Considering Dreamwear. Cushions or pillows? Your thoughts?
I want to pick up the Respironics Dreamwear. I've been using the Wisp and the Nuance Pro and I'm not super thrilled with either. I like the Dreamwear's top connect hose and the idea that there's nothing hanging from my face.
My only hangup is this: cushions or pillows?
They sell both the Dreamwear frame and softwraps (cushion pack), and the Dreamwear fitpack (pillows). I can't decide which would be a better option, so I'm wondering peoples' experience with it. I'm leaning toward the cushions because I'm not sure if pillows are a great long-term solution for me, but I just can't decide. It's a bit frustrating that I've no means to try them on and test, so I can only just buy one and hope for the best. Insurance won't be covering it, so all the more I need to pick one and hope it goes well, there's nobody but me to pick up the tab, and I've already got two masks I'm not super happy with.
Any thoughts or advice on this? Anyone have experience with these that could chime in to help?
Thanks!
RE: Considering Dreamwear. Cushions or pillows? Your thoughts?
I tried the Dreamwear mask because I liked the idea of the top connection. Unfortunately I found out it was suited for a back sleeper but not a side/stomach sleeper such as myself. When on my side the mask compressed and since that delivered the air, I felt air starved. The flexible silicone can't resist much weight before collapsing. Eventually I ended up with the Swift FX which I love.
RE: Considering Dreamwear. Cushions or pillows? Your thoughts?
(08-14-2017, 05:27 PM)speed3914 Wrote: I tried the Dreamwear mask because I liked the idea of the top connection. Unfortunately I found out it was suited for a back sleeper but not a side/stomach sleeper such as myself. When on my side the mask compressed and since that delivered the air, I felt air starved. The flexible silicone can't resist much weight before collapsing. Eventually I ended up with the Swift FX which I love.
Did you actually try it?
I'm a side/stomach sleeper and I use the Dreamwear mask with the cushions. It works great for me and I can't imagine using any other mask.
RE: Considering Dreamwear. Cushions or pillows? Your thoughts?
Hard to say - I've used a Nuance and Wisp as well, and then Dreamwear with both setups. There is merit to each, in my case the pillows, as much as I wanted to like them, were too finicky in terms of fit and every so often gave a "not enough breath" sensation. Agree the top tube is great.
If it helps, realize that the same Dreamwear mask fits both cushions and pillows, so that reduces the out-of-pocket. Also, there are good websites out there that offer 30-day return policies on masks.
Good luck on your trek for the perfect mask.
RE: Considering Dreamwear. Cushions or pillows? Your thoughts?
I find the dream wear mask to be comfortable when sleeping on my back, but have a little difficulty keeping the leaks in check on my side. The nasal prongs work really well for me when I sleep on the side but I do find they compress the air tube as other have said in this thread
RE: Considering Dreamwear. Cushions or pillows? Your thoughts?
(08-14-2017, 08:27 PM)Jimsp1 Wrote: (08-14-2017, 05:27 PM)speed3914 Wrote: I tried the Dreamwear mask because I liked the idea of the top connection. Unfortunately I found out it was suited for a back sleeper but not a side/stomach sleeper such as myself. When on my side the mask compressed and since that delivered the air, I felt air starved. The flexible silicone can't resist much weight before collapsing. Eventually I ended up with the Swift FX which I love.
Did you actually try it?
I'm a side/stomach sleeper and I use the Dreamwear mask with the cushions. It works great for me and I can't imagine using any other mask.
Same for me, I'm a Side sleeper and have no problems. The design is such that if one side is compressed the other receives the full volume of air. This mask saved me! I use the Cushion version I didn't care for having pillows up my nose! YMMV!
GuppyDRV
RE: Considering Dreamwear. Cushions or pillows? Your thoughts?
I use a Wisp most of the time with good results, very few leaks (I use a soft cervical collar) and I sleep almost entirely on my right side. I get leaks when sleeping on my back. I have tried the Dreamwear off and on for the past almost 2 years, but just can't wear it full time because of leaks--I have both the cushions and pillows. My breathing sounds a lot louder with the Dreamwear which bothers my sleep. Just got a Fisher & Paykel Brevida set-up today--very minimal headgear but DME says it seems to be pretty stable to sleep in. It has nasal pillows, tube hooks up at nose, not head like Dreamwear. We shall see....
RE: Considering Dreamwear. Cushions or pillows? Your thoughts?
I'm a Dreamwear fan, I think the mask is brilliant. The only issue I've had was that when side sleeping, the cushions could leak blowing air up towards my eyes, depending on the bed pillow I used. When the Gel Pillows came out for the Dreamwear I thought that this was the perfect match. The only issue was that I use a Small cushion so I got the Small pillow. It doesn't fit quite as well as it should but there have been benefits. While my AHIs have been low, the pillows dropped them even lower. Even better, my RERAs have gone down on most nights. Leak rates have also reduced.
The Medium size pillows arrived today and I'll get to test them out tonight. The big plus for the pillows is that I don't have air blown up towards my eyes. The cushions are maybe a little more comfortable but the pillows, for me, are giving better results. Last night was 0.97 though the RERAs were a bit higher than I would have liked.
I'll report back after a couple of nights of use.
RE: Considering Dreamwear. Cushions or pillows? Your thoughts?
Of course I tried it. As I said it gave me the feeling of being airstarved as the tubing delivering the air collapsed when on my side. Just wasn't for me.
RE: Considering Dreamwear. Cushions or pillows? Your thoughts?
Thanks for all the input everyone. That Brevida looks neat, I'll definitely consider it for the future. I think I want to keep the hose away from my face and body though. I can sometimes toss a bit and end up with the hose tangled so the top connect looks ideal.
For now I've bagged up my Nuance Pro for return shipping and have switched back to my Wisp. While the Wisp isn't ideal in terms of comforot, my AHI is *much* better on it. Back to a 3 or 4 AHI last night from 10s and up for the last week+ on the Nuance. We'll see what happens when I order the Dreamwear once the return processes. Definitely gonna go with the cushions. After this experience I'm not entirely sure pillows are for me.
