Poll: What mask type do you use?

I have four masks I'm trying right now:

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... dgear.html
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/RespCa ... -Mask.html
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/fisher ... -Mask.html
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... dgear.html

I've pretty much elimated the FFM and the Hybrid and am alternating between the Opus and the Swift FX. At this point, the Swift FX is my front runner. If I keep sleeping as well as I have been the last couple nights, it will become my daily mask.

Q

My all time first choice is SleepWeaver nasal fabric not-hard-mask
By virtue of using ASV these days, I also use Resp FitLife whole face mask (quite hard)
..I find the SW leaks much less than the FFM, but the FFM does allow better treatment of breathing events, so I typically wear the ffm until it wakes me up leaking, then switch to the all-comfort SleepWeaver. Tried éLan, but it didn't handle my vigorous tossing well; nor did the ComfortLite2.

Really interesting! Thanks, everyone, for piping in

Thanks MyIdaho! Yep, those are my babies. Wilbur is the big one (he's 12) and Shanti is my little girl (she's 5). I am that weird dog lady, lol.

Is it known here whether mouth leaks may fool xpap machines into graphing centrals?

For those with sustained high centrals who use pillows masks, might they be better off trying FFMs?

I've been experimenting with an FFM. On two of three nights I notice that my centrals plummeted.

Thanks.

My fitlife TFM is the second mask I tried when I started cpap a year ago. I tried the Quattro FX first, but due to nasal and facial issues (repaired cleft lip and palate), I found this to be the best match for me.

I started with a FF. Then I used a nasal. I ended up with a drawer full of masks that I could rotate when the Sleep Fairy took a night off and was replaced by her evil twin. I still keep a FF for nights with a cold. I like the Swift fx bella for reading my Kindle in bed. I love the cozy comfort of the Elan. I still have a drawer full of masks but I am ready to part with a few. I just hope the evil twin doesn't find out about that.

Stormynights wrote:I started with a FF. Then I used a nasal. I ended up with a drawer full of masks that I could rotate when the Sleep Fairy took a night off and was replaced by her evil twin. I still keep a FF for nights with a cold. I like the Swift fx bella for reading my Kindle in bed. I love the cozy comfort of the Elan. I still have a drawer full of masks but I am ready to part with a few. I just hope the evil twin doesn't find out about that.

Suggestion: Help Pugsy restock her donation inventory of masks and parts for use by others who have no insurance. You'll wind up with a lot of new space in your drawer!

Papit wrote:

Stormynights wrote:I started with a FF. Then I used a nasal. I ended up with a drawer full of masks that I could rotate when the Sleep Fairy took a night off and was replaced by her evil twin. I still keep a FF for nights with a cold. I like the Swift fx bella for reading my Kindle in bed. I love the cozy comfort of the Elan. I still have a drawer full of masks but I am ready to part with a few. I just hope the evil twin doesn't find out about that.

Suggestion: Help Pugsy restock her donation inventory of masks and parts for use by others who have no insurance. You'll wind up with a lot of new space in your drawer!

You would not believe how many masks I have given away.

Way to go, Stormynights !

so, how does that work with getting new masks? Does your insurance cover them all? Do you try them on first or just order what sounds good? I think I have 30 days to try out different masks at my DME but I'm not even sure how many options I have there b/c its just at my sleep doctor's office.

pandatx wrote:so, how does that work with getting new masks? Does your insurance cover them all? Do you try them on first or just order what sounds good? I think I have 30 days to try out different masks at my DME but I'm not even sure how many options I have there b/c its just at my sleep doctor's office.

Your DME should allow you to keep switching out masks until you find one you like, as long as you don't keep any one for more than 30 days. Do some research (looks like you have a good start by posting this thread!) and try to guess which ones you might like based on other people's opinions, then try for yourself. Call DME first to make sure they have it in stock, and have them order it if they don't. They shouldn't give you any hassle. Tell them we told you so and that'll give you the street cred!

