I think I'm in love.

[TinyAwesome]

Hi, all!

Some of you may remember my trials and tribulations trying to court a nasal pillow mask. I tried a couple, and they just didn't work for me, so I sent a long and exasperated message to my CPAP vendor in a last ditch effort to save that relationship because, even though I freaking work with health insurance every single day of my life, I wasn't sure how switching DME vendors would work logistically and that gave me the fear. They ended up sending me a face mask, the DreamWear Nasal Mask, which I wasn't thrilled to hear initially. I tried a full face mask in the sleep lab that sat on my cheekbones/near my sinuses, and the pressure was instantly uncomfortable/painful for me, so I was apprehensive. Also, superficially, I didn't want to look like Immortan Joe while I was sleeping (not that I had anyone to impress at bedtime).

Y'all. I've worn my mask for two nights now and it's (almost) perfect. I was also nervous because the (lengthy, hallelujah!) instruction booklet said not to wear any lotions, and I have pretty parched skin year-round so I need to moisturize day and night. I've been handling that the way I usually do, putting on moisturizer an hour before I go to sleep so it has time to soak in and it hasn't seemed to be a problem at all. When I am ready for bed, I just slip it on, take about 30 seconds to make minimal adjustments, and I'm good to go. I really enjoy having the headgear that holds the tubing above my head so I don't have to mess with it every time I change positions (which is fairly often). I have also found that it's not terrible with side/stomach sleeping, which are my preferred positions (I trained myself not to sleep on my back years ago because I'd immediately start snoring/having trouble even before I fell asleep, even though I don't snore that much on my side/stomach. I still find it difficult to break that habit and sleep on my back), though occasionally it causes slightly decreased air flow, or a little leak, especially near the end of the night because...I've found that I'm drooling like a mofo since I started using a CPAP (it's only been less than a dozen days that I've used it)! It was tolerable with the nasal pillows mask, but with this face mask it's hard because a) it tends to loosen the seal, so my mask tends to slip or gap a tiny bit near the end of the night which wakes me up more, and b) it's SO GROSS to wake up with drool all over my face. At least it motivates me to make sure I'm washing my face right after I wake up, right? I read an article on this that says my body will get used to the CPAP and the drooling thing will pass in a couple of weeks. LORD I hope that's true! Anyway, just wanted to share a happy update! Hope y'all are staying healthy and connected during this time!

EDIT: the mask is actually the DreamWear Full Face Mask.

[Pugsy]

Congratulations on the mask success.

The drooling may reduce with time but not totally ever go away...It's been nearly 11 years now that I have been on cpap and it still happens every now and then.

If it gets too annoying considering adding a mask liner from padacheek.com. They are well made and can be washed and will last for months and months and months. The liner can absorb some of the annoying moisture from the drool.
https://www.padacheek.com/

You can also make your own liner if you wish out of an old T shirt.

[TinyAwesome]

Congratulations on the mask success.

The drooling may reduce with time but not totally ever go away...It's been nearly 11 years now that I have been on cpap and it still happens every now and then.

If it gets too annoying considering adding a mask liner from padacheek.com. They are well made and can be washed and will last for months and months and months. The liner can absorb some of the annoying moisture from the drool.
https://www.padacheek.com/

You can also make your own liner if you wish out of an old T shirt.

This is brilliant! You always have such amazing suggestions. Thank you! Will the liner also help with those fun red lines on my face in the morning? They go away after about 30 minutes, but they make me nervous for some reason.

[Pugsy]

Yes, the liners will also help with those red marks left by the mask....big help in that regard.

If you get strap dents....the strap covers will help with that as well. I always was easy to get dents on my cheeks from the straps on my nasal pillow masks. Annoyed the hell out of me because sometimes they would last all day....so I always used some fleece wrap side strap covers. A wrinkle in the pillow case will give me a "scar"...that's how easy I would get the dents. The strap covers help diffuse the pressure so the chance of dents or marks are greatly reduced. With the side strap covers I might still get a faint dent but I could barely see it and it always faded quickly.

