Mask leaks a couple of hours in to the night

Hey all,

I just started on CPAP a week ago. 35/F. I have the ResMed with full face mask as I'm a mouth breather off and on during the night. For the most part, my CPAP experience hasn't been as bad as I was worried about. I have no problem setting it up, getting comfortable and falling asleep. I sleep for a few hours with no issue. For some reason, part way in to the night I start leaking lots of air. My machine says I'm losing 8/L a minute. It blows all over me and then I spend several minutes fidgeting with it to try to get it right again. I can get a good seal for a few seconds and as I drift back to sleep it happens again. Over and over and then my solid sleep is over. What's going on? Why can I sleep for so long at first with a good seal and then no more? Also, please note that I sleep in a recliner (bad hips) and so I do not toss and turn at all at night. Any suggestions? Thanks!

sleepyakw,

It sounds like your face muscles may be fully relaxing after a couple of hours of sleep and when that happens, the shape of your face can change and that can make a full face mask spring some leaks. You might want to try a mask liner. Or you may want to look at trying a different size cushion or a different style full face mask.

Also: Which ResMed machine are you using? And what is your pressure set at? And do you use the ramp at the beginning of the night? The answers to these questions may also help in fixing your current problem with the leaks.

Thanks for responding!

The machine is ResMed AirSense 10. The pressure is set at 12.3. I don't know that I could get a bigger mask because I have kind of a small face. But if my face is not fully relaxing until then maybe I could try another cushion. I'm not sure all the options as I was only shown the three main types of masks by the home health care staff that set me up. They didn't show me different cushions or anything but maybe I can call them back and ask.

It could be that the machine has increased the pressure over those couple of hours. Try turning the machine off and then on again right away. That should lower the pressure to the starting pressure.

And how would that help anything?

Hi Julie,
I take it that your question is for me.
It seems to me that Sleepyakw's main question is:
"What's going on? Why can I sleep for so long at first with a good seal and then no more? "
My guess is that the increase in pressure that may be happening compromises the seal.
An easy way to confirm is to shut the machine off and then on.
If after that you get a couple more hours without a leak, you have a pretty good idea that the higher pressure causes leaks.

Yes, but if you have the ramp setting activated, you're effectively not being fully treated until it reaches the low scripted setting and if you keep turning the machine off entirely, I imagine a similar situation would occur - unless you aren't using the ramp, in which case someone who knows more about your machine will hopefully chime in here! And if a relatively low setting still 'compromises' the seal, you should either look into a different size mask, or a different one altogether or try Padacheek.com liners. Usually only a very high pressure (mid teens + up) would meaningfully affect the leak rate with any mask or open mouth.