mouth or nose breathing?

I have recently been diagnosed with mild sleep apnea and have had a CPAP Auto for a month or so.

I first tried the Mirage Swift and did not lke it at all. It was loud and made me sneeze constantly. I just ordered and received yesterday a Respironics ComfortSelect. It feels much better than the Mirage and is not as loud.

The first mask seemed to make no difference even in the few hours I was able to sleep. I tried the ComforSelect last night and had some of the same problems.

I discovered while reading the instructions for the ComforSelect that It says "Lie down and breathe normally through your nose, keeping your lips closed"

Is this how people normally breathe when they sleep?!?!? I have never breathed through my nose while sleeping.

The question I have is, Do these masks require that you breathe through your nose to work?

Hi Tom,

Nasal pillows interfaces (like the Swift, Breeze, Comfort-Lite, Nasal Aire, Lyra) and "nasal" masks (cover just the nose) all require that you breathe solely through your nose.

The only interfaces that allow you to get cpap therapy by breathing through your mouth are:

Full face masks - despite the name, the don't cover your whole face - they cover only the nose and mouth.
Best full face masks, imho, are the ResMed Ultra Mirage FF (my favorite) and the Fisher and Paykel Flexifit HC 431.

Oracle - made by Fisher and Paykel. This is a "love it or hate it" type of interface. It's worn in the mouth. Well, actually between the lips and teeth/gums, somewhat like a snorkle air piece. Delivers the air straight into the mouth. I have to use nose plugs with it to prevent air from snort-leaking out my nose. (I prefer a full face mask for mouth breathing.)

If you get a full face mask or the Oracle, you'll need a heated humidifier. Breathing through the mouth gets very drying, especially so with the flow of air from a cpap.

I also mouth breathe at night. The only way I'm able to use my favorite interface (Breeze/nasal pillows) is by rigging up something to keep my lips closed. Taping the lips shut is the surest way to prevent mouth breathing and mouth leaks.

have you tried the Respironics ComfortFull?

Yes, the Respironics ComfortFull was the first full face mask I tried....used it for several months. It was ok. Later I tried the ResMed Ultra Mirage FF mask - liked it better. I found the cushion of the ResMed FF mask more "cushy" and comfortable, and the mask itself less apt to leak. Both were size "small", but I found the ResMed's full face "small" to be a tad roomier inside than the Respironics' full face "small."

Every mask feels different on different people's faces. Personally, I haven't found a single Respironics mask that I like as well as ResMed's masks in general.

I also have used my ResMed Mirage Activa (a "covers your nose only" type of mask) successfully as a "mouth breathing" mask. This would depend on your facial architecture, but I'm able to set my Activa (size shallow) over my mouth instead of over my nose. The more blunted off top of the "shallow" mask cushion blocks my nostril openings perfectly (preventing nose snort air leaks) and the wider bottom of the mask covers my mouth easily. Voila', I can breathe nicely through my mouth all night with my Activa placed over my mouth instead of over my nose. The forehead pad rests at my eyebrow level when I used the Activa this way.

Just goes to show what an amazingly leakproof mask the Activa is, that it can work well and not leak when used on a completely different area of some people's faces. Doesn't leak on me either way - in its usual role as a nasal mask or as a mouth-only mask.