Pillow care....

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apneawho wrote:I changed to new pillows last night and AHI was zero.

Why do you go by the AHI numbers instead of the leak numbers?[/quote]

I do, but I just failed to mention my leak right was back down to 6L/min on my S9. Quite acceptable.

Sure enough... I used one of my older "discarded" pillows last night, and it worked like new! Maybe they just need a week or two to thoroughly dry out and re-conform to their original shape?? We'll see, I'll keep using the old one, until I need to replace it with the other old one! Meanwhile I'll stock pile new ones until new insurance year starts with large deductables!

I too switched out masks to the other one I was given and it worked great. No whistles... it was nice!

I'm gonna give my DME a call tomorrow to find out when i can get a new mask. Till then, I'm going to finish making my hose cozy and next week order the climateline hose.

Haven't looked on EBay yet, but will do so soon.

Mark184 wrote:Sure enough... I used one of my older "discarded" pillows last night, and it worked like new! Maybe they just need a week or two to thoroughly dry out and re-conform to their original shape??

I don't know why it works either but it does for me. Perhaps a combination of moisture and facial oils needs to dissipate really well so that the silicone works like new again. Keep us posted. Perhaps we have stumbled on to why some people can get longer use out of the pillows. I had same routine with the Swift LT pillows and same result.

This thread is very interesting to me, because I've been struggling with getting leaks under control. I've been switching back & forth between the Swift FX and the Opus 360 - night before last using the Opus I woke up to the red frowny; so last night I went back to the Swift, red frowny again this morning.

I'm using Lansinoh, thought I had a good seal and didn't think it was leaking last night, but this morning there was Mr Red again.

I really like the free feeling I get from using the pillows and have had some nights using them with minimal leaking, but then it starts again. I have been washing the pillows every day (that's just been my habit in the 11 years I've been using cpap), and bought extra pillows on ebay so I have some to swap around.

The goofy thing to me is, even though the software shows leaking a lot, I don't feel like it's leaking, and I still feel like I got a good night's sleep. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I'm just paying too much attention to the reports the machine's giving me. The previous machine didn't tell me anything, just let me sleep all night.

khintul wrote:The goofy thing to me is, even though the software shows leaking a lot, I don't feel like it's leaking, and I still feel like I got a good night's sleep.

Is it possible the leak isn't from the nasal pillows but is from the mouth? Mouth breathing? Losing therapy out the mouth. Dry mouth? Use a chin strap?

The nasal pillows are easy to seal and to have a leak bad enough to get Mr Frowny face my first suspect would be air escaping out the mouth when we sleep and don't know it.

Mr Frowny shows up when 30% of the night you are over that 24 L/min leak line. Look on your software reports to see how much time you spent near or over the red line. While I will accept an occasional spike to large leak territory, I wouldn't accept prolonged time there. Therapy and event scoring can be impacted negatively.

Pugsy wrote:

khintul wrote:The goofy thing to me is, even though the software shows leaking a lot, I don't feel like it's leaking, and I still feel like I got a good night's sleep.

Is it possible the leak isn't from the nasal pillows but is from the mouth? Mouth breathing? Losing therapy out the mouth. Dry mouth? Use a chin strap?

The nasal pillows are easy to seal and to have a leak bad enough to get Mr Frowny face my first suspect would be air escaping out the mouth when we sleep and don't know it.

Mr Frowny shows up when 30% of the night you are over that 24 L/min leak line. Look on your software reports to see how much time you spent near or over the red line. While I will accept an occasional spike to large leak territory, I wouldn't accept prolonged time there. Therapy and event scoring can be impacted negatively.

Yes, Pugsy - I've also been fighting the open mouth syndrome; sometimes I get through the night with no dry mouth, other times not. Last night I taped, had a minimal dry mouth one time. And last night the reports showed over the red line for a lot of time! It's a learning experience I know, and I'll keep after it. Red frowny has only showed up about 3 times in the 2 months since I've had the machine that tells all.