[chunkyfrog]

Mask liners do indeed help with face lines.
They also help keep your face cooler on summer nights and a little warmer in the winter.
And they muffle face farts quite nicely.

[Pugsy]

Side note about padacheek.com for newbies who might not know about Karen who owns padacheek.com.

Karen is a cpap user herself. She started this company because of the problems she had with her own cpap masks and straps.
If she doesn't have something you need....call her and have a chat...she might have something she is working on that hasn't made it to the website yet...or sometimes she makes up special request items for people.
She uses high quality material...not cheap stuff. All her products will have a long life span with common sense care. Remember she is a cpap user herself and knows the value of money and product life and conservation.

[TinyAwesome]

And they muffle face farts quite nicely.

This gave me the loudest laugh I've had all morning, so thanks for that!

[TinyAwesome]

Side note about padacheek.com for newbies who might not know about Karen who owns padacheek.com.

Karen is a cpap user herself. She started this company because of the problems she had with her own cpap masks and straps.
If she doesn't have something you need....call her and have a chat...she might have something she is working on that hasn't made it to the website yet...or sometimes she makes up special request items for people.
She uses high quality material...not cheap stuff. All her products will have a long life span with common sense care. Remember she is a cpap user herself and knows the value of money and product life and conservation.

Oooooh! I love supporting community. Thank you for this!

[Pugsy]

I forgot to add....Karen is an active long standing member of this forum.

[Midwest_non_sleeper]

I also use a Dreamwear nasal mask with pillows.

Best money I ever spent. Just the fact that the intake hose connects near the top of my head and not in front of my nose is worth it. I can turn over, move, do cartwheels, practice Jiu-Jitsu, and plank all without the tube getting in my way.

[zonker]

I also use a Dreamwear nasal mask with pillows.

Best money I ever spent. Just the fact that the intake hose connects near the top of my head and not in front of my nose is worth it. I can turn over, move, do cartwheels, practice Jiu-Jitsu, and plank all without the tube getting in my way.

pics, or it didn't happen.

[Midwest_non_sleeper]

I also use a Dreamwear nasal mask with pillows.

Best money I ever spent. Just the fact that the intake hose connects near the top of my head and not in front of my nose is worth it. I can turn over, move, do cartwheels, practice Jiu-Jitsu, and plank all without the tube getting in my way.

pics, or it didn't happen.

I'm not so sure that my wife would appreciate my showing anyone those. You probably wouldn't appreciate it either, as you might need new eyeballs afterwards, and those are in very short supply I'm afraid.

[zonker]

I'm not so sure that my wife would appreciate my showing anyone those. You probably wouldn't appreciate it either, as you might need new eyeballs afterwards, and those are in very short supply I'm afraid.

a big burly police officer askeered of his wife?



not that i blame you.

"when captured, never let them turn you over to the women" - L. Long.

[palerider]

I also use a Dreamwear nasal mask with pillows.

Best money I ever spent. Just the fact that the intake hose connects near the top of my head and not in front of my nose is worth it. I can turn over, move, do cartwheels, practice Jiu-Jitsu, and plank all without the tube getting in my way.

pics, or it didn't happen.

I'm not so sure that my wife would appreciate my showing anyone those. You probably wouldn't appreciate it either, as you might need new eyeballs afterwards, and those are in very short supply I'm afraid.

I have to admit that I'm a little suspicious about the 'cartwheels' part, unless you've got a very long hose

[Midwest_non_sleeper]

I also use a Dreamwear nasal mask with pillows.

Best money I ever spent. Just the fact that the intake hose connects near the top of my head and not in front of my nose is worth it. I can turn over, move, do cartwheels, practice Jiu-Jitsu, and plank all without the tube getting in my way.

pics, or it didn't happen.

I'm not so sure that my wife would appreciate my showing anyone those. You probably wouldn't appreciate it either, as you might need new eyeballs afterwards, and those are in very short supply I'm afraid.

I have to admit that I'm a little suspicious about the 'cartwheels' part, unless you've got a very long hose

There will be no discussion of "long hoses" here Sir (or lack thereof), there are children present.