Sleepweaver masks

[James @ Intus]

Barely Awake mailed me the image and indeed it appears to be what I was looking for, a 90 degree elbow, with 360 degree swivels on both ends. Usually meant to attach to the machine, but if you attach it to the SleepWeaver, you'd have an instant, rotating, flexible 90 degree angle allowing your tube to go anywhere you like.

Just need to find the source...

[Tigers Fan]

Yes - but ....

....... if the hose disappears vertically upward from the new 90-double-swivel, would that upset the 'balance 'of the SleepWeaver? Leakage seems to be the bugbear of this mask and I wonder what effect even the slightest tug sideways would have, when it is clearly designed to resist 'downward' tension by the hose.

Nobody knows because we don't have the swivel yet, but what do you experts reckon - would it resist or be easily dislodged sideways?

TF

[Barely Awake]

....... if the hose disappears vertically upward from the new 90-double-swivel, would that upset the 'balance 'of the SleepWeaver? Leakage seems to be the bugbear of this mask and I wonder what effect even the slightest tug sideways would have, when it is clearly designed to resist 'downward' tension by the hose.

Nobody knows because we don't have the swivel yet, but what do you experts reckon - would it resist or be easily dislodged sideways?

TF

I am trying to obtain a sleepweaver through my sleep nurse and if this happens I will report how it works with the elbow.

[Sparticus]

I may have to try one of these one day, although it seems strange that its made of cloth. Do you get a matching man pouch if you go for the leapard skin one

[awaller]

Hello everyone. I've was diagnosed with OSA in about 2002 and have used a CPAP every night for about over 7 years.

Originally I couldn't use a CPAP because my tonsils were obstructing my airway but once I'd had them removed everything was fine.
I use the machine all night, every night and get on well with it, mainly.
My wife complains about leaks sometimes and I get a callous on the bridge of my nose from time to time - as many of us do.

Yesterday I was due to go to to Lincoln for my annual check up and to have my machine swapped. I spent a while on the Net looking yesterday morning looking for any new developments that I might want to ask the hospital about and came across the SleepWeaver and the thread about it on here.

It looked like a fantastic bit of kit so when I saw the technician at Lincoln hospital I asked her if she'd heard of them and if she had any views.
I wasn't expecting the NHS to have them but I thought if she recommeneded them I would buy myself one.
To my surprise she said "sure, would you like one?"

I tried it last night and did not get on at all well with it.
It's comfortable enough and light as a feather but although I'm used to a CPAP it was too noisy for me to get to sleep.
We went to bed before 10pm - it took me ages to fall asleep (normally it takes minutes). I woke at at 11.45 to find my wife had gone into the spare room. I decided to leave her to sleep and swapped back to my old hard mask and slept soundy for the rest of the night.

The problem for both of us was the noise. Like I said I'm used to having 13 cm H2O pressure all night but it felt and sounded like a gale.

Not sure what the answer is at this stage. I might try reducing the pressure if I can remember how.

[Fredxx]

It sounds to me like you are either having leak problems, or have a faulty mask.

My sleepweaver is slightly noisier than my comfort gel one, but it is marginal. I find the sleepweaver does have to be a lot tighter than the gel one to get a seal, and that it is a lot more prone to getting leaks in the night if it is knocked, and with the hose heading down to the chest instead of up, it is a lot more prone to knocks! (James is looking into something to allow the hose to go the other way)

It is worth persevering with trying to get it to work, but some of the tricks for using it are pretty different to a traditional solid mask.

[Sparticus]

Why does the swivel attachment have to be in that position ie pointing at the mouth? Why hasnt there been any development in masks with side attaching hoses or attaching at the nose they all seem to attach at the mouth level. Also I would love to own a kind of bubble mask, one that I can put my head into and dont have to worry about leaks or sore skin a kind of head in a bag with obvious safety features. Maybe too far fetched for some?

[Barely Awake]

Why does the swivel attachment have to be in that position ie pointing at the mouth? Why hasnt there been any development in masks with side attaching hoses or attaching at the nose they all seem to attach at the mouth level. Also I would love to own a kind of bubble mask, one that I can put my head into and dont have to worry about leaks or sore skin a kind of head in a bag with obvious safety features. Maybe too far fetched for some?

