Switching away from a full face mask

Prior to the beginning of my cpap journey, I thought I knew a good deal about how I slept. I always went to sleep on my side and I always woke up on my side. At my age switching from side to side takes some effort and now requires that I be at least semi conscious....at least I think so. A lot of the time I had some nasal congestion and breathed through my mouth. So when it was time to choose a cpap mask, full face seemed the only option. I now have a ResMed F20. Two of my early take away's from my first week on cpap therapy are first that I seem to be breathing exclusively through my nose. I'm not sure when I'm asleep but when the cpap is running my nose always seems to be clear and my mouth seems to be closed. My second take away is that my F20 always starts to leak when the pressure reaches 15. I know FF masks are considered leakier than nasal masks. So I'm wondering if I didn't make a mistake going with the FF mask.

Anyone been down this road before?

Josiah wrote:Anyone been down this road before?

Most of us in the other direction - we hope to use a nasal mask, but after a short time, we figure out our mouth opens when we are sleeping, so we switch to a FFM.

Josiah wrote: I'm not sure when I'm asleep but when the cpap is running my nose always seems to be clear and my mouth seems to be closed.

Did you have a lab sleep study? They should have told you whether you slept with your mouth closed or opened at times.

BTW, one week of tinkering with a mask is usually not enough effort to get one to work properly. It took me some months, but I am so glad I put the effort in to learn how to use a FFM.

DeadlySleep wrote:BTW, one week of tinkering with a mask is usually not enough effort to get one to work properly. It took me some months, but I am so glad I put the effort in to learn how to use a FFM.

Point taken that I need to try harder. And as to my sleep study it was an inhome test which offered no help about which mask to select.

If you want to explore the possibility of using a nasal mask of some sort...then do it.
Want is a good enough reason to do pretty much anything in my book.

What kind of nasal mask looks interesting to you?

Like they used to say in that old Tareyton commercial............"I'd rather fight than switch".
I started out with the mask in my profile and (with limited experimentation) haven't found a better one.....and don't want to.
I'm a die-hard full face mask user.
Maybe you'll find the right one.
Not all FFMs are created equal.
Proper sizing and adjustments are of utmost importance.


Den

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Be sure to get and master using the Sleepyhead software. It's the only way you will know if you are getting treatment or just letting it out your mouth. The problem happens when you sleep, not just while you are awake.

A FF mask doesn't stop mouthbreathing, but it does keep the pressure in your airway prevent apnea, a Nasal mask does not. Jim

I moved to pillows as I found it much more comfortable and essentially did not leak. Conquered mouth leaking by using the Ultimate Chinstrap. Eight years and still loving it.

TedVPAP wrote:I moved to pillows as I found it much more comfortable and essentially did not leak. Conquered mouth leaking by using the Ultimate Chinstrap. Eight years and still loving it.

Ted, thanks for encouraging me to try the Ultimate Chinstrap. Last night was my first night with it, and I liked it a lot. Very comfortable and worked great.

The only drawback I noticed was that there is less room to seat my nasal pillows of choice (DreamWear Gel Pillows) in my nostrils with the ultimate chinstrap covering the mouth since it is thicker than tape, but with a little finagling, I was able to get the mask seated, and all went well after that .

Just try it and see how it works. You have an up-to-date machine that will provide good stats.

I think that FF masks are over-prescribed, especially to new CPAP patients. I believe that this is a good part of the compliance problem.

These masks are cumbersome and much leakier than nasal masks or nasal pillows.

Many who report that they can't breathe through their noses can when the pressure is keep the nasal passages open.

My first and only mask is Dreamwear nasal cushions. I love that I can sleep on either side and air still gets through. I had some chaffing for a couple days on nose but not sure if it's related. I really like the mask and have no plans of trying anything else.