Newbie's trouble with nose pillow

Hi, folks. I am still poking around here, hoping that eventually I'll gather enough guidance to make my CPAP usable. (By the way, if anyone has any answer to this thread earlier thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=93757&p=868854#p868854, I'd appreciate them.)

Yesterday I actually tried lying in bed with my CPAP. And here's the new problem I noticed. My nose pillow grabs up all the real estate on my upper lip and hangs off it like a small animal in distress. This is partly because the hose exerts some pull on the mask. That is massively distracting. It reminds me of my mom's cat who enjoys suddenly scaling a human from the back and hanging himself off said human's shoulders. I don't even like something taking up all that space between my nose and lips, but if it does, it better be inconspicuous, which this is not!

My mom, who also has a CPAP, suggested running the hose from the top, down my face, but a) I don't see how that would hold in place, b) I wear blue blocking modified glasses at night which I alternately put down and hitch up and I don't see how I can do that when there's a hose running down my forehead and c) the join between the little hose coming out of the mask and the main hose blows a lot of air, so, I think if the hose was running down my forehead that air would be blowing in my face.

I'm really lost with this and all the Medicare regulations that limit my choices. Meanwhile, though my sleep apnea started out mild, I'm suspecting that it's gotten worse in the last couple of months. In any case I'm desparately tired most of the time, but don't know how to make this machine work. If I don't make it work in the next couple of months, Medicare will take it away from me.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

Sounds like you need a hose lift.
There about $20

FWIW, the Aloha nasal pillow mask does not sit so big and heavy on your upper lip because you can angle it a bit so it's lifted slightly off the upper lip. Also, it has a loop on the top strap to route the hose up and over. I've worn my glasses while wearing the mask. I started with the Swift FX and found the silicone to be a bit irritating to my skin -- when I switched to the Aloha I had no more irritation. It's currently on sale at our forum host cpap.com:
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/devilb ... -mask.html

Unfortunately for me I have no coverage for medical equipment, so I've had to buy everything out of pocket. cpap.com is great to deal with and they frequently run free shipping specials.

The vent for the Swift FX won't blow back in your face if you route the hose overhead. It still vents outward and not upward.
Turn the hose so it goes overhead...you will see what I mean.

You can try a homemade hose management system fairly easily. See this thread for ideas. You don't have to spend much money.
Often you can use items laying around the house.
viewtopic.php?t=10640

Being on Medicare and having to use Apria does limit the mask experiments.
Do you have the funds to try a mask by purchasing on your own? If so, cpap.com has masks available with return insurance (some free and some at low cost) where if the mask doesn't work out you can send it back and get a full refund less the cost of the insurance.
They even provide a prepaid shipping label.

For hose routing, I hang a piece of rope with a loop at the end from the ceiling, and then connect a small bungee to the rope, and then thread the hose through the bungee. This works really well for me. As Pugsy said, there are other possibilities.

I used the Swift FX before I started using the Nano. I had the same problem as you have. I bought a "cozy" from Karen who owns Pad-a-Cheek and is a member here. It helped a little and made that hanging on your lip feeling somewhat better.

Since I started using the Nano, that feeling is gone! Personally, I like the Nano so much better... and no hanging on your upper lip. You can use the Nano with the same headgear you currently use. A few people have tried that and it seems to work just fine. Might be worth a try.

I have one of those hose hangers, and don't find that it alleviates the pressure on my upper lip when I'm on my back. It does take care of the hose pulling on the mask problem, though, which is why I have it. No matter what position I'm sleeping in, I had a problem with the hose pulling on the mask after a while...I do move around a lot when I sleep, and the hanger keeps the hose where I need it to be all the time. Highly recommended, however you can achieve the effect of getting the hose off the mattress if it's bothering you. Some people are perfectly happy without that, but it really helps me.

If you look around some, you can find ways of doing this using a wall, headboard, ceiling, etc. One of the things that I like about the hanger that I have is that it is simple, and I can take it with me when I travel and be comfortable then, too *smile*. There are probably portable versions of ones that use walls and ceiling that use suction or something, but I learned not to trust those suction thingies from using on shower walls. "Your mileage may vary".

Thanks, everyone. Does it make sense to try a new mask first, or try the hose routing first? (I'm really lost trying to sort everything out here.)