A mask James suggested to me recently (Sleepnet Phantom Nasal CPAP mask) has a side entry port. I take your point about sores, on the bridge of the nose, I remember those well from when I last had nasal cover mask but I did try one that didn't do that to me at least which was a Respironics Simplicity Nasal Mask. Respironics do another called a Total face Mask which is like a big bubble!

[ElleCee]

A mask James suggested to me recently (Sleepnet Phantom Nasal CPAP mask) has a side entry port. I take your point about sores, on the bridge of the nose, I remember those well from when I last had nasal cover mask but I did try one that didn't do that to me at least which was a Respironics Simplicity Nasal Mask. Respironics do another called a Total face Mask which is like a big bubble!

Is that like the Fitlife one? I have tried it but could not get it to seal at all. I must have an odd shaped face!

Lorraine

[Barely Awake]

Is that like the Fitlife one? I have tried it but could not get it to seal at all. I must have an odd shaped face!

Lorraine

Hi Lorraine, It wasn't the Fitlife, the blurb of which states that it fits people with facial irregularities and beards and the like, it is aother which really does look like a bubble.

http://www.healthcare.philips.com/main/homehealth/sleep/totalfacemask/default.wpd

[James @ Intus]

Hi awaller, thanks for joining and chipping in with your experience.

When fitted correctly, we found the SleepWeaver to be more quiet than most masks. This is due to the many-pinholes exhalation port design. If you release the same amount of air through more exits, you get less of a rush per hole so less noise. That's what most people experience, a very silent operation.

Until you get leaks, that is. There isn't one leak-free mask out there and as with all masks, the SleepWeaver needs some trial and error before you get the mask straps right. Nobody will be 100% leak free throughout a week. It's excessive leaks, that is the problem.

Re-routing the hose, the sleep positions you take up, all these things can affect leak development. Some people film themselves on night-mode just to help understand why leaks develop in the first place, to then take direct action from there.

I don't have a single tip to help solve it. Tweak the straps and you may want to start at a higher ramp pressure. The more air in the mask, the better it seals, generally. So very low ramp start pressures could perhaps, in some situations, prevent a good seal from establishing in the first few minutes.

To the others, yes there are masks with side entries. Mainly nasal pillow masks like the Venise, where you can pick left, right or center entry points. It's not common with nasal or full face masks as they mostly have 360 degree swivels to achieve similar things.

But let's keep this thread about the SleepWeaver. It's developing in a great log of experiences, tips and tricks.

[ElleCee]

My suggestion for alleviating some of the leaks is to use a Remzzz liner.
At least it helps me with mine.

Lorraine

[DebbieT]

Getting slightly less leaks now but it is still noisy so am not there yet. I have just looked at the Remzzz liners to try those but I didnt realise there were so many types which type would you order to go with the sleepweaver?

[symmit]

Debbie - have you watched the videos on the Sleepweaver website - they're quite helpful.

http://www.sleepweaver.com/articles.asp?id=136

[Barely Awake]

Having only used it for one night I don't feel qualified to report on the Sleepweaver but can comment on the use of an elbow with this mask. From an early evening fitting session it was obvious that the soft material plus the elephant's trunk like connection point poses an unusual quandary. The hose is initially directed towards the feet so unless the machine is at the foot or mid-ships beside the bed, either a longer than standard hose or elbow joint was required to sweep the hose back towards a machine positioned on such as the bedside table or on a shelf above as in my case. As I have an elbow joint I attached this to the connection on the mask and to the hose. The immediate problem was that the elbow introduced weight that altered the dynamics at the connection point – the elbow thus rested on my chin and the connection point was brought into contact with my lips. This I overcame temporarily with an elastic band between a velcro hose clip and a hose lift. The arrangement worked fine but long term I would replace this elastic band with a device James is about to launch that can be attached to the headboard or wall above the bed and has two sprung cords that will support the hose.

Summary: the elbow overcomes the problem of needing to redirect the hose but would need to be supported by something such as a hose lift arrangement. An alternative would be a longer hose. This is only after a single night so is subject to review.