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High Pressure PAPers
#11
RE: High Pressure PAPers
My CPAP machine is on a pressure of 17 and I use nasal pillows. No leaks if any great importance.
I'm not a Doctor but a fan of The Doctor. any views,comments etc are my own


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#12
RE: High Pressure PAPers
Mine was set at 24. I battled the leak situation the whole time. It was awful.
I have worked for many years in heavy industry- mining, oil and gas, manufacturing, and maintenance. Wearing a respirator and wearing these masks is similar.
I encounter the same situation with these masks. My face size falls right smack between medium and large.
The full face mask works well for my situation but not for fitting my face. I tried a lot of masks through the DME. The best would have been the gel fit mask if I could have customized it.
I trimmed it to fit and it fit fricking perfect only one problem. When I trimmed it I opened up the gel and it was sticky. Too sticky. I figured that there was a way to paint something on there and give it the same flexible sealed smooth surface it had before I cut into it.

It is not like this industry is accessible for suggestion. I talked to the DME about it and got nowhere. I experimented with various home things like vinegar, alcohol, and probably things I do not remember to reseal the gel material. I know it can be done. My pitiful frustrated experiments failed. It can be done, "they" just have to want to give a rip about all those people who do not match generic mask sizing.

I did find a gel patch that fits over the bridge of the nose for $50 at the DME. It is a mostly wrong shape and thickness but by putting it in exactly the right spot I was able to seal the eye leak.

I also found a different headgear to hold the ffm mask. It helped. The trick is to use the outrageous pressure to kind of set the mask in exactly the right spot while adjusting the head gear and then do not move for the rest of the night.

After a few months of all of that I was nearly homicidal. After 3 years I was nearly suicidal. I do not have words to fully express the levels of rage and depression that at various times I have gone through with a treatment situation like this.

Simply creating a kit for customizing the gel type full face mask would make these things workable for people in my situation.

I will be using a total face mask with my new machine set at a lower pressure by a different sleep doctor. I hope that this works. I also hope that I have helped you. The fitlife total face mask I can get for 160 dollars from supplier #ten by mail. My DME charged me 207 dollars with their special discount for the same mask. I believe I asked #ten if I needed a prescription for the mask but I cannot remember the answer. Try them they are very helpful but call early they are on Ohio time.

For those who are deaf or hard of hearing a bed shaker alarm port standard with these machines would be advisable as well. The bedshaker would at least alert me to a huge leak situation when the worthless to me alarm is going off.



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#13
RE: High Pressure PAPers
(01-18-2014, 07:31 PM)PaulaO2 Wrote: I know you asked for opinions from folks who have pressures of 20 but here's mine.

Paula02,
Thank you for your response. I was hoping to get replies from people with many different (but high) pressures. That is why I asked for people who use around 20 cm H2O. My feeling is that sealing becomes more difficult at higher pressures.

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I am working hard on this.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

Admin Note:
PaytonA passed away in September 2017
Click HERE to read his Memorial Thread

~ Rest in Peace ~
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#14
RE: High Pressure PAPers
I am brand new here, and brand new to the therapy, only three days in now. My pressure is 18, and I am having a very hard time getting my mask to seal. the air just blows in my eyes, and is truly obnoxious. I asked about nasal pillow masks and was told they worked poorly at higher pressures and I would be unhappy. I was also told they caused "pig nose", not my words but the techs. I am now trying to find some information on what to do with the mask situation, and I found this board, so here I am and I hope my information can help others.
If everyone thinks alike, then someone isn't thinking.
Everyone knows something, together we could know everything.
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#15
RE: High Pressure PAPers
(01-19-2014, 06:57 PM)Galactus Wrote: the air just blows in my eyes. I asked about nasal pillow masks and was told they worked poorly at higher pressures and was also told they caused "pig nose", not my words but the techs.

nasal masks and nasal pillows would work better for most people at a higher pressure or lower pressure.

A few things you can try:

1. make sure your head gear isn't too tight and if you are using the cloth head gear, try the silicone head gear
2. make sure you are using the right size cushion. your cushion doesn't need to go to the top of your nose and with your nasal mask, it isn't supposed to. I used the petite cushion last night and it worked well. Also, make sure you wash your cushion every day.
3. Make sure you wash your face every night before you put your mask on.
4. Make sure your hose is above your head by putting it over your head board or on a hook on the wall.
5. If all of this doesn't work, try getting or making a nasal mask liner.

Honestly, who the heck cares about pig nose. But, a lot of people use nasal pillows and that is one complaint I haven't heard anyone talk about. Your nares are the size that they are and the pillows are supposed to fit in them and I can't imagine that they would stretch them. I can't swear to it as I don't use the pillows. FFM's have a tendency to leak more. As always, YMMV.

I am sure others will have more suggestions for you.
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#16
RE: High Pressure PAPers
(01-19-2014, 06:57 PM)Galactus Wrote: I am brand new here, and brand new to the therapy, only three days in now. My pressure is 18, and I am having a very hard time getting my mask to seal. the air just blows in my eyes, and is truly obnoxious. I asked about nasal pillow masks and was told they worked poorly at higher pressures and I would be unhappy. I was also told they caused "pig nose", not my words but the techs. I am now trying to find some information on what to do with the mask situation, and I found this board, so here I am and I hope my information can help others.

