Noobs Beware!

[PaytonA]

I am not sure about a nasal pillows mask making it so that one does not get lachrymal duct leakage. It might, I am just not sure that I see how it might work.

There is one other thing that might help and that is the Fitlife mask by Philips Respironics. It covers the eyes, mouth, and nose and would give one roughly the same pressure around the eyes as one is getting in the airway. It might not completely eliminate lachrymal duct leakage but should reduce it a lot, hopefully to the point where it is no longer a problem. I get some of this type of leakage with my full face mask but it only happens occasionally and does not seem to cause any problems for me.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

[DariaVader]

Just curious for those who use pillows, can you smell while wearing them....smell cooking (if you are taking a nap and someone is cooking) or if there was a fire in the neighborhood, could you smell that something was burning

hooo boy can you ever. and do NOT let the dog fart near your intake!

[Ghost1958]

I am not sure about a nasal pillows mask making it so that one does not get lachrymal duct leakage. It might, I am just not sure that I see how it might work.

There is one other thing that might help and that is the Fitlife mask by Philips Respironics. It covers the eyes, mouth, and nose and would give one roughly the same pressure around the eyes as one is getting in the airway. It might not completely eliminate lachrymal duct leakage but should reduce it a lot, hopefully to the point where it is no longer a problem. I get some of this type of leakage with my full face mask but it only happens occasionally and does not seem to cause any problems for me.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

I dont have the tear duct leakage problem. But the fitlife was my first mask. There is no air rushing feeling or air movement at all on the face with one. Not even a real feeling of pressure because its spread all over the face and eyes. They dont dry your eyes out and the only air movement you really feel is when you breathe and that only at your nose or mouth whichever your breathing thru.
Id likely still be using one because they are comfortable no pressure points and seal well at high pressures but for the face plate being a bit to distorting to my vision for a reason Flacracker will understand from another forum we both frequent.
That was the only reason I worked to be able use nasal masks finally Cracker. Keep your powder dry LOL.

[DaveD]

I have a similar situation - I had surgery to correct a blocked nasolacrimal duct (DCR) which allows air to pass from the nasal cavity into the eye fairly easily. The Fitlife Total Face is a good solution, since it keeps the pressure differential between the airways and the eyes close to zero. That should solve the problem. Tough to sleep on your side, though.

[archangle]

An Oracle Oral mask will also fix air leaks through the nasolacrimal duct. You have to learn to use it without the nose plugs, but there will be no air pressure in your nose. It also fixes pressure in the ear.

The Oracle mask is a bit hard to adjust to. It tends to dry your mouth and throat, and the feeling of not breathing through your nose can be uncomfortable.

A total face mask should work, too.

[wolson]

Just curious for those who use pillows, can you smell while wearing them....smell cooking (if you are taking a nap and someone is cooking) or if there was a fire in the neighborhood, could you smell that something was burning

I live in a log cabin where the heat is a wood stove. There are two things I worry about with CPAP.

The first is fire. We have smoke detectors but I don't trust them. I worry about chimney fires and roof fires the most. I am not certain that a smoke detector would notice the smoke before I note the smells of aromatic polycarbons first.

The second thing is whether or not the stove fan that blows heat has gone off. It is thermostat controlled. If it goes off, it means the fire has died down too much and needs to serviced.

It turns out that neither are a concern with my CPAP and Dreamwear mask! I have gotten used the noise of the mask and now can hear the stove fan over it. This morning my wife got up before me (damn her! ) and started frying bacon. I could smell the bacon! So you can smell with CPAP despite its filters.

[Mr. Van Winkle]

Just curious for those who use pillows, can you smell while wearing them....smell cooking (if you are taking a nap and someone is cooking) or if there was a fire in the neighborhood, could you smell that something was burning

hooo boy can you ever. and do NOT let the dog fart near your intake!

LOL

[klv329]

My Ophthalmologist recommended something to keep the eyes from drying out due to air leakage through the lachrymal ducts (commonly called tear ducts). It is a gel that one puts in one's eyes before going to bed. It is called Systane and is made by Alcon.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

Just tried some systane gel drops. definitely lubricates in a gel kind of way.

been having dryness on the outside of both eyes, probably due to the nasal mask frame I guess, and low humidity. the dry eye seems to affect focus for awhile in the morning and sometimes later. never had a problem before until this winter when i used the heater for the first time in years.

[Mosquitobait]

Those systene gel drops work great, but be aware that if you are woken a few hours later for a mad dash to the hospital, be sure to put some kindof eye drops in to clear it out. I ended up having to pull over after a few minutes because I figured out it was the gunk I couldn't see through. Fortunately, with dry eye, I always have several packages of eye drops handy (I use the ones without preservatives).

[klv329]

Yikes, a rush to the hospital, hopefully everything was okay. So far this "anytime protection" systane gel seems to be lubricating pretty well, and I shall heed your warning. Looks a lot like my Alcon cyprodex squirt bottle. Probably have some crazy glue around here that looks just like it, too. Sounds like I have a Spongebob episode in the making.