Hopefully you will find one you like sooner rather than later. You should give each one a good chance. If it turns out that one you thought you might like is horrible, maybe don't give it but only 1 or 2 nights. If you find one that you can tolerate, give it a little more time. It may work out. It sounds like most people eventually find one that they pretty much know is THE mask after trying it for only a night or two.

Also, most insurances cover a new one every 3 months. Your DME will tell you what your insurance will cover. My insurance company makes me pay 50% of the new mask cost, but others may cover more.

I could probably lead the American or National League in hitting some years because I'm .333 with masks. Started with a Mirage Quattro but the 'farts' it made when I moved it at night drove me crazy.

0 for 1. Any hitter will do that.

I went the opposite way to a nasal but found that - typical of me my whole life - I simply could not keep my mouth shut.

0 for 2: Chicago Cubs style.

When I got the Quattro FX full-face it was a grand slam. It was my style from moment one and all but a few nights have been MVP caliber. In fact, as a retired teacher, I keep stats on everything and I'd say my "quality of night's sleep success rate" of 95% would be the envy of the 1927 or 1961 Yankees.

Play ball AND sleep tight!

Mirage Quattro FFM seems to be the mask of choice by men if I'm not mistaken. Although I've only tried a grand total of 3 masks (1 pillows, 2 FFM) it seems that I'm stuck with the Mirage Quattro FFM - size small. I wonder if anyone else has experienced the feeling that the Mir. Quattro mask feels too tight as the night wears on. It would be nice to hear opinions from some of the women who use the FFM successfully.

DEXSUZ wrote:I could probably lead the American or National League in hitting some years because I'm .333 with masks. Started with a Mirage Quattro but the 'farts' it made when I moved it at night drove me crazy.

0 for 1. Any hitter will do that.

I went the opposite way to a nasal but found that - typical of me my whole life - I simply could not keep my mouth shut.

0 for 2: Chicago Cubs style.

When I got the Quattro FX full-face it was a grand slam. It was my style from moment one and all but a few nights have been MVP caliber. In fact, as a retired teacher, I keep stats on everything and I'd say my "quality of night's sleep success rate" of 95% would be the envy of the 1927 or 1961 Yankees.

Play ball AND sleep tight!

Nice writeup! Tell me, what are you tracking when you state your quality of sleep is 95%? I'm looking for a simple way of recording sleep quality and if you have a scale that works, well I'd love to use it!

pandatx wrote:so, how does that work with getting new masks? Does your insurance cover them all? Do you try them on first or just order what sounds good? I think I have 30 days to try out different masks at my DME but I'm not even sure how many options I have there b/c its just at my sleep doctor's office.

Most of the mask manufacturers offer a 30 day trial but DMEs often make their own in house rules that differ from what the mask manufacturer offers. You need to ask whomever supplies your equipment what their policy is.
Some will allow any number of masks within a 30 day time...some allow only 1 swap...some don't offer any because they don't want to mess with the paperwork.

You may develop a curiosity later for a different brand, model or type of mask. Experimenting on your own gets pretty pricey but sometimes forum members will give away or sell at greatly reduced prices masks that have failed for them.
So keep an eye out on the forum. Freebies go quickly.
Or if there is one that you are really interested in and your DME doesn't carry it or it isn't time for insurance to pay for another sometimes just ask on the forum if someone has one they want to get rid of. You never know who might have experimented with so and so mask just last week and have it be a failed experiment.

I normally have a stash of various masks that people send to me for me to do the doling out because they don't want to mess with it but my stash has gotten really low lately. I have just received a few items but I need to go through and see what I have. Some are full masks...some are bits and pieces...that maybe just need one part maybe to make it a complete mask.
I give them away and only ask postage reimbursement if possible and also ask that if the experiment fails that the mask either come back to me or pass on to someone else in need. There's a lot of people without insurance and limited budget who might want to try something and one man's trash might be another man's treasure. No sense in something going to waste.

I will try to get together a list of what I have recently received very shortly. When I do I will post a new thread with list.