Swift Success!!!

Third night's the charm! The first night was so awful I just ripped the Swift mask off after a couple of hours. The second night I slept for an hour or two until awakening with a nostril on fire and gushing liquid. Not dissuaded, I spent some time before going to bed last night studying in a mirror what improvements might be possible.

Lo and behold, last night was an unqualified success and I slept pretty good using only the Swift. It wasn't perfect though. I woke up once with my heart racing (from apnea) and a very dry mouth. The most amazing thing though, and one I hadn't hoped for at all, was the fact that my sinuses stayed absolutely clear all night. (Within a couple of minutes of getting up was a differenct story, however.) I've heard folks here talk about air injection from nasal pillows keeping their sinuses clear but just never expected it to happen for me.

I'll probably give it a few more days, but since it looks like the Swift is capable of keeping my sinuses clear, I'll probably try mouth taping in a few days.

One other observation from last night regarding the single apnea which woke me up. The oximeter recorded it as a steep desaturation to 91% whereas Encore Pro recorded it not as an apnea but as a large leak, which of course, explains the dry mouth.

A very encouraging night. AHI, at 5.3 (mostly hypopneas), still a little high, and the Swift a little leaky and noisy, but that can probably be adjusted, and even if it can't, that's OK. I even got an answer to the question of what pressure would be needed if my sinuses were clear. They were clear all night and it was a two pressure night. Three-fourths of the night the pressure stayed near minimum and a fourth of the night it stayed about 10 cm.

Two months and one day after starting xPAP, it's looking like there's a solution which is gonna keep my apnea in check. .

Regards,
Bill (just elated)

Congratulations.

Just a comment, I think the leaks can be resolved with the "dialing in" mentioned in another post. I made them go away.

The things that worked for me were:

Larger Pillows (large for me).
Making sure the pillows sealed by spreading them slightly with my finger.
Gently tweaking the rotation on the barrel.

Being a side sleeper they will slip aside occasionally but in the short month I have been using them I now fix that virtually unconciously. I have not required Gel or any lubricant since switching to the large and my experience with congestion has mirrored yours. I had one nostril somewhat closed last night and when I woke up (8.5 hours later) they were both wide open. One closed on arising and then opened again later.

Sinus congestion has been much better with the xPAP, pillows and heated humidifier.

David

Aswab wrote:Larger Pillows (large for me).

I looked for size XL, but couldn't find any. (Who knows, maybe they'll come out with a larger size.)

I think you're right, David, it will have to be dialed in a little. With my other masks, leaks diminished the longer I wore the masks.

Aswab wrote: . . . in the short month I have been using them I now fix that virtually unconciously.

Good to know. I can already envision unconsciously reaching up and adjusting the Swift about the same way as adjusting glasses.

Aswab wrote:Sinus congestion has been much better with the xPAP, pillows and heated humidifier.

The other items on my list are the heated hose, and the Grossan Nasal Irrigator, the use of which has become a part of my nightly routine. It gets me started with open sinuses at the beginning of the night.

Regards,
Bill

Bill

I was just curious, have you had success with wearing your mouthguard? I tried using mine (the one I had made by my dentist for my teeth grinding, but it makes me drool and with a FF mask, that is very icky.)

I was just curious if that might help with the mouth leaks by you using the new mouth guard you had ordered?

Suzy

snoozie_suzy wrote: . . . have you had success with wearing your mouthguard?

No, like yours, mine was a disaster too, the little bit I tried it. I haven't gone back to it yet, but I want to. It's been more of a psychological lift though, as another avenue to pursue. Bad thing about mine is it made my apnea worse. Not sure why. It definitely pulled my lower jaw forward, but then it also pulled it down.

At one time I wondered if a dental device might alleviate my apnea totally, but I'm doubtful of that now. I don't understand quite why it worked so poorly for me, and it seems like I probably should play around with it a little more. Of course, then there are the TMJ issues . . .

Suzy, do you know if wearing yours affected your apnea at all?

Regards,
Bill

Hello Bill
I haven't downloaded my info for this week, I was planning on doing it weekly. I started to do it every day since last week, then realized, in order to see any kind of a "trend" I certainly needed more data to compare things to.

It was weird because the night I tried it (Monday night to be exact) I had flashbacks to wearing my retainer during my highschool years, which same thing, used to make me slightly drool at night. I detested it, but my teeth are straight, so.....

