SleepWeaver Advance Nasal pros/cons?

[zonker]

anyone here using the sleepwear advance nasal mask? it's on sale at the host site and i'm interested.

if you use this or any cloth type nasal mask, what are it's strengths? what are it's weaknesses?

thanks in advance.

[Stormynights]

I used to use that mask and those cloth masks are the most comfortable masks you can wear. The downside is they are prone to leaks. If they are too tight they leak or if they are too loose. They have to be just right. When I was using them I was having to get up several times during the night for pee breaks. I think I would do much better with one now that I have that issue solved.

[zonker]

I used to use that mask and those cloth masks are the most comfortable masks you can wear. The downside is they are prone to leaks. If they are too tight they leak or if they are too loose. They have to be just right. When I was using them I was having to get up several times during the night for pee breaks. I think I would do much better with one now that I have that issue solved.

thanks for your reply. i reckon leaks won't be a drawback for me. i've been on 4 masks and i'm always chasing leaks.

you have made me curious though. are you saying you have the pee breaks solved or the leaks solved?

and still hoping someone else will read this and give their opinions on cloth masks....

[bwexler]

I have over the years used each of the SleepWeaver masks.
In my opinion the Élan is the best. It offers all the advantages of the Advanced plus a swivel elbow and no strings between your eyes.
So far after 5 1/2 years and a dozen different masks the Élan is number 1 and the Wisp is number 2 for me.

I would skip the Advanced.

I also highly recommend the 18" feather weight tube with any of the SleepWeaver masks.

[49er]

I have over the years used each of the SleepWeaver masks.
In my opinion the Élan is the best. It offers all the advantages of the Advanced plus a swivel elbow and no strings between your eyes.
So far after 5 1/2 years and a dozen different masks the Élan is number 1 and the Wisp is number 2 for me.

I would skip the Advanced.

I also highly recommend the 18" feather weight tube with any of the SleepWeaver masks.

Totally agree with bwexler. The elan mask has been the only one I can tolerate and I have been fortunate not to have problems with leaks that many people seem to have with this mask.

Give it a shot and see what you think.

49er

[zonker]

I have over the years used each of the SleepWeaver masks.
In my opinion the Élan is the best. It offers all the advantages of the Advanced plus a swivel elbow and no strings between your eyes.
So far after 5 1/2 years and a dozen different masks the Élan is number 1 and the Wisp is number 2 for me.

I would skip the Advanced.

I also highly recommend the 18" feather weight tube with any of the SleepWeaver masks.

thank you for your reply. it's always good to get a positive endorsement. the swivel elbow sounds good to me. and i read a review about how thin those strings between the eyes are, leading them to break easily.

oh and thanks for the recommendation of the tube. i don't use any stand, just drape my tube across the pillow so that would be less weight to drag around.

[zonker]

I have over the years used each of the SleepWeaver masks.
In my opinion the Élan is the best. It offers all the advantages of the Advanced plus a swivel elbow and no strings between your eyes.
So far after 5 1/2 years and a dozen different masks the Élan is number 1 and the Wisp is number 2 for me.

I would skip the Advanced.

I also highly recommend the 18" feather weight tube with any of the SleepWeaver masks.

Totally agree with bwexler. The elan mask has been the only one I can tolerate and I have been fortunate not to have problems with leaks that many people seem to have with this mask.

Give it a shot and see what you think.

49er

well, given that i now have two people recommending it, i followed the link. looks pretty good. and i see it, too, has free return insurance, so why NOT give it a shot.

thanks for your reply!

[Stormynights]

As for the pee breaks, I never knew for sure whether I woke up to pee or had to pee because I woke up. I got some heavy duty depends and started just rolling over and going back to sleep when I woke up. It was amazing. It was just going to pee when woke up. It is a lifetime habit that is hard to break. I have never had a mask that didn't leak and the leaks wake me up. For me a mask with no leaks is just a dream. I have tried so many and for me they all leak. Mr frowny greets me a lot in the mornings.

[49er]

As for the pee breaks, I never knew for sure whether I woke up to pee or had to pee because I woke up. I got some heavy duty depends and started just rolling over and going back to sleep when I woke up. It was amazing. It was just going to pee when woke up. It is a lifetime habit that is hard to break. I have never had a mask that didn't leak and the leaks wake me up. For me a mask with no leaks is just a dream. I have tried so many and for me they all leak. Mr frowny greets me a lot in the mornings.

Very interesting Stormy and I am glad this worked for you. I think I may give this a try just to see what happens.

