Covering the mask vent

Masks come with instructions that advise you to NOT cover the exhaust vent (with anything)not partially with porus material or ANTHING ELSE
...and it gives you the reason.
If it blows on the pillow...move your head..
If its cold, turn up the humidifier heat...

I agree, the air venting is incredibly annoying. I bought this hose hanger that uses command hooks: http://www.pur-sleep.com/products/prodD ... rch=&page= Watch the video to see how it works. You can use it anywhere and it won't leave a mark on the wall.

Just got it yesterday and it helped tremendously with the air vents! It also was really nice not to have the weight of the hose pulling my nasal pillow out of place all night. Best $20 I've spent towards my CPAP therapy and I received it in only 2 days.

I use the Arden:

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/flexib ... -lift.html

It's much smaller than it looks in this picture. Nothing attaches to the wall. The little rod fits into a flat base that you slip in between your mattress and the foundation (box spring).

When you're not in bed, your mask etc. hangs on the little hook.

When you travel, the rod folds up like a folding cane.

It's great.

Nate

I would listen to everyone here. You won't even know that you have too much CO2 in your system until someone finds your corpse. Don't block the vent.

Cait wrote:I've got the nasal pillows

and the air blowing out is cold as heck and annoying sound on my pillow.... So i've wrapped a piece of fleece fabric around it.

There's still air getting out - def not as much, only now its warm.

My supplier guy said dont cover it up, as thats how the CO2 Escapes.

Ive tried it uncovered and covered, and it doesnt seem to make a difference at ALL to me,except getting rid of the cold and noise.

Has anyone else messed with covering the vent?

At first I thought this was a troll having some fun. Especially when she argued in conflict with common sense. Now, I'm not so sure. There may actually be someone that devoid of common sense. Either way, please don't breed...

Please be nice, Link.
We may be looking at how REAL sleep deprivation can mess us up.
I was a five-letter word for mommy of pups--quite often.
Not sayin' that's completely over, but. . .

Cait, I think you are on the right track, but all the cautions that have been mentioned need to be taken seriously.

I have the same mask. My wife got tired of having air blown on her back and I made an exhaust filter out of foam that redirects the air from a straight stream to a very diffused flow. The problem is that when you do this you block some of the flow. You need to measure how much gets blocked.

The manufacturer of the mask provides information on the flow rate of the mask. This flow rate varies with the pressure you are using. If you measure the amount of air flowing through the exhaust vent without your diffuser, and then measure it with the diffuser, you can get an idea of how much the diffuser is interfering with the air flow. I ended up with the diffused air flow in the 95 - 97% range. Since my pressure is higher than the minimum pressure, I felt that I would take my chances with a slightly reduced air flow.

About a year later, my wife is happy, and I show no signs of carbon dioxide poisoning.

Please note that this is not the same as simply wrapping something around the vent. A lot of testing and trying different designs were involved before I came up with something that was acceptable. I will echo all the warnings mentioned. Carbon dioxide poisoning is something that needs to be taken very seriously.

The downside is that I now have this 1.5" x 1.5" x 1" foam piece that sits over the vent and sticks up and out. It bangs into things and gets in the way at times, but the trade off is worth it in my opinion.

I vote for a new mask. I had the Swift for her nasal pillow for a while. I never had a problem with cold air hitting me. I changed because the mask just didn't fit. Don't be shy about asking for a different mask -- insurance usually covers mask changes within the first month. Good luck.

I agree, try a new mask. See if you can get a home visit so you can try them on with how you actually sleep in your bed with your pillow and see if you can find one that works for you. The Swift FX is nice and light on the face, but if you don't like how it vents then it is obviously not the mask for you. It sounds like you are beyond your 30 days based on our compliance post, so you may end up having to pay out of pocket.

Cait, this is great, I was away from my computer most of the day but I see you have given lots of details. That's really helpful. You do have a lot on your plate, but it seems to me that the areas to focus on first are 1) the air blowing into your eyes; and 2) the feeling of cold and 3) dampness that you mentioned.

1. For the air blowing into your eyes - if that's how the vent on your mask is positioned, then that's not the right mask for you! I agree on the idea of a different mask if you can possibly do it. It could well be the difference between success and lack of success.

Everyone's face is different, so what works for me may not work for you, but I have the Opus 360 which has nasal pillows and a hose that goes up over top of my head, and it is soooooo comfortable - I am not even aware of it most nights - and the vent is placed so that the air goes totally away from the face, not toward it. Maybe take a look at that one, and maybe the Breeze. Oh, and if you do have to buy it out of pocket, check eBay and Craigslist, and of course, our gracious hosts.

2. For the feeling of cold - hose cozy, definitely! Especially considering what part of the country you live in. You can buy one, or make one out of a long narrow strip of fleece. Or you could knit one if you are the crafty type. It's just a jacket to help insulate the air as it travels through your hose.

3. For the wet - it sounds like you are describing a bad case of "rainout." The easiest fix for that is to put your machine on a surface that is lower than your bed. Doesn't have to be pretty, a sturdy cardboard box or small step stool would do just to find out if it fixes the problem. Getting the machine lower than your bed means that any condensation will run back to the tank, not to your nose.

It might take a bit of time to acquire a different mask, but #2 and #3 are things you could rig up tonight even. I hope these are helpful! HANG IN THERE!

'Nother thought - this sentence caught my eye in your detailed post in your other thread:

Having water in the humidifier doesn't seem to affect anything for me

I am wondering if your humidifier settings are as they should be. I don't use the ResMed machines so I don't know how the humidity and warmth are controlled - hopefully someone who does use one can chime in. It may be that more warmth on the humidifier water would help.

(The one time I forgot to pre-heat my PR humidifier, I felt like I was breathing in the Arctic tundra!)

I would use this mask instead:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-BbWTZa_8c

I've been using this air conditioner filter foam for about 20 months (Not true, I made a new one about 6 months ago), it's extremely porous and I don't think it reduces the air flow at all, but it does completely diffuse the air blast.
As Resmed machines only report the ventilation and leak rates I can't actually measure any flow rate reductions due to my diffuser.
PR machines on the other hand show the total leak rate as the sum of leakage plus the exhaust vent flow. If anyone with a PR machine has made an air diffuser can they please report if their is any reduction in their base line leakage rate.
I'm very aware of the risks of blocking the vents and re-breathing your air. If I though there was any risk I wouldn't do it.

greg-g wrote:As Resmed machines only report the ventilation and leak rates I can't actually measure any flow rate reductions due to my diffuser.
PR machines on the other hand show the total leak rate as the sum of leakage plus the exhaust vent flow. If anyone with a PR machine has made an air diffuser can they please report if their is any reduction in their base line leakage rate.

Will SleepyHead report the total leak rate on an S9 machine?

I tried covering the exhaust vent of my ComfortGel mask with 4 layers of Ace bandage and holding it tightly. At 14 cmH2O, my leak rate dropped from around 30 to about 24. With a single layer of Ace, I couldn't really see the difference vs. the normal variation of total leak rate.

archangle wrote:Will SleepyHead report the total leak rate on an S9 machine?

No. SleepyHead is limited by the data that the machine writes to the SD card and the vent rate is computed and subtracted internally before any reporting to the SD card or on screen data.
So ResMed machines report only unintentional (excess) leak.