Quick Breeze Comment

Lori:

sorry i forgot this info in my last message to you!
the anti-ache pillow i use is $19.95 and the only place i have ever found it and i buy 3 at a time as my wife also uses one was at springfield-wumsetta store in las vegas. i beleive they have outlets all over the country -i know there is one in the pocono's so if you find one you can check it out! or maybe the ones Janelle spoke about will work for you!

steve
ufo13

Sleepless LI

If you're only having the problem with the one front adjustment and didn't like the behind the outrigger tweak then zero in on just that one front adjustment...use anything convenient to wrap around the hose and guide to "secure" it in place (like the plastic garbage bag tie with notches as suggested by So Tired or anything else convenient).

So Tired

Yeh, I initially tried the scrunchy further back on the Breeze hose too and as you found it seems to restrict the hose too much, etc. See you settled for same location (behind the outrigger) as I did...works very well. I haven't found the need to secure the front adjustment you and Sleepless need...so far

Jim

Guys, thanks so much for your help.
Steve, I do agree this is a lot of work to go through to get a mask to work. And coming from someone like yourself with 11 years experience with this stuff, it only reinforces what I'm thinking. I am on a rental machine, a Remstar that does nothing special but it has a ramp feature, although they are buying me one this month (looking at either the Remstar Auto or the PB420E so I can monitor my nightly events) and I'm on a pressure of 10. I use a F&P humidifier along side, connected to it. I have worn an Oracle (don't ask), an Activa for six weeks (leaky on my face, and tried EVERYTHING), but the best so far, and now the Breeze for two nights. I just hate to throw the $$$ out the window and order another mask to try when I haven't given this my best shot yet. If it were returnable, believe me, I wouldn't be going through this. Just looked at the bottom of my nose and it's raw and getting calloused. Not good.
I got some paper medical tape and rigged this thing up all over the place just now. Held the hose to the clip, held the two adjuster pieces in place, held the back of the outrigger and hose secured, it's all over this headgear. I don't know if it will work. I had to move the back piece of the headgear in a bit as the longer it was toward my neck, the more it seemed to push the whole unit forward. I used the curve in the base of my head as a guide and positioned it just under there so it sat comfortably.
I am giving this another night and then maybe this just isn't the mask for me. When I tried it on to position it to tape it, now the medium pillows seem to be leaking. First the larges were perfect. Then they leaked. Changed last night at 3 AM to the mediums. They were perfect. Now they seem to leak. What is going on with the Breeze and my face???
Thanks, So Tired, for your detailed info. I got the paper tape, though, since I didn't have those plastic ties. But I understand what you're talking about now. Perhaps someone else reading this will get some use out of that info.
And, Jim, love you for hanging in there with me. Thanks so much.

Sleepless in LI wrote: "I have to figure out the best way to stop the front piece from sliding (the adjustment part of it). I end up clicking it back up into its proper setting and then I'm fine again. I just asked my husband to go get me some medical tape because it's not that sticky, or so I don't think."

I agree with JL that I think you've found the final key to the puzzle, LI. That particular adjustment area does tend to not stay put for many people. It's the adjustment spot ozij described on page 2 this way: (with a few typos cleaned up )

*Padded plastic on top of head (front piece can be pulled in or out) - it has 5 raised dots so you can remember where you prefer it

Those raised dots don't seem to hold it very well for some people. Stays put ok there for me, but maybe that's because of my straps down low holding everything better. I've read complaints by quite a few people on the TAS board, though, about that adjustment spot sliding too easily up and down during the night. If it slides down, you get leaks. If it slides up, the pillows will tug the nostrils upward. It really is important for that adjustment spot to "stay put" the way you want it.

You've zeroed in on that "slides-too-easily" spot, LI. I think you're right about planning to secure it in place. Tape would work. A flat garbage bag tie that has square holes like so tired suggests sounds like the best way to avoid gooey tape residue.

janelle (who prefers the Swift) wrote: Noise. I don't think it's any noisier than the Breeze myself. only on inhale like the Breeze. And if you use a small piece of vegetable netting there is virtually none.

