Joyce SilkGel

[Caterpillar]

Hi all.

Just been for my first appraisal at the hospital since purchasing my machine and have currently been using the ResMed Quattro FX mask but have been suffering leaks and have started to get a sore on my cheek, so today the hospital gave me a Joyce SilkGel mask to try, they have only been supplied them this week, just wondering if anyone else has been using this mask (Full Face) and how have they got on with it.
I will not be trying it for a couple of day's as I have got a couple of early starts and think it would be better to experiment at the weekend, will keep you posted how it goes. From first impressions it is a nice soft mask.

Ron

[martin]

i've been switching between joyce (but not silkgel) and sleepweaver for about a year now. Always found joyce to be a fine companion in my nocturnal hours so i'm curious as to how you get on with the silk version. The layout of the straps looks more comfy than my arrangement so im curious as to how you get on...and thanks for offering to be a guinea pig, someone has to boldly go where no nose has gone before.....hope the weekend goes well.

[Barely Awake]

i've been switching between joyce (but not silkgel) and sleepweaver for about a year now. Always found joyce to be a fine companion in my nocturnal hours so i'm curious as to how you get on with the silk version. The layout of the straps looks more comfy than my arrangement so im curious as to how you get on...and thanks for offering to be a guinea pig, someone has to boldly go where no nose has gone before.....hope the weekend goes well.

Out of interest, what makes you continue using a hard plastic mask Martin when you get on with the Sleepweaver?

[martin]

Out of interest, what makes you continue using a hard plastic mask Martin when you get on with the Sleepweaver?

its the different pressure points from the diff masks, the gel one (which is quite soft, relatively) puts slight pressure on the bridge of my nose, the sleepweaver annoys the bit between the nostrils so by switching between the two nothing wears through, most nights im fine but sometimes turning in sleep puts pressure on them and on me. Also the strap arrangement is in slightly different places so bits of my (balding) head get a rest from being covered. its about a 3:1 in favour of being a man of the cloth, so to speak. Nothing is perfect but its a fairly good system and as we all know its the mask that makes the therapy work. still looking for the perfect combination that will also blast vapourised caffienne and the smell of buttered toast into my lungs at 7.30 and a bit of alpine freshness or good sea air at 2.30 am to induce pleasant dreams. methinks i'll be waiting a while for that but i live in hope.

[ElleCee]

You may not need to wait for the smell of coffee or alpine freshness.
Have you tried the Intus smellies that you put on a disc by your air inlet?
They do a trial pack of different smells, one is chocolate and there are several other nice edible things as well as spicy ones.
You should give them a try, they are really good.
Lorraine

[martin]

Thanks Lorraine, i stick a bit of olbas on a tissue near the machine most nights to keep the nose open and happy. Not sure what i would do if i had a pleasant smell all night, if i start to dream in chocolate i may never want to wake up !! Are dream calories as fattening as real ones. (ok i know they aren't).

[Barely Awake]

ithe sleepweaver annoys the bit between the nostrils.

I experienced that at first, plus the itchy fluttering of trapped moustache hair. An answer I found was to alter the respective adjustments, lowering (loosening) the upper attachment slightly then taking up that slack between the sides. I do find evidence in the morning sometimes that I haven't got it quite right the night before, a mark or flaked skin, but it tends to be minor now so doesn't lead to it being too sore to wear the mask at bedtime.

[martin]

I experienced that at first, plus the itchy fluttering of trapped moustache hair. An answer I found was to alter the respective adjustments, lowering (loosening) the upper attachment slightly then taking up that slack between the sides. I do find evidence in the morning sometimes that I haven't got it quite right the night before, a mark or flaked skin, but it tends to be minor now so doesn't lead to it being too sore to wear the mask at bedtime.

Had to buy a nostril hair trimmer, sigh......its all downhill now

[Caterpillar]

Hi Folks,

Tried the Joyce SilkGel mask on Sunday but not with the success I was hoping for. Firstly the headgear seems very good and it has a velcro fastener on top of the headgear which allows you to adjust it to the size of your head and is comfortable when fitted, it also has an adapter so that you can velcro the tube to the top of the headgear if required. The mask has two adjustment fittings combined into the forehead pad, there is a course adjustment which has three settings and determines how close a fit the mask is to your face on the nose and it also has a fine adjustment on the bridge so that you can eliminate any leaks.

Fitting the mask sitting on the bed goes well and I had no leaks, but as soon as you put your head onto the pillow it is a totally different think and I had loads of leaks, nothing significant to show a bad mask fit but similar to a force five gale, the only way to overcome this is to adjust the mask to a very tight fit on the nose and chin, but this is so uncomfortable you would not be able to settle down, I also found that when it was this tight I could not move my chin to wet my mouth as I suffer badly with a dry mouth even with the humidifier.

The one thing I noticed is the mask fits very low down by your nostrils so actually pinches the nose and stops you breathing through your nose if you wanted.

I decided to check the mask size dimensionally against my Quattro FX mask which is a medium fit and find that the Joyce mask must be a good three quarters of an inch shorter in length.

I have contacted the hospital to see if I could try the large size mask to see if this is a better fit, I have an appointment on Wednesday so will keep you posted.

When you try the mask on at the hospital you are sitting in a standard chair and the mask felt ok.

Ron

[sleepless]

Joyce silk gel mask

Hi Ron,
I'm Liz I've been on CPAP since Aug with varying degrees of success/failure, I recently tried the mask you mention The Joyce Silk Gel Mask & I found it fine except for the bridge of the nose, so I'm back now with my Resmed Mirage Quatro. I now put a smear of barrier cream across my nose with a square of toilet paper folded up before putting on the mask with a Remzzz & its working well even with the pressure turned up to 13.4
I think I'll try this method with the Joyce soon as I liked its softness apart from the nose problem.
Hope you're finding ways to cope with it
Liz

[Caterpillar]

Hi Liz.
I have not tried the Joyce Silk Gel since my last post, I had the med mask replaced for the large size, but while I was waiting for it I fell in love with my Quattro FX, all of a sudden I got used to getting it to seal all night so I have stayed with it, but only last night I said to my wife that I must try the Silk Gel again just in case I develop a problem with the Quattro FX. I will let you know how I get on, as you say it has a good feel to it and like you I had the air blowing from the nose area, my pressure is set at 18 at the moment so its quiet high.
If you get a chance try the Quattro FX its brilliant.

Ron

[symmit]

I have the Quatro FX as my backup "can't breathe through the nose" mask. Tried the F&P Forma but the noise was too much, the FX is very quiet. Problem I have with the FX is it moves around too easily and will leak noisily (farty squeaky noises)

The Silkgel was going to be my next purchase, would love to know how you get on with it.

As for the sleepweaver - I can't see me every buying any other nasal mask - it just works so well for me.

[Caterpillar]

Thought I would just add a final assessment to this post, I found the Silk Gel mask comfortable to wear, but it took ages to get it right each night and as soon as you moved your head the mask moved. The biggest problem was where the hose fitted to the swivel adaptor in the mask this continually leaked no matter what direction you had it, and as soon as any pressure built up it sounded like a set of bagpipes starting up, so I gave up and gave it back to the hospital on my recent visit, they said they had received numerous complaints about the same issue and they do not think they will be using them again.

At first I thought it was going to be a good mask but sorely let down.

[symmit]

Thank you for that info, I may skip this one and wait for the next big thing...