Switching to nasal pillow

[SleeplessInBrussels]

Hi everyone,

The nose mask gave me some nasty sores on the bridge of my nose so the clinic gave me a nasal pillow (Mirage Swift II) which I tried for the first time last night. Feels much less cumbersome than the mask but will have to adjust straps tonight as it easily leaked a few times during the night. I hope this works because I prefer the feeling of the nasal pillow to the mask on my face. Any tips for new nasal pillow hosehead?

Oh and when I asked the sleep lab nurse why they didn't give me the nasal pillow to begin with, she said because my air pressure requirment is 10 and the nasal pillow is for 10 or lower so she said I would just have to see if it works for me. I want it to work!

Cheers - Brussels.

[Pugsy]

Oh and when I asked the sleep lab nurse why they didn't give me the nasal pillow to begin with, she said because my air pressure requirment is 10 and the nasal pillow is for 10 or lower so she said I would just have to see if it works for me. I want it to work!

What is the term for BS (bull hockey) where you live?

I use APAP. I use nasal pillows. I have often seen 17 to 19 cm of pressure on my reports. I never know it. My leak doesn't show it. The mask literature itself says tested and suitable up to 20 cm of pressure.

[apneawho]

I wear them with no problem and my pressure is a steady 14. I bet you will be fine.

[SleeplessInBrussels]

Thanks - no idea why they said that about 10cm pressure then. What's so annoying is that my CPAP machine doesn't give me data and so I can't check how much air I'm leaking in the night and how good a sleep I'm getting. When I asked the doctor she said they used to give patients machines with data but sometimes the information wasn't accurate and "patients panicked" and they decided to remove the data because through our national health system here in Belgium we have access to the sleep lab (calls and appointments) whenever we want. She said I can book a sleep test whenever I want if I'm having issues or want to test the machine and mask I'm using. But of course, it would be much easier to have that information every morning when I wake. Everyone else on this community has all these personal statistics they can rattle out and I have to just 'remember' if I heard any hissing the night before and doing the 'finger dance' around my mask in the middle of the night to see where the leak is coming from. I should change my nickname to Flintstone Hosehead!

[DaveLP]

Do you think they might be quoting the artificial 10 limit from experience. In my case, with a nasal pillow mask, I tend to experience higher EPI rates when I go above 10cm. That raises my hypopnea index.

[Janknitz]

by DaveLP on Tue Aug 16, 2011 7:15 am
Do you think they might be quoting the artificial 10 limit from experience. In my case, with a nasal pillow mask, I tend to experience higher EPI rates when I go above 10cm.

Nonsense! My pressure is 15 and my AHI stays around 0.5 with nasal pillows. My guess is that since nobody in Belgium is given data capable machines they can't precisely determine optimal Pressures in home settings so a lot more people are likely to mouth breathe when the pressures aren't ideal. So that's why they think nasal pillows don't work.

Not giving people data machines because tests are easy to get is one of the most penny-wise pound foolish ideas I've heard!

[rested gal]

Oh and when I asked the sleep lab nurse why they didn't give me the nasal pillow to begin with, she said because my air pressure requirment is 10 and the nasal pillow is for 10 or lower so she said I would just have to see if it works for me.

Many, many, MANY people on this forum use nasal pillows just fine at pressures MUCH higher than 10. It amazes me every time I hear of yet another health care worker talking about nasal pillows not being recommended for pressures above __(whatever they've been taught)__.

SleeplessinBrussels, you might want to check out the Lab Rat Awards page -- there might be a fix or modification there (even if for another mask) that you could adapt to making yours "stay put" nicely.

LINKS to Lab Rat Trophy awards
viewtopic.php?t=15104


Also check out the discussions about ways to manage the main air hose so it doesn't tug at a mask when you turn over:

LINKS to Hose hangers and methods of managing the air hose
viewtopic.php?t=10640

[SleeplessInBrussels]

Thanks everyone. Meanwhile I had a bad night yesterday - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=67286&p=626253#p626253

[johnsquiggles]

Hi Sleepless in Brussels, and everyone.

I am new to the forum and recently diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea after a sleep study in a Belgium state hospital. I soon have an appointment for treatment at the hospital with an over night 'fitting' but do not want to end up with an out of date CPAP device. Is this what I will be offered here in Belgium?
I have private medical insurance and so want modern features. I guess this means APAP with data recording? I thought of renting first so I could change machines easier if needed.

Question - does anyone know the best place to rent in Belgium or Europe?

Is it better to buy and if so, where from (living in Belgium).

Does APAP mean you can set it up yourself without a need for another night in the hospital?

Thanks for your advice.