I went through many tries with Swift, including using various types and amounts of netting inside the cylinder - didn't reduce the noise appreciably at all for me. I found the Swift (tried repeatedly with two different Swifts, actually) always much noisier than the Breeze. Obviously everyone's hearing mileage varies. "Noise" must be in the ear of the behearer.

ufo13 (who prefers the Swift) wrote: what works for one doesn't always work well for another but it seems to me you are having way to MUCH trouble with just one part of the therapy (mask)!

You have a good point, ufo13. However, if I find an interface that almost suits me right out of the box, I'm quite willing to look for hints and do whatever it takes to see if I can make it work. The Swift is an excellent interface for many. So is the Breeze. Some people need to make tweaks to either one to get them as comfortable as possible.

RG:
Great to hear from you. I've missed your sage wisdom (no sarcasm at all intended-you know that). So you think it IS worth the tweaking and stress to get this Breeze to work for me, eh? Did you read one of my thousands of posts in this thread about where I actually had to go DOWN to a medium last night instead of the large pillows? I don't understand how that can be, but last night it seemed to stop the leaks. However, when I put the gear on to put everything in alignment to paper-tape it, it seemed now the mediums were leaking. I am starting to wonder if it's my skin or what. I don't know how they can work one time and then the next leak. What am I doing wrong?
And unfortunately it seems I do have to pull my nose back more than I care to to stop any leakage at all. It was silent the first day I put it on, and last night before the leaks with the large pillows started. But when I was taping, I had to really pull back to get the sound to stop.
Am I a prime candidate for nasal pillow devices? I don't know. Am I a prime candidate for any type of mask? So far, the answer has been a resounding NO. The Activa, which normally fits everyone leak-free leaks on me from the sides of the bottom of the nose, right by where that lovely crease starts as we age, what I call the ventriliquist dummy lines, and up by the bridge, no matter what I did, and now this with the Breeze, which most people take out of the box, use and maybe tweak a little bit.
I guess I need to realize this will be night #3 and I should give it a bit of time to see if it will work. I am thinking of taking over Santa's sleigh, though, this Christmas if Rudolph can't make it. Hope the Ayr heals instead of just lubricates...
PS: The paper medical tape is fantastic to work with. It sticks basically to itself, it paper thin so you can put it under where the hose goes, and I made a little tab at the end so I can find it to take it off if the place I put it isn't correct and I won't have to go searching for the end of where the tape is. Just a suggestion to anyone looking for an answer as to what to use.

Lori:

i agree with everything restedgirl is saying. keep trying till you get a fix that works for you! YOU WILL! just trying to give some other options just in case. i have both the remstar auto w/c-flex w/heated humidifier. i also have the pb420 at fixed pressure of 18cm. it is small and i use it for travel but now that i have an auto my therapy has become much more comfortable. if you can get an auto machine when the time comes that's what i would get. i picked the remstar auto because of the c-flex feature which was added to this machine and i am very happy with it.
with GREAT people out here like restedgirl and all the others you will get to where you want to be with this therapy! we will always be here to help as best we can. keep us posted on how your doing and if there is anything else i can think of to help you, i will send it your way.

steve
ufo13

Lori:

For what it's worth, I think you should spend more time to get the Breeze to work for you. You may be just wanting to get there faster than some of us did. I tweaked a little bit here and there for the past month to reach where I am now, and you seem more determined to get it right immediately. There's nothing wrong with that, so keep it up!

I think maybe you might need to adjust the angle that the pillows go in from what you said, the nasal pillows shell. I was just fortunate to have mine correct from the moment the DME fit me. I do find the whole headgear very comfortable, and just need to find out why I keep waking up so often! I may need to increase my Mirapex again to 0.5 mg.

Newsgrouper wrote:LI:
I also have that head "bone" you describe. I pull the rear plastic head piece just below it and it really anchors itself well. That plastic part can extend quite far down the back of your head.

I hear you, but for me that would put it on my neck, very uncomfortable, and too narrow. For my head shape there was not a placement for that back plastic piece that would securely anchor the breeze in place.