I've got a full face mask, but just can't get a good seal with it at all, besides, I really dislike trying to use it. For years I'd used the ResMed Ultra Mirage (when I was using the machine that didn't tell all), and I guess if push comes to shove I can go back to that and perhaps try a mask liner with it.

khintul wrote:And last night the reports showed over the red line for a lot of time!

Were the times over the red line short lived? Was the tape still sealed this morning when you woke up?

Don't blame you for not wanting to go with FFM. I wouldn't either and don't even own one

Can you post last night's leak graph so we can see just how bad it was?

if tape was still in place over mouth.... then we need to work on nasal pillow fit.
Perhaps a different nasal pillow mask....perhaps try a different size nasal pillow in the mask you are using now.
See if we can make things work so you can continue to use the nasal pillow mask since you prefer it.

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Pugsy wrote:

khintul wrote:And last night the reports showed over the red line for a lot of time!

Were the times over the red line short lived? Was the tape still sealed this morning when you woke up?

Don't blame you for not wanting to go with FFM. I wouldn't either and don't even own one

Can you post last night's leak graph so we can see just how bad it was?

if tape was still in place over mouth.... then we need to work on nasal pillow fit.
Perhaps a different nasal pillow mask....perhaps try a different size nasal pillow in the mask you are using now.
See if we can make things work so you can continue to use the nasal pillow mask since you prefer it.

Times were not short lived - above the red line most of the night!

Tape was still sealed this morning...here's a shot of the graph -- it's pretty ugly looking to me.

Karon

khintul wrote: Tape was still sealed this morning...here's a shot of the graph -- it's pretty ugly looking to me.

First of all... check all your gear for any potential holes...like your long hose..or the short hose to nasal pillows.
check, the swivel joint for proper fit.

Something is horribly wrong here. If that leak didn't wake you up it may be coming from somewhere else.
That leak line is almost like the nasal pillows weren't even stuck in your nose Maybe they did come out.
Starts out good but goes to h...l pretty quick.

Consider changing nasal pillow size.... Check the way you are wearing the mask, make sure not backwards or something.
Have you seen the video on fitting or read Janknitz instructions on fit?

Looks like it starts off great but something is happening and with tape in place...there is only one other place.
The nasal pillows are probably moving around horribly but not waking you up for some reason.

Woohoo!

Just got off of phone with my DME (Apria)... found out I can get a new mask once a month. So, i just ordered my new mask to have it sent to my house today.

A whole complete new mask once a month? That is something to dance about.

Pugsy wrote:

khintul wrote: Tape was still sealed this morning...here's a shot of the graph -- it's pretty ugly looking to me.

First of all... check all your gear for any potential holes...like your long hose..or the short hose to nasal pillows.
check, the swivel joint for proper fit.

Yep, I've done that & all is well

Something is horribly wrong here. If that leak didn't wake you up it may be coming from somewhere else.
That leak line is almost like the nasal pillows weren't even stuck in your nose Maybe they did come out.
Starts out good but goes to h...l pretty quick.

Consider changing nasal pillow size.... Check the way you are wearing the mask, make sure not backwards or something.
Have you seen the video on fitting or read Janknitz instructions on fit?

I've done this as well - seems to be OK using either medium or large; I've been using large. I'll go back & give medium another try. I have read Janknitz instructions, but when I first started using this mask. I'll go back & re-read now that I've got a few nights under my belt.

Looks like it starts off great but something is happening and with tape in place...there is only one other place.
The nasal pillows are probably moving around horribly but not waking you up for some reason.

I do know that once I get to sleep it's really hard to wake me, but I agree with you, looks like that would have done it. FWIW, this is the worst leak graph I've ever had (Oh boy, a record)

Thanks for your help!
Karon

Pugsy wrote:A whole complete new mask once a month? That is something to dance about.

I suspect "mask" may mean pillow.

After reading this thread, I think I will have to revisit my old pillows as well. I've yet to throw one out. If they do perform well, I will have to come up with a new storage system. Right now, I have "unused", and "used". Maybe I should devise a system the tracks how much time I get out of a pillow.

Pugsy wrote:A whole complete new mask once a month? That is something to dance about.

I think its just the pillows. But even still, better than I thought. We will see when I get it in the mail.