Problem with Nuance mask

[warmbear]

Hi everyone: I presently have the non-pro version of this mask. When it works (most of the time), I love it. However, when it does not work, it is an unmitigated nightmare...

Usually, I put the mask on, adjust the pillows a bit, the machine kicks on, and I am good to go... I am a side sleeper, and I let the hose dangle down, and put a generous hose loop up and under the side of my pillow, and back to the machine.

(I have a smallish nose, and am using the small pillows. Also, like many people, one nostril is smaller than the other, and the smaller nostril is sore every morning.)

However, occasionally (like last night), I feel like the pillows have collapsed, and I get very little air. It seems no matter what I do, I cannot get the mask adjusted to provide proper airflow. As you would expect, when the mask is fitting like this, I fight the machine all night, and have bad numbers in the morning.. I cannot for the life of me figure out what I am doing wrong to make the mask behave in this manner...

Any suggestions?

[PaulaO2]

Have you tried a different size? Mine does that on occasion but not all night. I pull it away from my face and reset it. Fixes the problem. I think what happens is the angle changes and the hole is aimed up too high for enough air to get into or out of it. A different size pillow might help you.

[warmbear]

Hi Paula.. Thanks for your response....

When my DME gave me the mask, it had the medium pillows installed on it, and they seemed way too big for my nostrils (and this same problem happened), so I switched to the small pillows.

When this happens, I try repeatedly throughout the night to reset the mask, (as you described) and do not have any luck. I have even completely taken the mask off, and put it back on, without success.

Also, it happens immediately when I put the mask on for sleep, it does not happen sometime in the night, so I am doing something differently, but I will be hanged if I know what it is....

The side straps are where they are supposed to be, just over the ears, and the back strap is snug to the back of my head..

I have noticed that the mask does push on/ride my upper lip, almost as if it would like to rotate more in that direction (so that the pillows would be more vertically oriented in-line with the nostrils), but is stopped because it hits my face. (And yes, the pillows are on right side up... I thought of that, and double checked that I had not somehow gotten the mask upside down.)

I don't move around much when I sleep, I generally wake up in the same position I fell asleep in.

I really like the mask, it does not set off my anxiety (or claustrophobia), and I seem to be getting a good seal (which were all problems in the past), but somehow I need to figure out why/how this is happening, and this problem needs to stop.. I cannot have this happening all night every third night (more or less).

[PaulaO2]

With the mask off, when it is acting like this, can you breathe through your nose normally?

Wondering if it is a dryness issue or something. Resetting it and it still not work is just plain weird.

Yes, mine sits on my upper lip. I hang the hose down in that direction anyway. I used to have it up over and through the loop but the mask dislodged more with it that way.

It only happens when you first lay down? Not during the night? Do you have ramp on?

[warmbear]

Paula - Yes it is weird....

My nose is clear.

The problem starts up when I put the mask on (if I take the mask off, I can breathe fine), and continues unabated throughout the night, no matter how I seem to adjust it. No, I am not using ramp at the moment. When this is happening, I can tell even before the machine kicks in that I do not have a clear placement of the mask -- It is difficult to breathe through the mask even before the machine kicks in (and that is not the case when the mask is correctly placed).

[PaulaO2]

Is all this happening with the same mask? Have you gotten a new one and it still does it?

The other thing that can happen with nasal pillows, although I've never experienced it with the Nuance, is the pillows will collapse onto themselves. It is possible this is happening with yours. The outside can flip inward or fold inside like an accordion. I need to go check mine to see if this is even possible with the Nuance since it has such a short pillow.

Try using the medium pillows for a while, to see how that goes.