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DreamWear Gel Pillow Mask
#1
DreamWear Gel Pillow Mask
This weekend I got fed up with the sores on my neck caused by the headgear on my new ResMed AirTouch F20. I have been battling high leak rates off and on since I got this mask. The cervical collar helped somewhat but not a complete cure. I find that the mask leaks at the bottom if I'm not really tight on the bottom strap...and when it's tight, it causes sores.

So, I went down to my DME and discussed my options. I left with a Respironics DreamWear gel pillow mask. When I first put it on last night I was in a bit of a panic as I couldn't exhale enough...I just tried to relax-stay calm and that feeling subsided. Within 20 min I was asleep and didn't wake up until 3:30 for a BR trip. Afterwards, right back to bed and, apparently, right back to sleep. I woke up with the alarm at 5:30 this morning feeling pretty good. I checked the sleep report on the machine and it said 1.3 AHI and 0 L/min leak rate!

I'm sure these nasal pillows will take some getting used to, but so far I'm sold.
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#2
RE: DreamWear Gel Pillow Mask
I had the same issues with my F20. It also threw my neck and jaw out of alignment that my chiropractor was able to correct.
Switching to the nasal pillows (Resmed Airfit P10) made pap therapy much more comfortable. At first I thought for sure that nasal pillows wouldn't work for me since I was a mouth breather. However, I used the suggestions from ones that made the switch from FFM to Pillows and my transition went well. I've had a 100% mask fit every night since my switch to nasal pillows over a month ago.
Hope it works as well for you.
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#3
RE: DreamWear Gel Pillow Mask
Thanks kbear.

I've been using a quatro-fx for 5 years and learned early on that if I breath through my mouth my tongue will be dry as a 2x4 in the morning...so I learned to just keep my tongue positioned at the front/top of my mouth. I'm sure I did that last night as I had zero leak rate.

The only issue I seemed to have with the DreamWear last night was that I couldn't sleep on my side. As soon as I tried it seemed like the head gear (air tubes on the DreamWear) would push the pillows some.
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#4
RE: DreamWear Gel Pillow Mask
It takes a bit of adjustment initially to get the Dreamwear headgear fitted just right but once you discover what works for you you won't look back. The usual mistake I believe (because I certainly made it) is to have the straps too tight. Having good pillows also helps but as a regular user you probably already have those.
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#5
RE: DreamWear Gel Pillow Mask
holden4th Wrote:It takes a bit of adjustment initially to get the Dreamwear headgear fitted just right but once you discover what works for you you won't look back. The usual mistake I believe (because I certainly made it) is to have the straps too tight. Having good pillows also helps but as a regular user you probably already have those.

I use just a regular pillow, but should really look into a specialty pillow. Are there any you recommend?


Also, last night was my second night with the dreamwear...no panic at first this time...fell asleep within 10 min (pretty typical of me...according to my wife) and had a leak rate of 0 L/min and an AHI of 0.8.

That's compared to this night 2 weeks ago on the F20 with an AHI 16.7. The only 2 changes are 1-cervical collar (Dr. Dakota now) and 2-dreamwear gel pillow.
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#6
RE: DreamWear Gel Pillow Mask
Congrats! I'm encouraged. Looking to try them as an alternative to the Dreamwear nasal cushion, which I love as is very effective for me except for when I have a lot of nasal congestion.
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#7
RE: DreamWear Gel Pillow Mask
Those are good numbers. If the pillow is working for you then why change it. I went to a buckwheat hull pillow to try and prevent leaks for mt e mask moving and it works well most of the time. The down side is that it's quite heavy but I suppose that keeps it in place.
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#8
RE: DreamWear Gel Pillow Mask
My numbers from last night were 5 l/min leak rate and 0.9 AHI. So still very good. I really like the pillows but it's going to take some time to build up some calluses on my nares   Dielaughing

I might have to go back to the AirTouch F20 tonight to give the nose a little R&R. The wife made a cover to go over the head gear on the F20 so it shouldn't dig into my neck so bad.
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#9
RE: DreamWear Gel Pillow Mask
(06-06-2018, 04:10 PM)gregger Wrote: Looking to try [Gel Pillow Mask] as an alternative to the Dreamwear nasal cushion, which I love as is very effective for me except for when I have a lot of nasal congestion.

An update (also posted to my thread about mask choices and the review page for Dreamwear, FYI)

Got my Gel Pillows yesterday and tried them out last night. The fit was fine but noise from the air vent (slot at front of mask) was very distracting. I don't mind the frame tube noise, but this ...  How to describe it... a Burble? Bubble? Crackle? Sputter? I thought since I had just washed it that maybe water droplets were causing noise.  Still, I drifted off and slept soundly for 2 hours at 0 AHI until my wife clubbed me awake and said "Roll over, that bubbling is keeping me awake!" I got up, fully awakened, to use hair dryer and Q tips to make sure the mask was in fact bone dry and that fit was good. When I put my finger over the vent, silence. I tried stretching open the vent slot slightly, and got whoosing air. Then tried compressing the slot over so slightly (by "pinching" the mask a bit, top to bottom at the center) to reduce volume; silence! 

I actually used a twist tie to maintain this "pinch" a bit while wearing the mask. Ended up with AHI of 2.5 for the night but think it might be because I shifted to side sleeping for quite a while, and I haven't gotten great numbers from side sleeping even though I enjoy it. Hopefully I can use a bit of tape to do the "pinch" job longer-term. 

I am wondering if my particular mask has a defect; the mask certainly "looks perfect" in the molding. Others on the Board have noted frustration with the vent design because of the airflow disturbing in a partner. In my case the problem is all about the crackling sound. Hope to resolve this on my own but I certainly hope Philips is working on this.
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#10
RE: DreamWear Gel Pillow Mask
I had the same issue with one DW gel pillow, weird fluttering sound that would not go away unless I covered the vent. I also examined it closely for defects and differences with another I had on hand, even measured the vents and looked for breaks/tears. Couldn't see any, but the other one made no unusual noise, so I used it and forgot about the other. There is a defect, I just don't know what it could be.
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