Snoring In Full Face Mask?

I picked-up my new PR Full Life full face mask yesterday. Per SleepingUgly's suggestion I cut a little strip of moleskin and placed it over the top of my nose. That seemed to work great. In fact it feels so good under my glasses I don't really want to peel it off.

Without CPAP I usually wake 3 or 4 times to use the rest room. With the Swift LE mask (that I gave back to the DME provider) I only wake once at 4 am, then get back to sleep till 6 am when the dog wakes me up.

Last night, with the full face mask I woke around 11 pm, 1 am, 3 am and again at 4 am. A couple of times I noticed my nose was clear and a couple of times it was plugged. It seemed like the mask was leaking at the sides of my mouth on exhale. I also felt a little drool coming out of the right side of my mouth each time I woke, but this morning the mask seems clean.

When she woke this morning, my wife said I kept her awake with my snoring. That doesn't seem like a good thing.

Edit: She just told me I tossed and turned all night like I used to do before I got CPAP.

It sounds like the mask was probably leaking a lot while you slept, so you weren't getting enough pressure. The wake-ups could have been due to excessive leaking or an apnea event.

Hopefully someone will you give some tips for the PR Full Life. Just make sure you adjust it correctly when you put it on at night, in your normal sleeping position, with your normal pressure. A little bit of mack's silicon ear plugs can help with small leaks. But it could be that the mask just isn't a good fit. Keep at it for a few days, sometimes it takes a few days of fiddling to get the mask to fit right.

Oh and you could try the moleskin to plug up the leaks too. For me the leaking around the corners of the mouth were the worst. I still haven't found a FFM that matches my facial structure.

I use a full face mask, Mirage Quatro, and was snoring with it even after I had the leaks under control. At that point I went back to my doctor and we ended up having to raise my pressure two points before I stopped. So if after you get the leaks fixed keep this in mind.

Echo, the mask was comfortable and it seemed like it fit fine at the DME place. That really surprised me because I expected it to not be comfortable. perhaps it will be better if I tighten the straps tonight.

I seem to remember reading something about a gasket for a full face mask. Would something like that help?

As far as the idea of turning-up the pressure with a full face mask, I was been thinking about trying that tonight. Last night it just didn't seem like I had the same pressure as with the Swift LT mask.

My theory (and it's probably wrong) is that on congested nights I need a little more pressure. That's why I am going to ask the doc to re-write the prescription for an APAP machine. Can someone with a little more experience tell me if I'm on the right track?

frh wrote:Without CPAP I usually wake 3 or 4 times to use the rest room. With the Swift LE mask (that I gave back to the DME provider) I only wake once at 4 am, then get back to sleep till 6 am when the dog wakes me up.

Hi,

Getting up to go to the bathroom often is one of the most common symptoms of a sleep disorder. Not getting up so often is a sign that your treatment is at least helping a little. The snoring means that you still have a ways to go to get dialed into the ideal treatment. Please keep at it--the end result is worth the effort.

-john-

frh wrote:...My theory (and it's probably wrong) is that on congested nights I need a little more pressure. That's why I am going to ask the doc to re-write the prescription for an APAP machine. Can someone with a little more experience tell me if I'm on the right track?

This has been my long-held belief too. Now that I have access to my detailed reports, I am hoping to see correlation between congestion & events. If I had a recording oximeter, I'd be using it too as I may be desating during hypops as I did in my PSG. It seems to me that on congested nights, my 96thcentile pressure is higher but I haven't been tracking congestion...I will now, at bedtime, if I wakeup, and when I get up in the morning.

My Hybrid mask allows me to mouth breathe when necessary from congestion. With 3 sizes of oral cushions and 3 sizes of pillows, it means it fits more people that the similar ResMed Liberty. This is a good variation of FFM. Might investigate: https://www.cpap.com/productpage/RespCa ... -Mask.html

Muse-Inc, thanks for the mask suggestion. I'll add it to my file of masks I'd like to try when/if I get the opportunity.

I just woke-up from my 2nd night with the Full Life mask. I cinched it up as tight as I can tolerate it, and raised my pressure from 6 to 8. It still leaks around the corners of my mouth. I woke at 1 am and 4 am, which was better than last night. My wife said my snoring was more muffled, but I still snored all night. And I woke with a sore throat this morning. (And that is a rare occurance, I hardly ever get a sore throat.)

At this point, I plan to call the DME Provider first thing Monday morning and see if they will let me trade it in for the Swift FX they special ordered for me.