Does this pillow exist?

Hi,

As I have previously mentioned on this board, unless I wear a neck collar with my full face mask, my pressure needs will skyrocket to about the high teens to 20 to keep the AHI around 5. With it, I don't seem to need a pressure of more than around 9.5 with a sub 2 AHI.

Unfortunately, the most I have been able to stay asleep on the machine during the past year has been 4 hours and that was just one time. I have been averaging 3 hours which of course is not going to cut it.

I am finding the neck collar very uncomfortable (even a soft one) and when I wake up prematurely, my body rebels big time at my putting it back on again. Of course, if I was staying asleep on the machine, i would grin and bear it.

I would love to try side sleeping but unfortunately, when I try doing this, my quattro fx starts leaking when I press on my right side as it moves the mask out of position.

Unfortunately, I am having trouble visualizing what pillow would work because the one I currently use (which is the contour type) gives me support so that my shoulder doesn't hurt from the strain of sleeping on my side. I guess my question is does a pillow exist that would give me the same support but wouldn't cause my mask to leak if I slept on my side? And if so, which one?

Finally, at the risk of sounding defensive, I would appreciate it if people avoided any types of lectures such as needing a positive attitude or grin and bear it responses in their replies. Right now, I am at a very low point having just dealt with sleep doctor number two who was an absolute disaster. I do intend to look for doctor number 3 and possibly get a full scale study as I feel like something is not right.

But meanwhile, I keep trying to think of what I can as I have been for over a year to make this work and hopefully be in a position to encourage the next person who comes along who is in a similar situation.

49er

I don't have a FFM, but sleep on my stomach with my head to the side on a flimsy down pillow. I punch it into shape, then turn my mask into it all but the vents, and pull it so the pillow seals the mask on that side. Luckily, I don't move around much.

I am a side sleeper and use the Quattro FF Mask. I tried several pillows before I settled on the Regenisis Buckwheat Pillow. It is, by far, the most comfortable pillow. It is small and can be shaped to fit your needs. Once you shape it ...it holds its shape. It is firmer than most pillows which makes it ideal for CPAP...you don't sink in.
http://www.pur-sleep.com/products/produ ... ategory=14

Thanks Herefishy and LSAT for responding.

LSAT, I really like that pillow after watching the video and am leaning strongly towards ordering it. Hopefully, this will help but if not, at least I have a pillow to alternate with the current one as it looks quite comfortable.

49er

Good morning, 49er. I slept last night very comfortably with my collar on my memory foam cervical pillow on the SMALL side. . .the collar is too big for me, but I was VERY COMFORTABLE. Maybe since you are a (assuming, please forgive if I'm wrong) guy, the collar won't be too big for you - and this will work for you. **hoping**

Edit: I also slept on my side for some of the time - but I sleep with a nasal pillow, so this wouldn't be the same for you - but the memory foam cervical pillow is arched so that the top and bottom are higher - making sleeping on my side very comfortable with no pressure on my mask.

quietmorning wrote:Good morning, 49er. I slept last night very comfortably with my collar on my memory foam cervical pillow on the SMALL side. . .the collar is too big for me, but I was VERY COMFORTABLE. Maybe since you are a (assuming, please forgive if I'm wrong) guy, the collar won't be too big for you - and this will work for you. **hoping**

Edit: I also slept on my side for some of the time - but I sleep with a nasal pillow, so this wouldn't be the same for you - but the memory foam cervical pillow is arched so that the top and bottom are higher - making sleeping on my side very comfortable with no pressure on my mask.

Hi Quietmorning,

No offense taken as I am a female.

I think my only concern is if it is too big, will it keep my AHI down? The problem is the snore stopping pillow I purchased hoping to replace the neck collar is too big and isn't working. It too was quite comfortable. Here is the link:

http://www.snoringpillow.com/

But thanks, I really appreciate you chiming in.

49er

49er wrote:

quietmorning wrote:Good morning, 49er. I slept last night very comfortably with my collar on my memory foam cervical pillow on the SMALL side. . .the collar is too big for me, but I was VERY COMFORTABLE. Maybe since you are a (assuming, please forgive if I'm wrong) guy, the collar won't be too big for you - and this will work for you. **hoping**

Edit: I also slept on my side for some of the time - but I sleep with a nasal pillow, so this wouldn't be the same for you - but the memory foam cervical pillow is arched so that the top and bottom are higher - making sleeping on my side very comfortable with no pressure on my mask.

Hi Quietmorning,

No offense taken as I am a female.

I think my only concern is if it is too big, will it keep my AHI down? The problem is the snore stopping pillow I purchased hoping to replace the neck collar is too big and isn't working. It too was quite comfortable. Here is the link:

http://www.snoringpillow.com/

But thanks, I really appreciate you chiming in.