49er

[zonker]

As for the pee breaks, I never knew for sure whether I woke up to pee or had to pee because I woke up. I got some heavy duty depends and started just rolling over and going back to sleep when I woke up. It was amazing. It was just going to pee when woke up. It is a lifetime habit that is hard to break. I have never had a mask that didn't leak and the leaks wake me up. For me a mask with no leaks is just a dream. I have tried so many and for me they all leak. Mr frowny greets me a lot in the mornings.

exactly. when my doctor asked if i woke up in the night to pee, my answer was that i woke up and i peed. i didn't think it woke me up then i went. just more of a coincidence, i thought. have since learned that it IS a part of sleep apnea.

for myself, i don't think the desire is so strong that i would be in any danger to ignore it. several times, i've gone throughout the night without having to get up. on the other hand, before cpap, i would get up multiple times in the night. so i'm not too bothered about it.

i was just asking because i thought maybe you had found a way past the leaks.

me, i'm more bothered by the fact that i can't seem to sleep more than an hour or two at a stretch.

[canoekeji]

I use the Elan- can't tolerate anything but a cloth mask as I react to the others- mine is nasal only- not Sleapweaver FFM. I did try an Airft nasal silicone but had "burns" plus what felt like paralysis on one side of my neck in reacting to it after wearing for only 7 hours.

Definitely get the featherweight tube- w/o that you will have a hard time controlling leaks. There are 3 sizes of Elan- I got the kit and though I thought I used a regular it was actually the small that I needed.

As for leaks- not having tried any other mask I can't comment- but mostly I am between 12 and 17 leaks per minute- below the 24 that brings on Mr, Frowny- I use Resmed Airsense 10- Autoset for Her.

Re: pee breaks- down from 5-6 per night to 1 and sometimes none. For me I would say it was wake then think I might as well go rather than wake to go. I still don't feel like I have over the moon energy but I am doing better- down from 55 incidents to under 3.

[tiredandscared]

If you're going to use a circadiance mask i recommend:

-Getting a featherweight tube as an accesory
-Using a slimeline tube
-And a hoselift

With those, you can get a decent fit without any issues. Without them, you'll have a hard time getting a leak free fit.

[chunkyfrog]

I also prefer the Elan to the Advance. And I have tried both.
The advance's fixed hose causes lots worse leakage due to hose mechanics than the elbow of the Elan.
I used dental floss to add a small cabone ring (sewing notion) to the gasket on the elbow, and tethered the
elbow to the headgear for better stability.
This helped considerably with leakage control.
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[RogerSC]

Worst part of Elan mask for me (if anyone's still out there reading this thread), while it works well when properly fitted and positioned, every night is a new adventure. What I mean by that is you lose your mask fitting every morning since there's no clip or easy release for it that retains the settings for the bottom strap. Every other mask that I've used can be removed without losing the adjustments that you've made, so that just positioning the mask is all that needs to be done at night. That would be the finishing touch for this mask, to add a way that it can be removed without having to start over every night.

None the less, I was really surprised how well this mask has worked for me. Aside from my wife complaining about the repeated velcro noises as I re-adjust the mask every night. I didn't think that a cloth mask would seal very well since I move a lot in my sleep and sleep on my side. But when I'm on my side, that side of the mask just crunches down against the pillow, and the seal stays intact.

It is interesting, though, that the 95% pressure that is shown on the sleep report goes up 1 to 2 cm with this mask, from about 13 or 14 with nasal pillows to closer to 15 with this mask. Not sure why, the seal isn't showing leaking on the graphs, 0 leakage on the sleep report this morning, but yet the pressure shown was higher than "normal". Must be something about the mask that requires the S9 to provide a little more pressure to fix apneas. Could be the fact that the mask needs to be inflated, but that happens at lower pressures than I'm using. Doesn't really matter though, the good results speak for themselves.

[Islandwoman]

I love the Advance and have used for over two years, Get the short hose, it is light and easily twists from the mask for night excursions, no hanging "trunk" like some masks. One of the fit tricks is the tiny tab at the top of your nose. if you pull it out a bit the air pressure pushes the inner seal out to the sides and sets the seal. Just let go to softly snap in place, you can feel the seal move.The "strings are narrow elastic, just a loop sewn across, any sewing store would have the elastic. Mostly they stretch out after abt. 5 months. Simply form a loop the same size and sew across by machine or by hand or by friend. Make up a bunch for replacement. I have shortened a stretched one with a knot. It comes in small for tiny noses but make sure you check the web site for measuring nose for fit. Good luck and only wash in lukewarm water.