Aura Comment

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 6:11 pm

rested gal wrote:Lori, before you go cutting off more legs, just take two already cut off ones and tie them together to make one long one. It probably won't matter if you lay the knot where they are tied together on the front of the nasal assembly. Or, sew them together with a few quick stitches.

RG,
I seriously laughing at how everyone seems to have more common sense than me lately. I would imagine that would work just fine. My only problem is, WHY COULDN'T I HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT?

You know, the more exygenated I become, the more I can clearly see JUST HOW STUPID I REALLY AM!!! I was better off living in a fog, believing I had some brains. Unfortunately all this clear thinking has gotten me is the realization that I'm a raving idiot sometimes, more times than not! Thank heavens for people like you who can fill in the obvious blanks for my mind when it short circuits lately, which seems to be a little too often for my liking. Thank you!!!

wading thru the muck! · Post by **wading thru the muck!** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 6:20 pm

I guess I'm going to have to jump on the bandwagon and try this pantyhose modification. Lord knows with a wife (who wears a suit to work) and two daughters who spend more time in dance lessons than they do at home, There is no short supply of "spent" pantyhose/tights in my house. Maybe I should start cutting them up and selling them as cpap accessories on eBay. LOL!!!

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 6:23 pm

Wading,

Great idea, used pantyhose on eBay as accessories! I'll bet you'd actually make money on it.

So does this mean at higher pressures, you need a little help with your Aura? I am afraid I am going to need it at 10, which isn't that high. I have had absolutely no problem at 8, 9. Can you believe 10 would be a problem??? I can't.

seamaiden · Post by **seamaiden** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 6:34 pm

You are certainly right, I am definitely a member of the Aura fan club! I can't imagine a better mask for me, unless it comes out in a self cleaning version- or house cleaning version for that matter. No, don't use any pantyhose, sweatbands, ropes or chains for stabilization. The only thing I did was take a twisty tie from a bread bag and used it to pull the nose pieces closer together. I use the medium pillows (same size as I used with the Swift). Good luck tonight!

wading thru the muck! · Post by **wading thru the muck!** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 6:45 pm

Sleepless on LI wrote:Wading,

Great idea, used pantyhose on eBay as accessories! I'll bet you'd actually make money on it.

So does this mean at higher pressures, you need a little help with your Aura? I am afraid I am going to need it at 10, which isn't that high. I have had absolutely no problem at 8, 9. Can you believe 10 would be a problem??? I can't.

No leaks here. Occasionally I need to fine tune the position of the left pillow to stop a leak, but I attribute that to the fact that my left nare is mis-shapen from a deviated septum.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 6:48 pm

I am afraid I am going to need it at 10, which isn't that high. I have had absolutely no problem at 8, 9. Can you believe 10 would be a problem??? I can't.

As is so much about this kind of treatment and the equipment/accessories we use, it's all relative. If you get leaks at 10, you just do. If someone else gets leaks at 14, that's the way it goes. Whatever pressure it happens to be, that's the point at which we take our pantyhose off and put our thinking caps on. LOL!!

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 6:54 pm

Code: Select all

Whatever pressure it happens to be, that's the point at which we take our pantyhose off and put our thinking caps on. LOL!!

Or that's the point at which we take our pantyhose off, cut off a leg and put it on our masks .

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 5:05 am

UPDATE:

Well, hate to disappoint everyone waiting for better news than this, but I had to use the pantyhose leg fix a la Rested Gal last night. I thought it was working as I didn't hear or feel any leaks but my leak rate went up to 27, the highest it has ever been on the Aura. My AHI both nights on CPAP 10 cms. has been 0.3, with no snores, flow limitation though a bit high for me at 1.2. Would this still mean no problem, though, since the numbers are still really good, regarding a bit of a higher leak rate? I don't want to lose the benefits of the mask doing straight CPAP given the fact that I wasn't above 21-23 l/r with the auto on. But I can hear the answers now, I think, that if I'm still getting an AHI of 0.3 with no snores, that it's fine even with the higher leak rate. Right?