Hi Galactus,

Welcome to the board. There is a lot of great information available here from people like you and me asking questions and very knowledgeable people answering them.

It appears that many people on the board successfully use nasal masks and nasal pillows. I use a nasal mask and it does not leak into my eyes (the full face mask that I had did that). If your nasal mask has the rigid non-adjustable stabilizer that rests against the forehead, there may be too big a drop off from your forehead to the bridge of your nose to make a good seal. There is a lot of variation there.

The tech at the lab where they did my titration tried a set of nasal pillows on me and the technician could not get them to quit leaking. I felt like with that particular set of nasal pillows, the leakage was due to the 20 cm H2O pressure because the seal kept getting blown out.

I am not any kind of expert on masks. I have only tried 3. 1 full face, 1 nasal pillow, and 1 nasal mask. My Fisher and Paykel Zest nasal mask does not give me any leakage problems around the bridge of the nose until it is time to tighten the elastic up once again. After a while the elastic relaxes a little and needs to be adjusted.

There are plenty of people on this forum that know a lot more about masks than I do. Hang in there and I am sure you will be getting some very useful information.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

Admin Note:
PaytonA passed away in September 2017
Click HERE to read his Memorial Thread

~ Rest in Peace ~
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#17
RE: High Pressure PAPers
(01-19-2014, 06:57 PM)Galactus Wrote: I am brand new here, and brand new to the therapy, only three days in now. My pressure is 18, and I am having a very hard time getting my mask to seal. the air just blows in my eyes, and is truly obnoxious. I asked about nasal pillow masks and was told they worked poorly at higher pressures and I would be unhappy. I was also told they caused "pig nose", not my words but the techs. I am now trying to find some information on what to do with the mask situation, and I found this board, so here I am and I hope my information can help others.

Hi galactus,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I have heard that pillows don't work with higher pressures, but I have also heard that some people can get pillows to work with higher pressures. The mask is the hardest part of this therapy, but don't be shy about asking to try different masks, even masks that you have been told will not work; you won't know what does or does nott work 'till "you" have tried them.
Hang in there for more responses to your post and don't give up.
Best of luck to you with your CPAP therapy.
trish6hundred
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#18
RE: High Pressure PAPers
Thanks for all the information.

To all; No worries, I am not giving up, I actually find the therapy helpful, and I feel better than I have felt in many years. I used to fall asleep at my computer while working. I would fall asleep in the car as a passenger almost immediately. Frankly I would fall asleep anywhere anytime, even in a restaurant, having lunch. In the middle of a conversation with my wife, at the doctors list. Honestly I would fall asleep anywhere anytime, didn't matter. Now three days in and I have spent two days fully awake, I mean awake, not fallen asleep even once. So, I am in for the long haul. I just would like it to be as good as it can be. I mean if I was say an insulin dependent diabetic I would like to use the smallest needle, and be as comfortable as I could. Same here, I feel I deserve to be comfortable or as comfortable as I can be.

me50;
1- I have the cloth, was unaware there was silicon. frankly till I found this site I was unaware as to just how many masks were actually available.
2- I only received 1 cushion, and honestly wouldn't know the right one or the wrong one.
3- I do that.
4- I will try that.
5- I have seen those.

PaytonA;
My mask doesn't have the forehead piece.

My tech wouldn't allow me to try on any other masks, said they could give me pillows but made it sound like if I did there was no changing back..... That has really annoyed me currently the more I consider it.

trish6hundred;
I guess I am going to have to figure out how to find a place where I can try on these masks and see if anything is something I really like.

Also, I didn't mean to hijack this thread, and will be opening one because of another issue I have as well with the humidifier.

This is the mask I currently have;
Respironics Wisp Nasal Mask



If everyone thinks alike, then someone isn't thinking.
Everyone knows something, together we could know everything.
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#19
RE: High Pressure PAPers
(01-19-2014, 09:08 PM)Galactus Wrote: me50;
1- I have the cloth, was unaware there was silicon. frankly till I found this site I was unaware as to just how many masks were actually available. I KEEP MY WISP HEAD GEAR PRETTY LOOSE AND MY LEAKS ARE GREAT. WHEN I USED THE LARGE CUSHION, I DID GET AIR IN MY EYES SO MY RT TOLD ME TO USE A SMALLER CUSHION

2- I only received 1 cushion, and honestly wouldn't know the right one or the wrong one. THAT MAKES NO SENSE AS THE WISP COMES WITH 3 SIZES OF CUSHIONS

3- I do that.
4- I will try that.
5- I have seen those.

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#20
RE: High Pressure PAPers
Galactus

Was it your sleep tech that said you couldn't try on more masks or the RT at the DME's office? I know that Apria won't let anyone try on masks at all. You can look at them but you can't touch so to speak. I have no clue how anyone can choose a mask that way.

Not sure what state you are in but if this is what your DME is telling you, you may want to look around. I finally found a great DME after almost 3 years of being on the machine.

Whoever told you that you can't try other masks is wrong. You may have to wait until your 3 months to order another one if you have insurance but you can try as many as you want to.
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