Leaky Mask leads to Sleep Fragmentation?

Anyone ever experienced this? It wakes me up 6-8x a night and is contributing to my inability to get out of the this fuzzy brain fog. Tired during the most days to the point that I'm taking provigil now.
If leaks are fixed will sleep frag get better? This stuff is so trail and error and everyone is different.

tlewis303 wrote:If leaks are fixed will sleep frag get better?

Unknown. If the leaks are the only cause of the fragmented sleep then yes...fixing the leaks should fix the fragmented sleep.
Now if you would be having fragmented sleep from some other reason we can't expect fixing an unrelated problem to take care of the issue.
BUT if you are waking up with leaks...they need to be fixed anyway don't they?

Yep I'm just trying to figure this thing out so frustrating and feel like crap. Have been through lots of tests for this fog and sleep is the only thing left.

FFMs seem more prone to cause leaks that wake folks - can you use nasal pillows (which move and leak much less in my experience). YMMV

I hear you about the frustration. We want so much for this cpap therapy stuff to fix all our problems but the therapy itself isn't always a walk in the park and can cause it's own issues.

I have fragmented sleep issues myself and unfortunately the best mask and best therapy can't fix it because it's related to other issues. It's very rare that I don't wake up several times during the night. Fortunately I normally go back to sleep.
I also fight hours of sleep...I feel best with nearing 8 hours of sleep but last few months it has been a struggle to get 6 1/2 hours or so. 6 1/2 hours of sleep with a half a dozen wake ups throw in (even if they are brief) pretty much guarantees that my butt will be dragging the next day.

Add in the fact that not all sleep problems can be blamed solely on OSA and we have a recipe that doesn't always work out like we want. Those people who have the miracle pretty much immediately...they don't know how lucky they are.

People expect the cpap/apap/bipap machine to fix all their bad sleep issues and it can't if the bad sleep isn't related to the sleep apnea. There's just so much out there in life that messes with sleep than just OSA.
Meds
Insomnia issues (either sleep onset or sleep maintenance which is trouble staying asleep) aren't always tied to sleep apnea.
Pain
Other health issues
Bed comfort
Mask comfort
Mask leaks
and the list goes on and on

if your mask is bugging you in any way....fix it because it is just another factor that can make an already difficult issue more difficult.
Get a different mask if you have to. Don't be afraid to try a different mask.
When our sleep is already fragile we just have to keep trying different things to see if we can improve the sleep quality.

tlewis303 wrote:Anyone ever experienced this? It wakes me up 6-8x a night and is contributing to my inability to get out of the this fuzzy brain fog. Tired during the most days to the point that I'm taking provigil now.
If leaks are fixed will sleep frag get better? This stuff is so trail and error and everyone is different.

Don't know......."Everybody's different".

I've slept through some seriously lengthy large leaks over the years......some in the vicinity of 45 minutes. But, then at other times some little one will wake me up.

In my opinion, pressure changes with Autos in a range of pressures and the accompanying mask leaks from the masks not being properly adjusted for the pressure increases.......will be more of a culprit to sleep fragmentation and the brain fog.


Den

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HAve you had the fog? Does it feel like a true sensation sorta like the pressure of a head cold at time?
Some describe it as hard to focus, mem loss etc... I have that but its true sensation of fuzziness.

I probably can't use pillows cause I'm mouth breather. I do have a nasal mask but usually use full mask.
I may go back to nasal and try again. I got to get some good sleep or I'm in trouble.

tlewis303 wrote:HAve you had the fog? Does it feel like a true sensation sorta like the pressure of a head cold at time?
Some describe it as hard to focus, mem loss etc... I have that but its true sensation of fuzziness.

I have not had what I would call any brain fog. Even at my worst my mind was always pretty sharp...at least I thought it was.
My main problems have always been fatigue and excessive sleepiness and desire/need for a nap.

But everyone is different and everyone's body responds differently to poor sleep from whatever the cause.
All I can tell you is to keep trying different things to see if you find something that seems to improve your situation.

Unless you do a lot of prolonged mouth breathing...using the nasal mask might offer better quality of sleep. Sometimes we have to make compromises. I occasionally will mouth breath with my nasal pillow mask. It's not often and doesn't last long and I sleep right through it. For me it's a better choice than trying to struggle with a full face mask just to fix 15 to 30 minutes of mouth breathing that may or may not even get into large leak territory. I have significant issues with my neck and the lower straps of the full face mask plus any sort of pressure on my nose causes nasal congestion and that's another problem. For me using a full face mask causes more problems than it fixes....so that's why I choose not to use one.

Yep can't crawl up into a ball. Gotta keep finding what works. I'm convienced doctors have no idea.

I believe that it was Pugsy who once posted something to the effect that the battle against leaks is one that we can never completely win. So true.

I use an Air Fit p10 nasal pillows, and it has truly cut the leaks and the noise from the leaks way down. I still feel that several times a night, I am "aroused" by a leak, but nevertheless, I have no drowsiness issues the following day, and my Sleepyhead data is excellent with regard to AHI scores, and reasonably OK regarding leaks. I am a side sleeper FWIW.

Again, I am happy with the results of CPAP over the past 6 months, just not happy to have to use it.

tlewis303 wrote:HAve you had the fog? Does it feel like a true sensation sorta like the pressure of a head cold at time?
Some describe it as hard to focus, mem loss etc... I have that but its true sensation of fuzziness.

Not really.

And, I've always used a full face mask.


Den

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I switched to pillows by using nasal rinses and nasal corticosteroid spray - now down to one rinse per day and one spray per day per nostril of Veramyst. Had to really lower the humidity to keep from congesting after a few hours, too.

What helped me get over the leak problem was mask liners. I struggled with leaks during my first week of cpap, with Quattro Air and the noisy face farts from leaks... I joined the forum and started looking for answers to the problem nearly 6 months ago. It was here that I got my answer, in the form of liners. Almost as soon as I started using them, I was able to sleep through the night most of the time. They were a game changer! It was a few weeks before I found true success with cpap, because it took awhile longer to fully adjust to having the mask on my face. For several months now, I've had hardly any leaks that approached major leak territory, or got above the red line in sleepyhead, and I rarely wake up because of a leak.

The liners act like a gasket between your face and the cushion to prevent most leaks; they can also help with comfort by protecting your face from red marks or contact dermatitis. They are not the answer for everybody, but many of us here use them for one reason or another. Karen at Pad-A-Cheek makes nice ones that you can order online: http://www.padacheek.com, there are also RemZzzzs liners, often available at your DME, but also available online from our forum sponsors: https://www.cpap.com. I tried both of them and RemZzzzs work better for me so that is what I use. Hope this helps!

Ok, thanks for the advice.