I was going to leave the Aura on its own, without the fix, last night but kept feeling that pin hole of air at the bottom of ONE nare, so wrapped it as per RG's suggestion and didn't hear a thing. I guess it's better mentally not to think it's leaking so you don't wake up all night worrying about it. Just makes me wonder how you guys at the higher pressures are managing without leaks right out of the box!!!

mikemoran · Post by **mikemoran** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 9:02 am

Okay got the Aura and have been giving it a good shot. Found it a bit tough to adjust. No matter how I adjusted the straps didn't seem to lift it high enough to seal at my nose. Bent the wire and just barely got it to work. So off for my first night. Went great, low AHI my usual leak rate and no pain. Found in the morning had bent the wire too much and put a kink in the delivery system.

Next night reconfigured a bit got full flow and headed off to sleep. Battled with it all night long. Waking to rushing leaks, pulling and pushing it back into place. The head gear was slipping just enough to break seal over and over.

I followed Rested Gal's advice sort of. Being too macho to apply lingeree I rummaged through my mask pile until I found a couple velcro straps provided with my Phantom mask. They were stretchy and could be tightened as i required.

Plased right around the sliding plastic piece and routed them to the back of my head. Not only did they secure the mask better but I found the rest of the head gear was just flapping on the top of my head. I used the strap to secure the headgear in place behind my head.

A full night no leaks and no wrestling. time will only tell if this is a solution. Thanks RG for teaching me how to Fluff my Aura.

WAFlowers · Post by **WAFlowers** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 9:56 am

wading, you've got a ready-made market for used pantyhose (suitably washed of course) in people like me.

When we moved to Florida my wife swore to never again wear pantyhose! I think that, except for our company Christmas party when she'll wear a fancy pair, she hasn't bought or worn any in almost 8 years.

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 10:10 am

Mike,
You are doing something incorrect if your headgear is flapping in the breeze. You can try sliding back the lock box and then tightening the straps. I don't get it. My head is not large (in the literal sense of the word) and it fits me fine. ARE YOU SOME KIND OF A PIN HEAD? (only kidding) There are two adjustments, I hope you realized, before and after the exhaust ports.
So am I reading it right and after using the old RG fix, you like the Aura? Please give the adjustments a try again and see how you do. What pressure are you set at? It made a difference in my getting a leak-free fit or not. But I can't imagine how you can have the headgear so loose that it doesn't stay put. That just doesn't happen to me. I know, it's an individual thing, but that isn't something I can seriously envision. Let's figure this one out.

ProfessorSleep · Post by **ProfessorSleep** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 12:06 pm

Yes, please do, before mine arrives. Remember, you hold the key to the fit of my Swift. I'm counting on you for the Aura, too!

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 12:29 pm

ProfessorSleep wrote:Yes, please do, before mine arrives. Remember, you hold the key to the fit of my Swift. I'm counting on you for the Aura, too!

Ouch, the pressure!!!!

mikemoran · Post by **mikemoran** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 12:32 pm

Lori,

The head gear became loose because the head band fix was holding the unit in place. When I first tried it I had to slip the head gear back just to get it against my nostrils. This was with the slider all the way up. Then the head gear would slide forward and I would lose seal.

With the head band stabilizing it the Aura was held agaisnt my forehead and the rest of the head gear was superfulous. I anchored the back of it under my head band and this kept the whole thing from slipping.

it worked good for me, no leaks and no slipping. My pressure got up to 10 last night and no leaks waking me up. But it does show me that RG's deconstruction would work as the head gear now seems to be adding litttle to keeping it in place.

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 12:41 pm

Mike,
And this slipping of the headgear even occurred with the straps as tight as you could make them? I find I'm able to slide the lockbox back and tighten the straps enough where they headgear won't move an inch. That's why it surprised me, that yours won't stay in place at all.

I read somewhere on this site where someone took a piece of foam, as you'd find under a bike helmet, and placed it under the rubber to give a tighter fit. Would that help your situation at all? I know the pantyhose thing scares off a lot of you macho men (LOL), but what RG told me to do last night worked great. If you place it over the nose piece and then tie it down at the base of your skull using a double (or triple, in my case) knot, it stays secure and won't allow the nose piece to move an inch. Worked for me. And if you use a pair of black hose, it doesn't really look like a leg from pantyhose but more like a black piece of material. Don't let the word scare you...try to think of it as coming off of Charlise Theron's leg...