I’ll ask my insurer if they provide that one and maybe try it, although I’m not unhappy with the one I’ve got. My only beef with it is that when you get new headgear every 6 months it comes with 3 pillows, two of which (the small and medium ones) I can’t use. These medical device companies don’t miss a trick. When I tried posting on Nextdoor to swap maybe with someone who needed those but had extra Large size ones, it got taken down “because it’s a prescription medical device.” Of course the fact that it’s totally useless without the mask and the headgear didn’t seem to enter the thought process.
It took me 3 almost 4 months to deal with my local company and handle the billing of the machine and the accessories. Our local scum supplier would just make shit up to every time I was on the phone with them. They had no idea who they were dealing with. I don’t really use them anymore, but it makes me mad all my data flows to them and then to my physician still. It’s there little cellular chip in there.
This particular mask, Dreamwear as @Gladguy corrrectly calls it, has some different options. It’s the only one I have used, so i can’t comment about the rest. The only time it feels a little loose to me is towards the end of the the months and I just tighten it a little more. If it’s a little loose you can feel it as air will just escape around it.
I’ve never woken up with it just… off and loose.
If you poke around on Amazon, you can buy all the pieces to assemble one of those yourself for about $100. People can sell parts without a prescription, but they can’t sell the whole assembly. Depends on your situation, of course, but I would MUCH rather use my HSA credit card on Amazon than go to the trouble of having my doctor to prescribe me a new mask, etc.
Just as an example:
I purchase my stuff on amazon now too. My CPAP administrator kept ordering supplies as to what insurance will allow but I always do not need everything.
One thing to be aware of:
If you travel and break a piece of you mask (or forgot to pack a tube etc) you need a prescription to go to a local supply house. Amazon saved me by delivering to my in laws home.
Suppliers don’t generally care what you need, they just want to give you as much crap as possible that they will get paid for. Awful, really. Like insurance will pay for a new mask every 3 months. Most people don’t need that, whereas others might need more frequent when trying to find the right thing. Such a waste.
Oh yeah, hence my gripe about the extra nasal pillows. God forbid they bundle three of them of the size you actually use.
Kaiser pays the benefit for a new mask twice a year, which is about right, because the velcro on the strap that keeps the mask on your face wears out as does the elasticity.
If I could buy a dozen nasal pillows, I just would. This piecemeal crap makes little sense, but this is brought to you by the same insurance company that thinks sending people to stand inline every month to pick up a prescription isn’t wasting a ton of money and time either.
I’m another Dreamwear user. So much better than the full / nasal masks I’ve tried.
I tend to use them for much longer than the CPAP supplier says. I can use one pillow for a couple months as long as I wash it. I just monitor the leaks and as long as it stays low I keep using it. I get the frame about 1x per year, same with the hose.
I heartily recommend the heated hose with humidifier.
Normally I use the Dreamwear Pillows, but wanted to get a full face mask for when I have a cold. So I bought the Dreamwear Full Face Mask and headgear from Amazon for $35 so I could try it. I couldn’t fall asleep for two hours with the mask, so I took it off and slept with nothing. I tried again last night. No luck for over an hour, so I switch back to the pillow - but still couldn’t sleep.Again, used nothing and fell asleep.
The weird thing was there were times I was close to dozing, but not quite asleep and I would realize that I wasn’t breathing. Then I would suck in some air and breath normally. This happened probably 6-10 times over those two nights. I guess these are central apneas, but I don’t know if I had ever experienced them while still somewhat conscious.
Normally with my Dreamwear pillows I average less than 1 apnea per hour and don’t have too much trouble getting to sleep. I’m not sure what is going on, but it is disconcerting. Anything like that happen to people here?
No, but changing to a full face mask from a pillow might actually add some… anxiety and worry, so switching back didn’t instantly fix that. It would probably be okay for you to talk to your pulmonary or sleep specialist about it. Mine always suggested that this sort of thing can be physical as well as emotional/mental so the machine itself won’t fix stress and insomnia but does provide better sleep for when you do sleep.
when I have a cold, it sucks all around though. I totally get why you would want to try something else for that period of time.
Thanks Nesrie. Online I was reading how it could be stress. For the last couple days I’ve been more conscious of my breathing during the day. I was trying to breathe more deeply to see if it would effect my blood pressure, but now I can’t not pay attention to my breathing. I know - weird. So when I’m trying to sleep I don’t think I’m just breathing naturally.
Being sick itself is a stresser too. For what it’s worth, when I have a cold that affects my sinus, especially my nose, it’s rough. I still use the pillow, but it’s hard to fall asleep, and while I am not conscious of my breathing in the same way you are, I am conscious of trying to draw breath because it’s so hard when everything is stuffy.
Have you tried the Resmed F30? Check it out, I love it and everyone at work who’s tried it at my recommendation do too. I’m batting 1000 with it so far.
I haven’t. When I first started using a CPAP, I had some full face mask. I can’t remember which. My nose would get sore and I would need to play with it to get it not to leak. Then I went to an over the nose only mask, and it still was uncomfortable.
I was leary trying the Dreamwear pillows. I never though they would work but I got used to them right away and my events per hour stayed under 1. Since I liked them so much I figured I’d try the full face mask, and it is comfortable. I just don’t know why I can’t fall asleep with it and stop breathing as I’m dozing. Like Nesrie said, could be anxiety.
One way the F30 could be better is that it looks like it has a bigger volume of space in the mask. Maybe it would feel more open and not bother me. How many little parts does the thing break down to when it needs to be washed. My initial mask had a bunch and I hated cleaning it. Little things I’d have to disassemble. I love that the pillows and Dreamwear full face mask is just one peace.
I need to get some sleep so I am going to use my pillows again, but I’ll give the Dreamwear mask another try and hope for better results.
Don’t be afraid to switch out masks if it doesn’t work for you. I figure they’re kind of like shoes. They just need to feel right, and that is going to very by person.
Not sure if I should get one of these masks yet, as right now occasionally waking up gasping/choking is just a minor annoyance.
You should get a sleep study because you may have many more that disturb your breathing that you aren’t aware of. If enough happen it puts a strain on the heart. Are you tired during the day at all?
I literally take the straps off and that’s it. On occasion I pop the front lining and clean between, but it’s such a snug fit I don’t do it that often. Resmed also has sound dampening, basically a plastic ring, around the air portals for the elbow that connects the hose to the front of the mask. So it’s pretty quiet for me.
As for space, it has less than the other full face masks I’ve used. Which is a good thing. Since it protrudes off the face less, I feel like I have a greater range of motion lying on my sides, head on pillow, before I bump the mask and cause a leak in my sleep. It’s very common for me to sleep a solid 7-8 hours and never have a single issue with these masks.
As @robc04 said, if you are waking up gasping and choking, you need a sleep study. Even if you aren’t tired, apnea can affect other things, like increase your blood pressure.
I had a sleep study done several years ago. It might be time for another one.