Switch from FFM to nasal pillows? How did you do it?

djams · Post by **djams** » Thu Dec 20, 2018 5:16 pm

Muse-Inc wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 20, 2018 5:37 am

djams wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 19, 2018 11:43 am
...longtime mouth breather. When I'm on my back (which I try not to do) my mouth opens. And my tongue relaxes and drops off the roof of my mouth.

I know I'd like nasal pillows, if I were able to use them...
Try my mask: pillows and covers mouth. It's a hybrid FFM. . https://www.cpap.com/cpap-masks/hybrid-cpap-mask

Thanks Muse. That is an interesting mask. Does the "chin flap" work well? I'm thinking in terms of dry mouth.

Ultimately though, one of the things I like about the pillows is that they tend to have very minimalistic headgear. I'm really on a "less is more" quest here. If I can get them to work, the Bleep mask becomes a possibility in the future.

djams · Post by **djams** » Thu Dec 20, 2018 5:23 pm

Tatooed Lady wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 20, 2018 7:38 am
I used that silly neoprene headgear briefly. It helped some. AND I found that if I took a blanket and tucked it under my jaw while I was on my side, it assisted in keeping my big fat yap closed. Basically, it's training your body to do as you want...while you sleep. It can take awhile, but being as I use the Swift fX nasal pillows instead of the FFM that I thought I'd be stuck with, its worth it, in my case.
I also bought the pad a cheek strips for the headgear, which minimizes the creases and marks on my face. I'm no spring chicken, I don't need help looking weird.

Thanks - it's good to hear from someone like me - thinking I'll always need a FFM. So you're saying there's a chance...

djams · Post by **djams** » Thu Dec 20, 2018 5:36 pm

Well, Pugsy saw this post and dug through her goody box, and now there's a Swift FX pillow mask on it's way to my house - with all pillow sizes included. So I'm going to get the opportunity to trial a pillow mask way ahead of the schedule I had imagined. This also removes the "hemming and hawing phase" that sometimes paralyzes me.

Also got some sound advice in the process.

Pugsy - you're wonderful! Thank you so much.

accrn · Post by **accrn** » Thu Dec 20, 2018 6:34 pm

I'm glad you're going to get to try nasal pillows!

I'm very new to all of this, but i was told that mouth breathing was a problem for me in my sleep study. I was initially fitted with an F & P Simplus and I couldn't get it to stop leaking everywhere. Went from that to an Airfit F10, then an Amara View, then an AirTouch F20, then a Comfort Gel, then a Mirage Liberty hybrid, and finally after all that, my RT decided to try me in the AirFit P10 nasal pillows since I breathe through my nose when I'm awake. She suspected that the mouth opening was a consequence of my severe apnea, and so far they seem to be working. My longest stretch of large leak has been 30 seconds and my AHI has been below 2 (it was 4-6 in all of the full face masks). I tried a chin strap initially and it migrated all over my head. I gave that up midway thru night #1.

Good luck and I hope they work for you!

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Thu Dec 20, 2018 7:03 pm

djams wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 20, 2018 5:36 pm
Well, Pugsy saw this post and dug through her goody box,

Pugsy, if not the forum's not so secret Santa... at least one of the elves.

djams · Post by **djams** » Thu Dec 20, 2018 7:11 pm

palerider wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 20, 2018 7:03 pm

djams wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 20, 2018 5:36 pm
Well, Pugsy saw this post and dug through her goody box,
Pugsy, if not the forum's not so secret Santa... at least one of the elves.

She certainly spread some joy here!

djams · Post by **djams** » Thu Dec 20, 2018 7:13 pm

accrn wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 20, 2018 6:34 pm
I'm glad you're going to get to try nasal pillows!

I'm very new to all of this, but i was told that mouth breathing was a problem for me in my sleep study. I was initially fitted with an F & P Simplus and I couldn't get it to stop leaking everywhere. Went from that to an Airfit F10, then an Amara View, then an AirTouch F20, then a Comfort Gel, then a Mirage Liberty hybrid, and finally after all that, my RT decided to try me in the AirFit P10 nasal pillows since I breathe through my nose when I'm awake. She suspected that the mouth opening was a consequence of my severe apnea, and so far they seem to be working. My longest stretch of large leak has been 30 seconds and my AHI has been below 2 (it was 4-6 in all of the full face masks). I tried a chin strap initially and it migrated all over my head. I gave that up midway thru night #1.

