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+--- Thread: Just looked in the mirror - am I relieved! (/Thread-Just-looked-in-the-mirror-am-I-relieved)
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RE: Just looked in the mirror - am I relieved! - Peter_C - 02-17-2014
(02-16-2014, 03:33 PM)eviltim Wrote: Usually I will wake up once a night to go to the bathroom and I just remove my chinstrap, "re-seat" the pillows and put the chinstrap on again. Makes my leaks much better.
How does removing your chinstrap help you pee? You said, "Makes my leaks much better"?
HEHE
RE: Just looked in the mirror - am I relieved! - ImaSurvivor - 02-17-2014
retired_guy, you may already have known this but I just figured out over the weekend. I posted this on another thread this morning too. I started having problems with my pillows. Other than the usual trying to get used to the whole process in the beginning, I thought the Swift FX nasal pillows were great compared with other masks and they did a good job. Then for about the past month I haven't felt like they felt or fit as well. It seemed I was constantly trying to fix them and never really getting them sealed good, and I began feeling really tired again. I felt like therapy was not working although no readings on my machine raised any red flags and were in the acceptable range. Although I noticed my AHI was creeping up toward 5. Then it hit 5.2 late last week. My DME told me in the beginning to change my mask every 6 months. I sensed the pillows were not working as well as they did when I began but I thought I was stuck with them until 6 months were up. And I considered I might need different sized headgear and nasal pillows the next time around. I know my headgear comes in a 'for her size' that I had read was a little smaller than the standard Swift FX. Then I began getting cracked and chapped nose late last week. While reading on-line to refresh my memory on what ointment was recommended for the nose, I also read pillows should be changed more often than the full mask. My pillows came packaged with my mask so I didn't know any different or that they could be replaced sooner. I called my DME and they said my insurance allowed 2 new pillows each month. I had been using the same ones since November. With cleaning them every week and using them for 80 straight days, it would make sense they lose their edge.
I got new pillows Saturday and what a difference. They felt much better and worked much better and my AHI dropped down again. I am hoping that the tiredness goes away again. I don't feel it so much while I am busy but when I slow down, it has been hitting me hard. I remembered a co-worker that doesn't have insurance allowing her to get new pieces regularly tell me she always knows when it is time to get a new mask because she gets really tired. I was confused by feeling so tired again until I read online to change the pillows and then recalled her remark months ago. I am not sure why my DME didn't tell me that I could get new cushion refills before 6 months were up. I mentioned it when I called and was told sometimes they don't tell you everything because there is so much for the patient to take in all at once. She agreed though that is something that a patient should know.
RE: Just looked in the mirror - am I relieved! - retired_guy - 02-17-2014
(02-17-2014, 12:50 PM)Peter_C Wrote:(02-16-2014, 03:33 PM)eviltim Wrote: Usually I will wake up once a night to go to the bathroom and I just remove my chinstrap, "re-seat" the pillows and put the chinstrap on again. Makes my leaks much better.
How does removing your chinstrap help you pee? You said, "Makes my leaks much better"?
It allows you to go "Ahhhhh" in the night.
HEHE
RE: Just looked in the mirror - am I relieved! - retired_guy - 02-17-2014
Thanks Ima for your story, and everyone else for their tips...
I'm going to make this mask work! I really like it compared to my nasal mask, which is still my "go to guy," and my pillows, which are now available "free to a good home."
Last night I focused on more dutifully scrubbing my face than has been my usual custom. My mask lasted for two hours until it blew out. So tonight I think I may try a little Ajax, or Comet Cleanser, or perhaps Tidy Bowl.... In the meantime I have ordered some of those liners that go between your mask and your face. They remind me a bit of those liners that you can get in the relaxation rooms at restaurants, etc. Come to think of it they might work although I think they're a little large.
But something is going to work because when the mask works right, it is a joy (comparatively speaking) to wear.
Oh,,, and just for drill, I am lowering my top end pressure tonight from 15 to 12. Maybe that will help. We'll see what it does to my aha!'s
Thanks everybody,
--- John
RE: Just looked in the mirror - am I relieved! - me50 - 02-17-2014
(02-17-2014, 12:50 PM)Peter_C Wrote:(02-16-2014, 03:33 PM)eviltim Wrote: Usually I will wake up once a night to go to the bathroom and I just remove my chinstrap, "re-seat" the pillows and put the chinstrap on again. Makes my leaks much better.
How does removing your chinstrap help you pee? You said, "Makes my leaks much better"?
laughing my _____________ off. btw, the liners you speak of in the room at the restaurant are likely to be a little bit rough
HEHE
RE: Just looked in the mirror - am I relieved! - eviltim - 02-17-2014
(02-17-2014, 12:50 PM)Peter_C Wrote:(02-16-2014, 03:33 PM)eviltim Wrote: Usually I will wake up once a night to go to the bathroom and I just remove my chinstrap, "re-seat" the pillows and put the chinstrap on again. Makes my leaks much better.
How does removing your chinstrap help you pee? You said, "Makes my leaks much better"?
Wait, you mean that's not where I'm supposed to put my chinstrap?? Well where does it go!?
RE: Just looked in the mirror - am I relieved! - Peter_C - 02-18-2014
Thinking to myself - well Peter, do you say it, or do you keep silent? What's this crowd like anyhow - might as well find out...
RE: Just looked in the mirror - am I relieved! - Bladskinner - 02-18-2014
Wow thats what I did wrong when I tried the nasal mask?
Chin strap in the wrong place.
RE: Just looked in the mirror - am I relieved! - Peter_C - 02-18-2014
(02-17-2014, 11:35 PM)eviltim Wrote:(02-17-2014, 12:50 PM)Peter_C Wrote:(02-16-2014, 03:33 PM)eviltim Wrote: Usually I will wake up once a night to go to the bathroom and I just remove my chinstrap, "re-seat" the pillows and put the chinstrap on again. Makes my leaks much better.
How does removing your chinstrap help you pee? You said, "Makes my leaks much better"?
Wait, you mean that's not where I'm supposed to put my chinstrap?? Well where does it go!?
Umm both hands isn't eno
The *Chin*strap goes on the umm head, and under the *chin*...
RE: Just looked in the mirror - am I relieved! - retired_guy - 02-18-2014
(02-17-2014, 08:46 PM)retired_guy Wrote: Thanks Ima for your story, and everyone else for their tips...
I'm going to make this mask work! I really like it compared to my nasal mask, which is still my "go to guy," and my pillows, which are now available "free to a good home."
Last night I focused on more dutifully scrubbing my face than has been my usual custom. My mask lasted for two hours until it blew out. So tonight I think I may try a little Ajax, or Comet Cleanser, or perhaps Tidy Bowl.... In the meantime I have ordered some of those liners that go between your mask and your face. They remind me a bit of those liners that you can get in the relaxation rooms at restaurants, etc. Come to think of it they might work although I think they're a little large.
But something is going to work because when the mask works right, it is a joy (comparatively speaking) to wear.
Oh,,, and just for drill, I am lowering my top end pressure tonight from 15 to 12. Maybe that will help. We'll see what it does to my aha!'s
Thanks everybody,
--- John
What a bummer! Last night was the worst of the three attempts with my spiffy new FFM.... Put it on, make sure it's positioned properly and all that, turn on the air conditioner and lay there with the mask flopping around like a fish.
Now it goes on the shelf.
I'll try it again when my seat liners arrive, which should be in a couple of days. In the meantime, back to my trusty little nasal mask, copious apologies again for dissing it, and a very nice night of sleep indeed.
Why am I fooling around with other masks when my nasal mask is being so faithful? I don't know. Maybe it's a guy thing.