WAFlowers...how'd it go last night?!

WAF:

WHERE ARE YOU???

(I'll be he's still sleeping and slept through putting his son on the bus... )

WOW! You people are so wonderful and caring.

No, I didn't sleep through getting my son on the bus. But let me rewind to last night ...

After going through all the initial setup of the 420E, humidifier (inc. washing out the reservoir), Swift (washing it the first time), adjusting the straps and getting over having my wonderful wife laugh at me (she actually did! ) I was so wound up that I had difficulty falling asleep. That was a first for me in quite some time. Usually I'm alseep in 5-10 minutes; sometimes less!

I finally dozed off shortly after 11 but woke up only 10 minutes later! I was then awake almost 30 minutes before I was able to sleep again. I woke up a couple of times through the night because of the strangeness of it all and dealing with some minor leaks (I needed to adjust the Swift's straps and angle -- all part of the learning process) then got up at 5:30 with my son like normal.

I felt more rested than I have in a long time. I'd had quality sleep even if the quantity was lacking.

The lining of my nose was a bit dry and just inside was crusty, so I decided I needed the humidifier set higher than 2. The lower part of my nares were sore because I think I had the angle of the pillows slightly wrong.

After my son got off to school I decided to crawl back in bed. Yesterday I told the office to expect me in late today in anticipation of either a really bad night that needed more sleep or a really good night where my body was starting to play catch-up.

Yes, I put the mask back on and turned the machine on again with the humidifier at 3 this time and more careful positioning of the Swift pillows. I wondered if I could fall asleep again but quickly dozed off and slept a full 90 minutes more! This time my nose was moist and not sore.

I've yet to install the software, so I don't know what the machine thinks happened, but I think I got a good nights sleep for the first time in a long time!

On positive notes: no aerophagia, no flatulance (more than I usually have), no headache or really any other nasty effects. I've had fading swoosh marks on my cheeks from the Swift and a slight bit of tenderness of the nares from the first part of my night, but that too is gone.

I'm excited to try it again tonight when I won't have to wakeup early!

Boy, you have really hit the ground running!!! I am so happy for you. You can try either Ayr gel or KY Jelly around your nares for the first few days, if necessary, to help with the soreness. But all in all, sounds like you had a great first night. I think I mentioned, in one of my millions of posts, maybe not specifically to you, that the first night you have so much adrenaline from being excited about using the machine for the first time that you can have trouble falling asleep. YES, it was to you because you replied that you are so exhausted from getting up at 5 AM with your son that you never have trouble falling asleep. It does get easier and easier, though.
With a humidifier set at 3, you may start to experience some rainout, so be ready for that. There is so much on the topic on this site, and the surefire cure they say is that heated Aussie hose. I have yet to buy it. I just use the cover on mine.
WAF, I am so happy you had such a really positive night overall and that you're already feeling better. That is such a great sign. Please keep posting!!!

Good to hear you're looking forward to going to sleep tonight - your experience with having trouble sleeping was similar to mine - I agree that we might get all wound up with the newness of the whole thing. You're doing fine and good attitude counts for a lot. Sandy

Regarding rainout, our overnight temperature is 75F which is warm for many of you. After 8 years in Florida it feels comfortably cool. The humidity is kept quite low because of how often the air conditioner cycles.

90 minutes at a setting of 3 didn't cause any rainout. I'll see what happens tonight. Hopefully the house temp is high enough that it won't be a problem.

BTW, our summer daytime temp is set to 77F if people are home or 80F if we go out. In the winter our overnight is 70F and 72F during the day when we're home.

This is a far cry from when we lived in Canada! In the winter our daytime high was set to 68F and we dropped down to 58F in the dead of the night using an programmed thermostat. But it was back to "warm" by the time we woke up.

I'll resort to KY if I need to. I wonder where in the house I can find some?

Sandy, I really am looking forward to sleeping tonight. I'm so glad that it's the weekend so I can take advantage of this opportunity to catch up on lost sleep. Not all at once I know, but a bit each night.

Lori, if one night makes me feel like this I'm eagerly looking forward to what it will be like for me after this weekend, then all next week, then the rest of the month, then the rest of my life! Looking back, I don't think I've felt this good in over 10 years!

I know that I might have some setbacks along the way, but I'll deal with them as they arise.

I'm sure my wife won't complain if I have more energy and can stay awake longer, if you catch my drift. (She'd kill me to know I said that in a public forum!)

Way to go! I'm so glad for you.

Sue

Yea Bill !!!! What a great start!!!! You were so smart to find this site before you got your machine etc. You sound like an old pro already. One suggestion with your mask, use the biggest nasal piece that you can. (size really does matter . The small fits very well inside my nose, as does the medium, but the large size is really the perfect size for me because I don't have to jam it up into my nose. It just sort of rests at the opening of my nose....I'm sure you've heard this all a hundred times. Anyway, my nose wasn't sore at all last night but I definitely had those swoosh lines. Luckily they disappeared very quickly. I'm still going to look into making little pillows for the side straps...I'll let you know if they work out.
Enjoy your night tonight!!
Amy

I'm sure my wife won't complain if I have more energy and can stay awake longer, if you catch my drift. (She'd kill me to know I said that in a public forum!)

I bet she'd be thrilled!

4Katie wrote:

I'm sure my wife won't complain if I have more energy and can stay awake longer, if you catch my drift. (She'd kill me to know I said that in a public forum!)

I bet she'd be thrilled!

I bet she would be more thrilled to know that someone really did suggest sticking KY up his nose.. Although proving someone on the internet told him to do it may make her even more nervous

This is one thread that I'm not going to share with my wife!

Amy, I used the medium pillows last night because I forgot that bit of advice. I'll try the large tonight.

Old pro? I"ve got a long way to go before I'm anywhere near the level of some of you!

Well, it's not "someone" on the internet, its the makers of the Swift, in a chat....

Tonight our special guest speaker is Allen Ehrlich, ResMed’s Senior Product Manager of Masks.

Mirage Swift™ Nasal Pillows System Chat Transcript Summary , Resmed representative recommendation in live chat about the Swift in answer to question 25

O.

Funny how people always want to use the largest size on the swift. I was told my someone who ought to know (but some seem to disagree with) that having pillows that are too large can actually reshape your nose! And, if your nose starts to get reshaped and leaks start on the large - there is no larger size to go up to! I am a large man and medium is more than fine for me - I have used large as well and they also work fine, but the advice I got was - use as small as you can get away with.

And if the smaller one leak ... make sure you are washing before you use them as the most common cause of leaks are micro body oils from the skin - thus if you leak after some hours use, pull the mask off , wipe nose and mask and re-fit!

Of course, there are always some who disagree with me!

sir_cumference (positively ... unsure!)

Ozij,

Read that conference on the Swift and I think I've had the sleeve on wrong. Did I understand that the holes that blow out the air from the "barrel," as I like to call it, should be pointing upward??? I had them point down, I believe.

Down in right!
sir_cumference (wholly knowledgable)