Air leaking out of mouth with nasal mask

Is it possible to be properly treated if you are wearing a nasal mask but you record your sleep and hear air coming out of your mouth through most of the night while the "numbers" look good? Do you go by the numbers and ignore the air coming out the mouth?

DeannaPap wrote:Is it possible to be properly treated if you are wearing a nasal mask but you record your sleep and hear air coming out of your mouth through most of the night while the "numbers" look good? Do you go by the numbers and ignore the air coming out the mouth?

How do you know it's coming out of your mouth?

Do you wake up with desert storm(tm) mouth?

And... no.

On video and yes Dry. I've explained this more than once to my sleep dr and they are going by the numbers and saying it's fine

Well, go to Cpap.com and look at FF masks... pick out a few you might like and come here with more questions.

It is possible to be doing SOME mouth breathing and end up with a dry mouth and there not be massive therapy loss of pressure out the mouth.
Dry mouth can happen to anyone and some more easily than others and not necessarily mean a LOT of mouth breathing is going on.
Leak is leak no matter the source so if your leak "numbers" are acceptable then it's doubtful that your therapy is being seriously impacted unless the leaks are waking you up.

It all depends on just how much mouth breathing is going on and how long is it lasting. The answers are easily seen in the software leak reports and graphs.

I know I sometimes mouth breath...wake up doing it and/or mouth is dry but when I look at the reports themselves they don't really look all that bad and sometimes I don't even make it to large leak territory where the machine might not be able to compensate well enough.

Even if I do make it deep into large leak territory I rarely stay there very long anyway and 10 to 20 minutes deep into large leak territory isn't necessarily the end of the world anyway.

If your leak numbers are within acceptable limits the machine can handle the leaks no matter the source....mouth or mask movement.

I just did a test and when I simply open my mouth there is no audible sound of air. It's when my mouth is slightly open and in a specific position or something when the air becomes audible

My other question is if the air is going straight in and out like that and my numbers are good.. doesn't that mean I don't have sleep apnea? I'm assuming if the air is leaking.. then the air is not the reason my throat is staying open? If my numbers are good?

Or is there a discrepancy here with machines? Where you can have good numbers but not being treated properly?

Sounds like denial...

I don't think it's plausible deniability on their part like you suggest. I'm just looking for answers.

DeannaPap wrote:I don't think it's plausible deniability on their part like you suggest. I'm just looking for answers.

I ment denial on your part...It sounds like you are searching for reasons for not believing that the sleep study was accurate. Defective machine, mouth breathing, inaccurate sleep study because of not enough sleep etc. Why not post your sleep study results?

DeannaPap wrote:Is it possible to be properly treated if you are wearing a nasal mask but you record your sleep and hear air coming out of your mouth through most of the night while the "numbers" look good? Do you go by the numbers and ignore the air coming out the mouth?

I'm fairly new to cpap (<3mo.) and experienced the same thing you're describing. My numbers were great with the Resmed N20 (nasal), but I woke up often throughout the night with air leaking from my mouth. This disturbed my sleep but my leak rate was acceptable, my AHI was low, etc. I started using Xylomelts for mouth dryness and they helped a lot. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to purchase a full face mask (Resmed F20) to have as a backup for those times when I have a cold, nasal congestion, etc. This is going to become my main mask. I no longer have much dryness, my "major leak rate" has totally disappeared, and I'm sleeping through the night, dreaming, etc. with no disturbing gushes of air. I did have to adjust my pressure (5-9>7-13) with the full face mask to achieve the same numbers I was getting with the nasal mask, but my quality of sleep has improved dramatically. The F20 is very comfortable and non-intrusive.

DeannaPap wrote:My other question is if the air is going straight in and out like that and my numbers are good.. doesn't that mean I don't have sleep apnea?

your question is *exactly* like saying "I can see great, does that mean I don't need glasses" (while wearing glasses).

take them off, and you can't see anymore.

stop using the cpap, and it stops preventing apneas.

xxyzx wrote:...
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i always ignore the numbers and go by how i feel and what my o2 and heart rate were doing

...

On a typical night, what is your AHI? Are your unintentional leaks relatively small?

In the last week, how low has your O2 fallen and for how long?

poppi2 wrote:

xxyzx wrote:...
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i always ignore the numbers and go by how i feel and what my o2 and heart rate were doing

...

On a typical night, what is your AHI? Are your unintentional leaks relatively small?

In the last week, how low has your O2 fallen and for how long?

I don't think he really uses a CPAP....all he keeps saying is that he needs an ASV and the insurance company won't give him one.

xxyzx wrote:never had a cpap
they gave me a bipap
because teh sleep tech said to do that
i went to a real sleep doctor who said the sleep lab tek was FOS and i needed an ASV

Out of curiosity, how long did you use your bipap machine before you sent it back?