sleeping pillow (to reduce neck problems) which is a bit wider behind by head and higher at the back; the big hose end gets in the way there