49er

Ah, when I think of 49er, I think of football - and my old world Italian brain autopilots to my DAD which is male . . .and then the synapses just get all out of whack.

I am trying the two inch collar tonight - with the same pillow, I'll let you know as soon as I get up tomorrow how it went.

Hi
I found a pillow that works with my Quattro™ FX Full Face. It is called the Ultra CPAP Pillow. You can get it in several varieties. We use the one in memoryfoam. (My wife also have this). When I sleep on my side (which I always do) the mask hang in the space provided. It has to be measured very accurately to get the correct size. I have also seen some other pillows with a cutout but they seemed to be narrower so the mask would touch the pillow. I`m not totally leakless with the Quattro, but it stays well within limits.
I bought this from: http://www.eu-pap.co.uk/ultra-cpap-pillow.html
Hope this or some of the other on the forum can help.

slepybear wrote:Hi
I found a pillow that works with my Quattro™ FX Full Face. It is called the Ultra CPAP Pillow. You can get it in several varieties. We use the one in memoryfoam. (My wife also have this). When I sleep on my side (which I always do) the mask hang in the space provided. It has to be measured very accurately to get the correct size. I have also seen some other pillows with a cutout but they seemed to be narrower so the mask would touch the pillow. I`m not totally leakless with the Quattro, but it stays well within limits.
I bought this from: http://www.eu-pap.co.uk/ultra-cpap-pillow.html
Hope this or some of the other on the forum can help.

Thanks Slepybear, I will take a look.

I think I had better postpone my decision until tomorrow as I fear others might chime in with more great suggestions that I will overlook.

49er

Hey 49er!

I am a side sleep myself and use the F&P 431 FFM. I bought a cpap pillow (one with the hole in the side for the mask) and HATED it. It did NOT work for me at all. I gave that thing away, after blowing $40 on the darned thing.

I ordered bed pillows from Amazon and found that they work great - for me. Here's the description on Amazon:

Perfect Fit Extra Firm Density Quilted Sidewall Pillow

Obviously, no guarantees. But as someone who uses a FFM AND sleeps on my side, sharing what worked for me.

You might want to do some Google searches on "Chiroflow" and "Mediflow". They're water-based pillows. I've been using them for years and long before I started CPAP therapy eight years ago. You can adjust the water level in them so you can keep your back, neck and head in alignment. And, they're soft enough to be comfortable but firm enough so the head doesn't sink into them and push the mask out of alignment. I'm a side-sleeper with a full face mask and I swear by mine.


Den

.

I can relate my experiences with two pillows designed for cpap use. I'm a side sleeper. The first pillow (ordered from Amazon I think it was a contour) was designed for people under 200 lbs (which I am). The loft was enormous! Hurt my neck too much so I sent it back. Went back to using the memory pillow (which I bought at Kohls one year earlier). This pillow was too long from the edge to where the indent starts. Mask wouldn't fit comfortably in to the 'well'. Just got a Max Cpap from Contour within the last week. I feel like I can't move over far enough to let the mask drop into the 'well' without feeling like I'm rolling forward. It is not stopping the mouth leaks entirely but it's an improvement over the others so far.

Wulfman... wrote:You might want to do some Google searches on "Chiroflow" and "Mediflow". They're water-based pillows. I've been using them for years and long before I started CPAP therapy eight years ago. You can adjust the water level in them so you can keep your back, neck and head in alignment. And, they're soft enough to be comfortable but firm enough so the head doesn't sink into them and push the mask out of alignment. I'm a side-sleeper with a full face mask and I swear by mine.


Den

.

I just ordered this from Amazon. Had no idea such a thing existed. I think this is just what I need. Thanks for posting!

I'll see about testing my full face mask later with my Contour Pillow while I lay down and use a tablet or take a nap. I've only tested it once for a short period of time and I think I had no problems. I don't like to use the full face mask unless I have to and luckily, I haven't had to

I always thought 49er was a guy also

49er,
When I was on the Quattro I tried out the Tempur Pedic neck pillow standard $99, see link below, with good success. The trick for me and with almost any mask I try is to crowd my head right to the very edge of the pillow. The Tempur pedic is very firm. This allows me good neck/head support and does not allow the mask to turn downwards as with a soft pillow.
In this position a little bit of my mask is actually hanging over the edge of the pillow
Also could the tension of your hose be tugging at your mask when on your side.
Hang in there 49er we will figure this thing out. You may not know this, but many of us are really pulling for you.
A T

http://www.sears.com/furniture-mattress ... =27x104927