Good luck and I hope they work for you!

Thanks for the best wishes and sharing your experience.

BTW - I've been at this for almost 9 months, and still consider myself "very new to all this"!

DreamDiver · Post by **DreamDiver** » Thu Dec 20, 2018 8:55 pm

Muse-Inc wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 20, 2018 5:37 am
Try my mask: pillows and covers mouth. It's a hybrid FFM.

I agree with Mus-Inc. Try the hybrid first. It might work for you.

I started out with a nasal mask, and while it was very comfortable, even with my mouth closed, I would leak air through my mouth. No amount of wishing could help me keep air from escaping from through my mouth with a nasal mask. I'd end up with totally mouth inside with teeth stuck to my cheeks in the morning. It was a truly gross feeling, only remedied by drinking copious amounts of water. I'm pretty sure doing this on a regular basis could damage your mouth biota.

That said, I like the hybrid, but find that it pushes my nose and upper teeth a little too hard for long-term use. I got the hybrid after starting with a nasal mask because I wanted the option to read in bed without having to worry about a ff bridge in the way. It worked fine at the fitting in the DME's office, but when I got home supine, well it just did'n't work as well. After that, I just used the hybrid for light dozing during travel and dove right into the most popular full-face masks.

If you know someone who'll send you a free used nasal mask, you could try that too. But don't let go of your working full-face mask. Keep that as a fail-safe for sure. Best of luck.

Chris

car-buff · Post by **car-buff** » Sat Dec 22, 2018 8:03 pm

Thank you for the great advice.

djams · Post by **djams** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 11:05 am

DreamDiver wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 20, 2018 8:55 pm

Muse-Inc wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 20, 2018 5:37 am
Try my mask: pillows and covers mouth. It's a hybrid FFM.
I agree with Mus-Inc. Try the hybrid first. It might work for you.

I started out with a nasal mask, and while it was very comfortable, even with my mouth closed, I would leak air through my mouth. No amount of wishing could help me keep air from escaping from through my mouth with a nasal mask. I'd end up with totally mouth inside with teeth stuck to my cheeks in the morning. It was a truly gross feeling, only remedied by drinking copious amounts of water. I'm pretty sure doing this on a regular basis could damage your mouth biota.

That said, I like the hybrid, but find that it pushes my nose and upper teeth a little too hard for long-term use. I got the hybrid after starting with a nasal mask because I wanted the option to read in bed without having to worry about a ff bridge in the way. It worked fine at the fitting in the DME's office, but when I got home supine, well it just did'n't work as well. After that, I just used the hybrid for light dozing during travel and dove right into the most popular full-face masks.

If you know someone who'll send you a free used nasal mask, you could try that too. But don't let go of your working full-face mask. Keep that as a fail-safe for sure. Best of luck.

Chris

Well, on the first try - I couldn't even fall asleep.
viewtopic/t171979/djams-therapy-thread. ... 0#p1281025

There's not a lot riding on this experiment - I have no trouble with my current FFM. But I will give the pillows a few more tries. They're very comfortable.

DreamDiver · Post by **DreamDiver** » Sun Dec 23, 2018 9:30 pm

djams wrote: ↑
Sun Dec 23, 2018 11:05 am
Well, on the first try - I couldn't even fall asleep.
viewtopic/t171979/djams-therapy-thread. ... 0#p1281025

There's not a lot riding on this experiment - I have no trouble with my current FFM. But I will give the pillows a few more tries. They're very comfortable.

By all means! Stick with what works.

C

Switch from FFM to nasal pillows? How did you do it?

Re: Switch from FFM to nasal pillows? How did you do it?

Re: Switch from FFM to nasal pillows? How did you do it?

Re: Switch from FFM to nasal pillows? How did you do it?

Re: Switch from FFM to nasal pillows? How did you do it?

Re: Switch from FFM to nasal pillows? How did you do it?

Re: Switch from FFM to nasal pillows? How did you do it?

Re: Switch from FFM to nasal pillows? How did you do it?

Re: Switch from FFM to nasal pillows? How did you do it?

Re: Switch from FFM to nasal pillows? How did you do it?

Re: Switch from FFM to nasal pillows? How did you do it?

Re: Switch from FFM to nasal pillows? How did you do it?