dreamwear --nasal or pillow

[chelle1957]

I'm using the dreamer first time tonight , but I'm not sure what to have my resmed machine set on, do I have it on nasal mask, or pillows

[Julie]

Well is the mask a pillow type or not?

[jnk...]

Well is the mask a pillow type or not?

It has some characteristics of both types.

DreamWear's unique design offers many of the benefits of nasal and pillows masks to allow patients to have the best of both mask types. -- http://www.usa.philips.com/healthcare/p ... nasal-mask

For machine settings, my understanding is that the proper choice is nasal. In its literature, the manufacturer refers to it as a "minimal contact nasal mask" and does not list it with its pillows mask: http://www.usa.philips.com/healthcare/s ... face-masks

[Cardsfan]

I used the Dreamwear for a few nights. I would say it's a nasal, because nothing actually goes up against each nostril individually. It fits around both nostrils at the same time. I think it is a very sleek design of nasal type. But, I'm no expert, just guessing.
But, it does not FIT against the nose like pillows do.

[chelle1957]

Thanks I will set it on nasal tonight and see how I go. Appreciate the help

[jnk...]

Thanks I will set it on nasal tonight and see how I go. Appreciate the help

Appreciate the question.

May it go well!

[palerider]

I used the Dreamwear for a few nights. I would say it's a nasal, because nothing actually goes up against each nostril individually. It fits around both nostrils at the same time. I think it is a very sleek design of nasal type. But, I'm no expert, just guessing.
But, it does not FIT against the nose like pillows do.

it's more about the size of the opening for air to flow through, so it's more of a pillow than nasal, I believe.

[jnk...]

. . . more of a pillow than nasal, I believe.

In the sense that the mask only applies PAP to the insides of the nostrils and not outside, I agree.

But nasal pillows, in my opinion, generally have openings that, in total, are much less than DreamWear--unless maybe one is comparing the smallest DreamWear to the largest nasal pillows.

[Grace~~~]

I have the dreamwear and on my autoset I chose the nasal setting.

I am having what is probably 'severe' leakage issues, but I am currently in overload and unable to really post about or solve my problems in any serious way. No braincells to spare, ya know. So I am just doing the best I can... Compliant. Breathing. Leaking(I guess).

However, if there is a possibility that if I simply set the machine differently on pillows instead of nasal then my stats would all of a sudden fix themselves? Well now *THAT* is the kind of minor action I am capable of right now.

I plan to write a "please may I have advice thread" soon.

OP, Chelle1957 ... I really really like the dreamwear mask. I hope you do too.
Please let us know if you seem to be having a higher leaking than with your previous mask?

[Pugsy]

The mask selection choice on the ResMed machine mainly affects leak reporting and in the case of the DreamWear I don't think it is going to make a huge difference between the nasal and nasal pillow choices.
I used the DreamWear with my S9 for probably a week with the setting at nasal pillows before it dawned on me to change it to nasal.
I thought maybe the leak numbers would change a little bit but I couldn't really tell any difference with either mask choice in terms of leak numbers. I couldn't tell any difference in anything in terms of results on the reports or how it felt in general.
So I don't think that it is a setting that is absolutely critical to get it correct in this situation.
The only exception might be if someone was running at close to the 24 L/min leak line all night long and in that case it might be more important.

[Pugsy]

However, if there is a possibility that if I simply set the machine differently on pillows instead of nasal then my stats would all of a sudden fix themselves? Well now *THAT* is the kind of minor action I am capable of right now.

You can try it but I doubt that your issue with large leak reporting will be that easy to fix.

From my own past experience with the DreamWear and seeing reports where I was using both the nasal and nasal pillow mask choice on my ResMed machine .....I never could see any huge difference in the leak reported...maybe 1 or 2 L/min at times but that could easily just be normal variations.
It's not like choosing nasal pillows is going to knock off 10 to 15 L/min in the leak numbers.

[jnk...]

I agree the setting doesn't mean much. (In fact, I think I still have my S9 set to Pillows even though I'm using the DreamWear right now.) But it seems to calm people starting out to know the setting is "right."

And I still have mixed feelings about the DreamWear in general. I find it super easy to use and less irritating to my nose than pillows, but I have more issues with the sensation of air movement--worse than either pillows or a more traditional nasal mask--and I can't quite get fully used to that. It feels leaky even when it isn't. It seems that for a side-sleeper like me, pillows feel more stable, even when they aren't, and DreamWear feels unstable, even when it isn't. It's the first mask to lure me away from ResMed masks, so I do give Respironics/Philips credit for the design.

[Guest]

I switch between the P10 and Dreamwear, leaving the S9 setting on pillows and don't see any difference.

[Grace~~~]

However, if there is a possibility that if I simply set the machine differently on pillows instead of nasal then my stats would all of a sudden fix themselves? Well now *THAT* is the kind of minor action I am capable of right now.

You can try it but I doubt that your issue with large leak reporting will be that easy to fix.

From my own past experience with the DreamWear and seeing reports where I was using both the nasal and nasal pillow mask choice on my ResMed machine .....I never could see any huge difference in the leak reported...maybe 1 or 2 L/min at times but that could easily just be normal variations.
It's not like choosing nasal pillows is going to knock off 10 to 15 L/min in the leak numbers.

Wishful thinking on my part, Pugsy?

[Pugsy]

but I have more issues with the sensation of air movement--worse than either pillows or a more traditional nasal mask--and I can't quite get fully used to that. It feels leaky even when it isn't. It seems that for a side-sleeper like me, pillows feel more stable, even when they aren't, and DreamWear feels unstable, even when it isn't. It's the first mask to lure me away from ResMed masks, so I do give Respironics/Philips credit for the design

That "it's leaking" feeling when it isn't was probably the hardest thing for me to get used to.
We just aren't used to having air blow on our nostrils...we are used to air " up in the nostrils".

I did try the DreamWear for about a month so that I could say I gave it a good effort and as time went by that "leaky feeling" of air moving on the skin of my nose/nostrils did become much less of an issue but for the first week or so it woke me up often thinking it was leaking.

So by the end of the 30 days any issues I had were much less annoying than the first week or two.
It's a nice mask and I decided to keep it for maybe use at sometime in the future if I couldn't use my nasal pillows but it didn't replace my primary mask choice of nasal pillows. While the headgear and stuff on my face and head wasn't horrible with the DreamWear...it was still more than with the P10 and less on my face wins out every time even if it is maybe a bit unstable (back strap slides up sometimes).