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SleepingUgly wrote:How is it that it's behaving strangely, making them want to replace it?

There's two things. One is, if I cut off the hose or mouthpiece (by pinching it or stopping it), it doesn't seem to achieve a vacuum.

Two is, it never stops working when I'm using it. The prior machine would achieve a level of vacuum and seem to die down. The current one is never "happy", even though the vacuum light turns green. Or that's my impression.

And the manufacturer agreed that it sounds like a malfunction?

Yeah, or at least, they want to take a look at it. I'll find out when I get the new one, and what they say about mine.

Thanks for the updates, interesting to follow this one. Hope that the console thingie works better for you. I agree that it seems like once you've achieved a vacuum seal kind of thing, it should only have to work to maintain that seal. So it seems reasonable that it would cycle rather than be full on all the time.

Yeah. To be clear, it's not on "full" but it's on maybe "half". The test machine I had, it would work a bit, get the vacuum, and then mostly shut down unless I lost the seal. I don't understand why it should be working so hard once it has vacuum, and I can feel the tongue sealed to the top like it should be.

I'm glad the manufacturer has been working with me on this, because it's a new product. So at least they seem to want to be successful.

Latest update: got my new console. It's definitely quieter - I would say about 50-75% quieter, very similar to the test machine. The vacuum seems to be more stable as well, so that part is good now. it's not perfect, but starting to feel like it should be good enough to work. The first machine I had appears to have just been a bad machine (they call it a "console"). Great that Apnicure replaced it so easily!

Newest problem: I seem to be taking it out at night without realizing it some nights. I did the same thing with CPAP for a long time. *sigh* but giving it a shot. I can't tape the winx to my head like I could with the CPAP.

On a side note, I still haven't found a good way to route the hose (they call it the "line", as it's so thin). I turn a lot sleeping, so I really liked the overhead option on the Swift LT mask combined with hose management. With the winx, it has to pull the air and saliva through it, so you can't really make the line go very high - I think, anyways. Something I'm experimenting with. The line is very long, flexible and thin, so you can just put it next to your pillow, which is what I'm trying now.

One thing about trying such a new system is you realize that there aren't many people (or any people) to talk with about things to try, or problem-solving, like we have with the xPAP community - makes you appreciate all the help you can get for the others!

If there is a problem with the tube crimping, maybe one of those "uncrushable" oxygen lines might work?

I haven't noticed the tube crimping at any point yet, despite tossing around a lot. I'm not sure how it would react if you laid an arm across it during sleep, for example.

What is more of a problem is due to its flexibility, it's very easy to have it wrap around you. Also, to make the moisture draining into the machine more efficient, I'm thinking of finding a way to put the console closer to the floor.

Xney,

This is probably a stupid question, I'm not sure. Have you ever had your airway examined and had an x-ray, or something, of it and been told you have a narrow airway? Or is your problem solely with the tongue falling back? I guess since you can use the Winx--then you do not have a problem with your airway collapsing because it's not small, am I right?

Far as I know, it's a narrow airway. But depending on where the obstruction happens, that means a bit more space might be all that's needed, ala the tongue moving forward.

Xney wrote:Far as I know, it's a narrow airway. But depending on where the obstruction happens, that means a bit more space might be all that's needed, ala the tongue moving forward.

Beautiful, baby. That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Hope the Winx ends up working for you!

Thanks for sharing Xney. Very interesting post. I had never heard of this until now. Keep us updated.

That's why I'm doing it. I'm curious if anybody else has one that is on here.

I'm twitching about not having data, though. I'm going to bug them and see if they're going to offer software to read the data on the card in the console anytime soon.

In particular, though you can't detect events with this data (the vacuum doesn't notice or care about breathing obstructions directly like positive pressure does), it CAN tell you whether the vacuum is being maintained, or how hard the pump is working. I'm not sure what I could get to tell if I'm having events, possibly. my O2% didn't really drop much in sleep studies, it might not be very accurate. Hmmmm.

How's your EDS?

Same pretty much, but I've taken it off a few nights. Even if it's the same I'd use it over CPAP..