Air blowing in my eyes, raisin eyes are painful

I have in the last 6 weeks developed a problem of air blowing into my eyes at night, and waking up with painful dry eyes. I starting using lubricant drops while I troubleshoot the problem. Also, I seem to be developing neuropathy in my nose. During the day/while awake without cpap I feel tingling and/or have muscle twitching in my nose.

I use a Resmed Vauti, halo chin strap and an Airfit N20. This mask style has been working for me for about a year. I tried a full face and a N30i early on, but none worked as well as the N20.

What I've tried to fix the problem so far: a new N20, new headgear (I went with the smaller "female" size, the regular size was at the max smallness without overlapping the velcro), and I replaced my halo chin strap with a new one while I was at it.

I tried changing my air pressures, but quickly returned to where I've been at because I breath well/sleep well/air swallowing is minimal.

I'm wondering if I should try the P10 nasal pillow mask, or a padacheek mask liner for my N20, or switch out the chin strap for sombilix (maybe the fit would be better without the chin strap underneath??) What do you think would give me the biggest bang for my buck?

My raisin eyes thank you for your time.

Have you tried wearing a sleep mask? Worked for me.

I haven’t tried a sleep mask. I wish I didn’t need to strap one more item to my face, but I do have one. I’ll try it tonight.

Truffles wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 08, 2021 12:54 am

I'm wondering if I should try the P10 nasal pillow mask, or a padacheek mask liner for my N20, or switch out the chin strap for sombilix (maybe the fit would be better without the chin strap underneath??) What do you think would give me the biggest bang for my buck?

My raisin eyes thank you for your time.

dunno if it'll give more bang for the buck, but i'd recommend the P10, if the sleep mask suggested doesn't work for you.

Thanks, Zonker.

I’m mulling over the merits of the p10 vs the dreamport nose sticker things. I pay out of pocket, so I calculated roughly $600 a year for dreamport. Humph. What am I willing to pay for increased comfort is my reflection of the day.

Truffles wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 08, 2021 12:19 pm

Thanks, Zonker.

I’m mulling over the merits of the p10 vs the dreamport nose sticker things. I pay out of pocket, so I calculated roughly $600 a year for dreamport. Humph. What am I willing to pay for increased comfort is my reflection of the day.

oh, i hear you. i don't think you'll find a cheaper s.o. er i mean person on this forum than me. but i will draw the line(eventually) when it comes to my therapy.

P10 is what? 97 bucks on cpap.com. of course, you can get it cheaper on amazon when you buy it in parts.

and if there is a cvs near you, check there. lsat has a post that cvs stores are selling masks for cheap for the same reason amazon is.

whatever it is, let us know how you go, okay?

I'm in the same boat. N10 has worked the best for me out of anything. My nose bridge is small and often get air blowing into my eyes. I resorted to setting the top straps pretty tight for quite a few years now. I'm curious what your solution will end up being. The P10 is a great mask and my back up only because even just the slightest pressure on my nares make them raw. I move around in bed way more than normal so I need the stability of the N10.

Edit: Nevermind, by the time I got the bottom of the thread I already forgot what mask you were asking about. lol The N20 cushion is better than the N10 but the N20 headgear is really uncomfortable. Wish they would do a hybrid of those two N20 cushion with N10 head gear.

Speaking as the original raisin-eyed frog, I have fought this for over ten years.
I take prescription eye drops to control my interocular pressure.
A common side effect is dry eye.
It never bothered me until cpap, and I have had the best results from nasal pillows.
I was forced to abandon the most comfortable mask ever--the sleepweaver Elan.
Not even swim goggles helped enough.
My nightstand has artificial tears and even Systane Ultra--should I need turbo wetness.
Hang in there--it gets better.

I used Systane Ultra for many years, as my eye doc says my eyes are always dry. Recently I bought Systane Nighttime Lubricating Eye Ointment. This works much better. I sure is greasy but it's great. They tell you to use a 1/4 strip in each eye, but that's way too much. Just a drop on the edge of each pinky finger is plenty. I'm very happy with it, and gave away my unopened Systane Ultra bottles to friends.

Maybe this would help you too. Best of luck with whatever you try!

You can find the dreamports for bleep for well under a buck a day. Gotta buy in bulk to do it, but it’s not hard to achieve. Just buy the frame when you need to. If you take care of it it can last the whole year. With the pricing I’ve seen you can get out for under $350 a year cash.

Thank you all so much! You have shared some wonderful ideas which I will be following up on.

The eye cover/blinders did not work well with my mask- not enough real estate between what covers my nose and my eyeballs. It was worth a try.

Next I'll try the eye ointment. I've been using Systane lubricating drops, but it hasn't been enough. Ointment sounds like it could be a winner.

About a mask change, I am still on the fence. It's good to know that the price of the dream port nose stickers could be as low as a dollar a day. I will keep thinking it over while I try the eye ointment. I'll report back when I have some results. I don't just run to the store these days. I'll have to order the ointment to be delivered.

Truffles wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 10, 2021 12:06 am

Thank you all so much! You have shared some wonderful ideas which I will be following up on.

The eye cover/blinders did not work well with my mask- not enough real estate between what covers my nose and my eyeballs. It was worth a try.

Next I'll try the eye ointment. I've been using Systane lubricating drops, but it hasn't been enough. Ointment sounds like it could be a winner.

About a mask change, I am still on the fence. It's good to know that the price of the dream port nose stickers could be as low as a dollar a day. I will keep thinking it over while I try the eye ointment. I'll report back when I have some results. I don't just run to the store these days. I'll have to order the ointment to be delivered.

sorry the sleep mask didn't work.

please keep us posted and let's hope the ointment does the trick.

The Systane products are expensive--anybody have luck with generics?
I only tried the Systane because my eye doc had samples.

The Systane ointment is 3% mineral oil, the rest is white petroleum. The generics I found were copies of two different brand names that I don't recall; one was a 20/80 ratio and the other was like a 47/53 ratio or some such. I purchased the Systane. If there had been a Systane generic then I would have purchased that. For reasons unknown I'm vaguely more comfortable with petroleum than mineral oil, maybe childhood experiences.

Now I'm looking forward to sticking ointment in my eye.

Truffles wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 10, 2021 9:07 pm

The Systane ointment is 3% mineral oil, the rest is white petroleum. The generics I found were copies of two different brand names that I don't recall; one was a 20/80 ratio and the other was like a 47/53 ratio or some such. I purchased the Systane. If there had been a Systane generic then I would have purchased that. For reasons unknown I'm vaguely more comfortable with petroleum than mineral oil, maybe childhood experiences.

Now I'm looking forward to sticking ointment in my eye.

Let us know what you think once you try it. I have cautiously wondered if plain old cheap vaseline would work since vaseline is white petroleum jelly. I know the Systane tube stuff is sterile, but once it's on your fingers, then in your eyes it's no longer sterile. I'm just wondering...