Here's what I don't understand about purchasing masks out of pocket with your own money. It looks like once they're opened they're not returnable, right? So, for me, just starting out, not really knowing what's out there or what I need, do I just have to throw away $80 at a time until I find a solution that works? Because I don't think I can afford that. I'd be willing to pay for a mask, and even pay for shipping back and forth a few times, but not just buy something with no idea how well it will work and then be stuck with a collection of useless masks.

jpek wrote:Thanks, everyone. Does it make sense to try a new mask first, or try the hose routing first? (I'm really lost trying to sort everything out here.)

Here's what I don't understand about purchasing masks out of pocket with your own money. It looks like once they're opened they're not returnable, right? So, for me, just starting out, not really knowing what's out there or what I need, do I just have to throw away $80 at a time until I find a solution that works? Because I don't think I can afford that. I'd be willing to pay for a mask, and even pay for shipping back and forth a few times, but not just buy something with no idea how well it will work and then be stuck with a collection of useless masks.

An opened mask can be returned. Some masks have a 30-day return policy, no extra charge. With other masks you can buy Return insurance and cpap.com sends you a postage-paid shipping label for the return. For example, the Return insurance for the Aloha mask that I mentioned in my earlier post is $13.77, so that is what you would lose if you decided that it doesn't work for you. It's expected that you would have opened and tried out the mask.

Should add that cpap.com may not be unique with providing return insurance for a price, but I haven't seen other sites that do that. So it is a good idea to look at the cpap.com web site first when you want to try a mask. Sometimes, when a mask first comes out, return insurance will be free, so if you're going to try a mask, that's a good time to try it.

You may find a better price elsewhere, but you also may not be able to get return insurance from there, so you're stuck with it if it doesn't work for you. This has happened to me several times, that a new mask hasn't worked for me, so I've learned to appreciate the return insurance from cpap.com, and I always buy it just in case.

RogerSC wrote:Should add that cpap.com may not be unique with providing return insurance for a price, but I haven't seen other sites that do that. So it is a good idea to look at the cpap.com web site first when you want to try a mask. Sometimes, when a mask first comes out, return insurance will be free, so if you're going to try a mask, that's a good time to try it.

You may find a better price elsewhere, but you also may not be able to get return insurance from there, so you're stuck with it if it doesn't work for you. This has happened to me several times, that a new mask hasn't worked for me, so I've learned to appreciate the return insurance from cpap.com, and I always buy it just in case.

Thanks for clarifying Roger -- I've only bought masks from cpap.com so didn't realize that not all online sellers offer return insurance.

I would try some sort of homemade hose routing first ...if I could fix up something from stuff at home with no cost or low cost.
Might as well try it as you might have a similar issue with any nasal pillow mask. I tried it myself but found it was more annoying than laying the hose around the bed pillow but lots of forum members swear by their hose routing system.

My hose gets routed overhead but it lays on the bed mattress and I position it so it runs around the top of the bed pillow and then comes down to my nose. Machine being on my right side if I am laying supine in bed and I always start the night out on my left side.
It's just the way I have always done it and suits my needs. If I move it is mainly to my back and the hose moves easily and still stays "over my head" this way. I have no need to have it up in the air but having it up in the air helps a lot of people.
I have done this with every nasal pillow mask I have ever tried and used.

If you find that a homemade cheap routing system works well there is no need to spend the money for a store bought version.
If it sort of works...then maybe buy one.
If it is more of an annoyance than it helps...then you have saved some money and you learned something.
Hurts nothing to try it though.

If you buy from cpap.com...make use of the return insurance whether free or at low cost.

Your DME (Apria) should allow you a free trial period with any mask because the mask manufacturer is the one that provides the 30 day trial period but any DME (not just Apria) has the option to not bother with this trial period thing if they don't want to.
They make their own in house rules...and they can do it. Not much we can do about it unless we can change DME suppliers to someone with a more lenient in house rule. They simply don't want to bother with the paperwork needed to get credit for a returned mask so they won't offer the 30 day thing. My DME actually offers 60 days and they even offer it to a long term cpap user.
They do make me return the unwanted mask though...some DMEs let you keep it. Last summer I tried the Wisp nasal cushion mask. I didn't do well with it and it got returned and I got a mask that I can use. It's the first time I have had to use their return mask policy. I only get 1 mask every 6 months with my insurance so I don't want to waste it.

Back when I was first starting therapy and doing all the mask experiments we had the cpapauction here so that we could get gently used masks for cheap or even new masks. So it made for trying various masks much more affordable. Alas, that got closed down so we don't have that option now.