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changing from mask to nasal pillows
#1
changing from mask to nasal pillows
tonight will be my first night to try sleeping with my new Swift FX nasal pillow system. I tried it on a while ago and there seemed to be a great deal more pressure coming into my nostrils than I felt when using my mask. Has there been any experience from anyone with having to adjust or possibly lower the pressure setting when switching from mask to pillows?

Thanks,

Geneiris
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#2
RE: changing from mask to nasal pillows
No, there's no changing of pressure. Your level of 8 is well within the pillow range.

If your machine has a setting to tell it what kind of mask you are using, which I suspect your machine does not, you could change that. Even then, the pressure is not changed, just how it determines the data.
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




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#3
RE: changing from mask to nasal pillows
Be sure the pillows are fitted right and not too tight. If the flow is obstructed by the pillows being too tight, you may feel there is more pressure when actually, there is less. You'll feel that you can't breath very easily.

Here's how to test if the pillows are too tight. Without the machine turned on, but the mask disconnected from the main tubing, you should be able to breath easily as long as the short tube off of the pillows is straight and open at the end. If you can't breath easily, try loosening or adjusting the pillows a bit, by moving them out slightly or moving them side to side until you can breath easily.

If the fit is right, but you are having trouble only with the machine on, you may feel it less when you are laying down. The first time I tried my pillows, I was sitting up. Air was forced up into my ears, which never happened with my nasal mask. The pressure went away when I swallowed a few times and layed down. You shouldn't have to lower the pressure, although you can ramp it up if you want until you get used to the pillows.
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#4
RE: changing from mask to nasal pillows
With a nasal mask, the CPAP pressure is applied to both the outside and inside or your nose. Equal pressure = no force.

With nasal pillows the pressure on the inside of your nose is at CPAP treatment pressure, while the outside is atmospheric. Unequal pressure = some force.

The pressure difference is very, very, low, but it sounds like you've already noticed it. If the nasal pillows work better for you in general, you'll adjust and not even be able to tell this within a few days.

Like all mask issues, we're each different and just find what works for you!

Good luck!
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#5
RE: changing from mask to nasal pillows
Other posters are "spot-on" with their comments.

With the use of "pillows", the pressure is now concentrated directly into the nares of your nose. It is still the same pressure as you would be receiving with a nasal mask or a full face mask.

Do not reduce your pressure to compensate for this xtra assumed pressure that you feel. As suggested already..use the ramp feature if you feel a need to start lower.
Yesterday is history; Tomorrow is a mystery; Today is a gift; Thats why its called "The Present".  
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#6
RE: changing from mask to nasal pillows
(06-27-2012, 04:08 PM)geneiris Wrote: tonight will be my first night to try sleeping with my new Swift FX nasal pillow system. I tried it on a while ago and there seemed to be a great deal more pressure coming into my nostrils than I felt when using my mask. Has there been any experience from anyone with having to adjust or possibly lower the pressure setting when switching from mask to pillows?

Thanks,

Geneiris

It does feel a bit different than a mask, but from the first time I tried nasal pillows way back in the old Adam Circuit days, I never even looked at a nasal or FF mask again! When I lay down at night, even though my pressure is up to 12 now, I still check to make sure the darned thing is on because after about 30 seconds I can't even feel it! I open my mouth and, yep! There it is! Must be on! LOL! I hope you really enjoy the pipllows. If you can get used to them, you will love them! They are so lightweight and non-obtrusive it is unreal. The only problem I have, and it could be me, but the strap that goes around the back of my head tends to ride up if I am having an active night and I get awakened by major air leak! It happens to me a few times a week, but I am a very active sleeper. My wife has bruises to prove it! Why she puts up with me I'll never know! Thinking-about
As always, YMMV! You do not have to agree or disagree, I am not a professional so my mental meanderings are simply recollections of things from my own life.

PRS1 - Auto - A-Flex x2 - 12.50 - 20 - Humid x2 - Swift FX
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#7
RE: changing from mask to nasal pillows
(06-27-2012, 06:50 PM)mjbearit Wrote:
(06-27-2012, 04:08 PM)geneiris Wrote: tonight will be my first night to try sleeping with my new Swift FX nasal pillow system. I tried it on a while ago and there seemed to be a great deal more pressure coming into my nostrils than I felt when using my mask. Has there been any experience from anyone with having to adjust or possibly lower the pressure setting when switching from mask to pillows?

Thanks,

Geneiris

It does feel a bit different than a mask, but from the first time I tried nasal pillows way back in the old Adam Circuit days, I never even looked at a nasal or FF mask again! When I lay down at night, even though my pressure is up to 12 now, I still check to make sure the darned thing is on because after about 30 seconds I can't even feel it! I open my mouth and, yep! There it is! Must be on! LOL! I hope you really enjoy the pipllows. If you can get used to them, you will love them! They are so lightweight and non-obtrusive it is unreal. The only problem I have, and it could be me, but the strap that goes around the back of my head tends to ride up if I am having an active night and I get awakened by major air leak! It happens to me a few times a week, but I am a very active sleeper. My wife has bruises to prove it! Why she puts up with me I'll never know! Thinking-about


I fixed my leak issues and that strap movement, by covering it with a chin strap. It works but it will scare the wife if she has to look at you.
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#8
RE: changing from mask to nasal pillows
(06-27-2012, 04:08 PM)geneiris Wrote: Has there been any experience from anyone with having to adjust or possibly lower the pressure setting when switching from mask to pillows?

By the time I first tried pillows I had been through two types of nasal masks. I loved pillows from the very first time I tried them. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that when we first try a new mask we may be a bit anxious about it. This anxiety causes our respiration rate to increase, which in turn may cause the mask to be uncomfortable. This is why it's important to acclimate to the mask. Wear it while relaxing: Listening to music, reading, or watching TV.

Concerning your question about adjusting the pressure, as I understand it this is the basic idea between what Philips-Repironics calls their "System One Resistance" feature. Pillows have a greater resistance to the flow of air than do nasal masks. Thus a lowering of pressure at the machine end of the hose is required to maintain the same pressure at the mask end of the hose. This is a very minor effect, though, and probably won't affect the quality of your therapy.
Sleepster

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#9
RE: changing from mask to nasal pillows
(06-27-2012, 06:56 PM)BabyDoc Wrote: I fixed my leak issues and that strap movement, by covering it with a chin strap. It works but it will scare the wife if she has to look at you.

I don't know. I've looked at chin straps, but it always comes back to "Man, that's a lot of stuff on my head while I am trying to sleep!". I don't have a problem with opening my mouth so I think I'll forego the chinstrap for now, but thanks for the tip anyway. I do appreciate it.
As always, YMMV! You do not have to agree or disagree, I am not a professional so my mental meanderings are simply recollections of things from my own life.

PRS1 - Auto - A-Flex x2 - 12.50 - 20 - Humid x2 - Swift FX
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