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Permalink Reply by Jerri Lynn on October 17, 2009 at 6:59pm

Yes Jan you can get a 10" hose......I just got my machine on Tuesday. My DME told me they come standard with a 6' hose but that I could order a 10' and that in the future they will send me 10' instead of the 6'. I sleep in the middle of a king bed and didn't want to feel encumbered by a 6' hose. I have advanced osteoarthritis and must turn back-n-forth between my right and left side throughout the night. I was concerned that the hose would be problematic when moving during the night, but it hasn't been at all.

I've also found my airline neck pillow very useful and comfortable. You can find them just about anywhere. Plus, they actually make body-like pillows specifically for CPAP patients. I have a dozen pillows on my bed in an assortment of sizes and shapes and have been able to make myself considerably comfortable.

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Permalink Reply by Jan on October 17, 2009 at 7:09pm

Thanks-- that is great info!

Jan

Jerri Mathis said:

Yes Jan you can get a 10" hose......I just got my machine on Tuesday. My DME told me they come standard with a 6' hose but that I could order a 10' and that in the future they will send me 10' instead of the 6'. I sleep in the middle of a king bed and didn't want to feel encumbered by a 6' hose. I have advanced osteoarthritis and must turn back-n-forth between my right and left side throughout the night. I was concerned that the hose would be problematic when moving during the night, but it hasn't been at all.

I've also found my airline neck pillow very useful and comfortable. You can find them just about anywhere. Plus, they actually make body-like pillows specifically for CPAP patients. I have a dozen pillows on my bed in an assortment of sizes and shapes and have been able to make myself considerably comfortable.

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Permalink Reply by Mike on October 17, 2009 at 10:39pm

Jan, I swear by the Oxygen Pillow -- it's not very well known, but put out by a small shop in Berkeley, California that really knows their stuff when it comes to the intersection of bedding and positional therapy. It's the pillow I myself use, and the one my wife uses. The thing that i like about it the most is that it's in a familiar shape, but it has different "zones" of firmness throughout the pillow that are positioned to maximize airflow. Your DME probably won't know about it, but I'm certain it's one of the best. Before switching to it, my mask was dislodging quite a bit because my face/mask would sink into the pillow. Now that rarely happens because i'm getting support for the mask on the edges of the pillow, which are "zoned" for better firmness.

A more popular choice would be the PAP Pillow -- it has edges cut out for the mask.

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Permalink Reply by Jan on October 17, 2009 at 10:42pm

I'm most likely to end up with the nose pillows type mask...do you think one of the shapes/pillows you describe above is better than the other for that kind of mask?

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Permalink Reply by Mike on October 17, 2009 at 10:48pm

i would give the nod to the Oxygen Pillow for any type of mask.

Jan said:

I'm most likely to end up with the nose pillows type mask...do you think one of the shapes/pillows you describe above is better than the other for that kind of mask?

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Permalink Reply by gordon on October 21, 2009 at 12:16am

I think getting comfort takes a lot of trial and error, over months. I use 2 DOWN only pillows in a superlarge pillow case, and I use 2 of these (4ave size down pillows total) on top of each other. Not down/feather, only down, (buy on sale) because I don't have lots of hair to buffer the straps. Then I use another down/feather, firmer pillow in between to watch tv.
The nasal pillow mask, Mirage Swift I, has the air supply from either side, and I can switch it and sleep on my side and the swivel coupling where the air tube comes in sinks right in the pillows, I can sleep right on it, and not feel it AT ALL. My mask isn't the one where the tube goes straight up over my head. I have experimented with looping the tube from the machine around a small (tap-on) lamp on my nightstand, thereby limiting excess tubing on the bed, this with the machine lower than the nightstand, on a chair or small table. You can even pull out the second or third drawer of the nightstand, and put some stiff cardboard or maysonite on there, and use it as a platform. No problem.
For those with too much length of tube laying across the bed, you can take the larger office paper clamp, those wire/steel paper clamps, the big one is like 1inch wide, clip it to your blanket somewhere thigh-level, then take a plastic twist-tie and loop it thru the clip and around the tubing, giving you what slack you think you need for moving around at night. You can adjust the tightness, then you can move the clip around on the bed to experiment.
I haven't tried the other formed, air ones made especially, but this works great for me.
Oh, one other thing. Take your own pillows when traveling! Most hotel ones are like doorstops.

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