OT: My lastest change for more sleep: new pillows

When I had my fan on in the summer it was pretty stiff. It is kind of old too so I am not sure if they get softer. I can't remember if it was this fluffable when I first got it. It is the shape of a regular pillow and is made by Tempurpedic. I did try one of those that have a dip in the middle or one side raised and the other side a raise that is a little lower??? That one was hard and I gave it away.

Hopefully, you will find something that suits you. We are all getting good at rigging thanks to all the helpful people at cpaptalk.

I'm just a month into using a CPAP machine and I found the pillow to be a major part of getting the mask to work. I sleep on my side so I need a pillow that will accommodate the mask. I tried several, including a memory foam pillow. The memory foam didn't work for me but by finally getting a pillow that was comfortable with the mask, I've done a lot better. I do want to know if anyone has purchased one of the pillows with the cutout for the mask. I wonder if they work any better than "regular" pillows.

Maxie,
Carbonman shaped his own foam pillow successfully and I follwed his idea. Maybe you can find that thread and info in a search here.

NateS wrote:One of the things I have always been curious about with memory pillows and memory mattresses is - If a sleeper keeps changing positions during the night, like I do, what are they supposed to remember and how long are they supposed to remember it? A few minutes, all night, from night to night?

Nate

I've used memory foam pillows off and on for over a decade, and have had two memory foam mattresses in the past. My experience with them is that when they are new, they accommodate your position quickly and spring back over a matter of minutes, not hours, when you change position. As they age, they slowly lose their ability to do that. Both of my memory foam mattresses softened to the point that while they still looked brand new, the center area no longer provided support (so if you started out at one edge, the mattress would slowly, inexorably roll you to the middle - very uncomfortable!) It's not a matter of a person's size. Last fall there was a thread in which mattresses were discussed rather extensively. I'll see if I can find it.

For the pillows, they have seemed to last longer but after a few years they get hard and less squishable (kind of the opposite of what happened to the mattresses). I have wondered if the memory foam in the pillows might be reacting to facial oils and creams, or simply to air since I tend to air out my pillows frequently. But for the several years before the degradation happens, they are a wonder.

My current arrangement is a good old fashioned flippable firm mattress, with a memory foam topper. I alternate a weird-looking therapeutic memory foam pillow that has neck support for side and back sleeping with a combination of a Comforel pillow (hard to find - somebody here put me onto a vendor that still sells them, mostly to hotels) with a dog-bone shaped pillow for extra neck support. My neck is a mess, so when one pillow arrangement starts to cause discomfort, I switch to the other for a while. I probably switch twice a month or so.

[Edit to add: Here's the earlier thread.]