I will download my data and see if I can figure at which point the ,ahem, "moisture" issue occurred. If it is similar to your charts and others', there should be some kind of block in the time right? I removed the mask, thinking there was condensation in my tubing, which I had not yet experienced in the two months I've been on CPAP. I checked the tubing and no moisture bubbles and then I looked inside my mask and put two and two together. I'm guessing tape might be the only way I will ever be able to try nasal masks again. So far the UMFF mask has worked like a charm. I don't believe I open mouth breath, meaning my mouth completely opens,but its like just my lips part slightly. Infact I can sometimes hear the faint hissing inside my FF mask, I know air is not escaping from my mask, but pressure hissing out of my lips. Hence, the mouth device must make my mouth water more or something.

Let me download my stuff later and I'll get back to you on this. Look forward to your trial and error posts, Bill.

Suzy

Bill,

I'm glad to hear your therapy is finally falling into place. Likewise, I've made a half dozen or more minor changes with humidification, masks, machines, etc. and I'm just a tad under 7 hours compliance each night. I understand exactly how you feel to see this stuff working out finally

Grats!

I switched to the Mirage Swift Nasal Pillows-medium size they gave me small and large if needed too. What a difference in the leaks. First night went well but the next day suffered extreme runny nose and sneezing. The humidifier was already set at 4. Turned it up to 5 and it is soooo much better. With the new mask and chin strap, leaks are really cut down alot. And the benefit of clear sinuses. They are better than they have been in years. Still stuffy during the day, but I can usually breathe through both of them at the same time. I hope this mask continues to work for me.

Jim

Hi All,

Spent my first night with the Swift last night. I used the medium pillows that were already installed. This is a very simple interface. I adjusted the headgear slightly rotated the barrel, and away we went. I had no leaks, average was 29. The specs say 30 "vent full" at a pressue of 8cm. My 90% pressure for the night was 8.1cm. No large leaks. I had the lowest AHI that I have had thus far, 1.3 AHI, snore index was 3.7 with var. breathing of 8.6%. These were all my best ever numbers, by a long way. I was using, and I still like the Ultra Mirage FF mask. However, with this mask I was able to fall asleep last night watching TV with my glasses on! Great! I do not want be overly impressed with only one nights success, so far, but I sure like the first impression. Thanks, again for everyones input on masks. This is GLC. I keep having problems after I log in, it kicks me out saying the Username is being used.

Anonymous=GLC wrote:However, with this mask I was able to fall asleep last night watching TV with my glasses on! Great! I do not want be overly impressed with only one nights success, so far, but I sure like the first impression.

Isn't it great! Sounds like you were lucky on your first "Swift" night, or maybe you just paid attention and learned from the postings. I'm quickly learning to like it as well.

If not for this forum, the whole business dealing with xPAP therapy would be so much more difficult.

Regards,
Bill

Bill:

Great news on your Swift experience. I am going to give mine another try.

I had a bad experience with it 2X previous including sneezing and running nose the day following only a few hours try.

I changed to the large pillows and I'm going to turn my humidifier up all the way and see if that will help.

I'm trying to be an optimist

Best,

Tom

Good luck, Tom. Keep us posted.

Regards,
Bill

I just got a Swyft today and will try it tonight. My nasal mask and I have been getting used to each other in the 3 weeks since I first got hosed, but I'm hoping to sleep better and dream less without something clamped to my face....

Doug

Swift Score: Swift 3, Tom 0.

I made it about 3 hours last night before my sinus freaked on me.

I can say the mask is more comfortable than my Nasal but pain is not a good thing.

I also turned my HH up to 5 to see if that would help.
I still had the pain but so far this morning NO SNEEZING so ar SO the additional humidification must have been the variable there.

I also had rainout with the HH up so high.

I hope my nose will make peace with the SWift. I think I'm going to keep trying to push my endurance further to see if I can get past the 3 hour mark.

I have not tried the AYR gel: Would that really make a difference?

Best Tom

roztom,

Are you getting pain just inside your nares? As though the pillows are rubbing you raw inside?

If so, I had this as well. I was using the medium pillows thinking I couldn't POSSIBLY be a large. INSTANT relief using the large pillows. No more pain in the nose. Seems the trick is to get the pillow size that has the pillows resting AGAINST your nares rather than fitting inside them.

This is without a doubt the best interface I've used to date, but like most masks it can take a little fiddling to find out what works. I can now put it on and off very quickly and easily, I can sleep on my left side, my back, and even on my stomach. I try not to sleep on my right side as that has me facing my wife and the exhaust air blows on her. Hasn't been an issue so far. I have not put anything into the "barrel" where the pillows are to try and silence or baffle the air. Maybe I'm lucky or just used to MUCH louder interfaces, but this one just seems to work for me out of the box.

If you stay with the Swift, do check out the buckle pads from Padacheek. I never really had a problem with feeling the buckles, so they didn't need padding (for me) in that regard, BUT... they stopped the night time hair knot elves from tying little knots in my hair! Very nice.