There are a lot of things I liked about the breeze, quick easy on and off, and I learned I really like the nasal pillow interface. For me the soft headgear of the Swift is just a better solution as it more readily conforms to the shape of my head and still gives minimal interference on the face.

I also have an Aura, and I think I would really like it a lot if they would just release the extra large nasal interface. Until then it remains an expensive dust collector.


ron

Steve:
Thanks for your info. My DME mentioned to me to get a machine that was auto and thought C-Flex was a good idea, too. I am the one who wants the software to be able to monitor my own progress/lack thereof and to be more active in what is going on between studies. I am waiting to finalize what the DME is able to get for me this week. From what I hear, the Remstar Auto seems to be a great machine and I am kind of leaning towards that. I hear you have the ability to turn on and off the C-Flex and the auto options.
So Tired:
Forgive me for sounding so impatient. I really am not one to expect miracles. I guess I was thrown a bit by all the positive things I had heard about the Breeze and the fact that when I took it out of the box, I was amazed at how it didn't leak and it seemed like everything was going to be great. But we should all know by now, especially with CPAP, don't go by first impressions. What seems great at first might not work after all and vice versa. Thanks for the pep talk. Hopefully all the rigging I did today will make a difference tonight; that is, if my poor nose can take another night of nasal pillows (ouch...).

Just a thought, I had to laugh when I looked at what I had entitled this thread a few days ago, "QUICK Breeze Comment." There's certainly nothing quick about something that has now turned into four pages...

Lori:
Ron pretty much sums it up for me too! also i might add the swift does not have a lot of bells and whistles, just a simple deseign which seems to work great for many of us. and the pillows adjust simply to the nares with a simple twist back and forth. so i hope you can get the breeze to work for you, but if not we are giving you somewhere to look. many people love the breeze also, but i tried both the breeze w/pillows and w/dream seal but gave it up for the swift.
hang in there and i hope you have a better nite than last nite!

steve
ufo13

SleeplessLI
Have loved the Breeze ever since I got it. So many adjustments, but once you get it set right it's great and easy on/off. The actual direction of the pillows is another adjustment to stop leaks.
Also on LI. Are you east of Riverhead?
Hope you can get the Breeze set right and get the autopap soon.

Thanks, Steve. I am keeping the Swift on the back burner as the next one to try IF, and only IF, all else fails with the Breeze. I know my insurance allows me new masks every so often. I don't know if it's every two or six months. Must check into that before I buy another mask myself. It just seemed from photos that I would have trouble with the gear on the Swift since I sleep only on my sides and it looked like it would interfere once again with being able to do that comfortably. That was a main consideration, plus so many people's complaints of noise. Hopefully it won't come to that.

And, Onlyme, I live in central Suffolk County, not east of Riverhead. I do go out to Riverhead and beyond for work a lot (I am a free-lancer and travel a bit), and of course the occasional trips out to the Hamptons during the summer. Did you ever eat at the very low-keyed but fantastic Lobster Inn on the way to Southampton?

However, when I put the gear on to put everything in alignment to paper-tape it, it seemed now the mediums were leaking. I am starting to wonder if it's my skin or what. I don't know how they can work one time and then the next leak. What am I doing wrong?

I think the whole problem with leaks you were having, and the tugging up on the nostrils, were due to the slipping of that "5 dot" front adjustment area.

Now that you are using tape to secure that adjustment spot so it won't slip, you probably could go back to the Large nasal pillows.

But hey, if you never get it to "do right" for you, don't feel like it's anything wrong with your skin or what you're doing as "fixes". Some interfaces simply work better for some people and not for others. Size of head, shape of head, tolerance and/or perception of "noise", sleep position and where the exhaust blows, all kinds of things that make people prefer one interface or another.

The bubble is getting thinner, but maybe it won't pop, scattering your money to the winds! LOL.

What you said really is funny...about Subject name for a topic that has gone 4 pages so far.

The only thing "Quick" about this is how quickly we've all been responding back and forth.