CPAP Newbie finding it hard to exhale through nasal pillows

Hi all. I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea and have had my cpap machine for about a week. As a nose breather, I chose nasal pillows over a full mask. But I'm finding it quite an effort to exhale past that force of incoming air. As a newbie, I'm wondering if this is a problem specific to the nasal pillows or if everyone has this issue regardless of the type of mask. With the incoming air forcing through the small pillow openings, it feels like there's no place for the exhaled air to go but back in. Breathing through this thing wears me out. Is this normal or is it just me? Would love some feedback, advice, etc. Thanks!

I find the nasal pillows are more "direct" which can feel more difficult. Do you know what your pressure settings are?

There's a feature called EPR or c-flex which provides some relief when you exhale

I like to keep my pressures constant since reducing them will allow the tissues time to swell and cause events.

But I always played trombone so have strong expiratory muscles.

On a pressure raise in the past I remember having a bit of trouble - for a week.

I think if I were you I would practice with my machine during the day while distracted by TV or some such. Just some time to strengthen the muscles and get used to the pressure.

Talking, singing, taking up a wind instrument may help.

Many use EPR for an easier time with this.

Your problem is very common.

Your problem may lie with your machine or just the settings on your machine. EPR is the feature which allows the pressure to be lower when you exhale, and may be available with an adjustment on your machine.

What machine, what pressure???
I have no exhale issue using pillows, my pressure is 6-11cm, using EPR 1 on an S9 Auto.

NanAnn56 wrote:Hi all. I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea and have had my cpap machine for about a week. As a nose breather, I chose nasal pillows over a full mask. But I'm finding it quite an effort to exhale past that force of incoming air. As a newbie, I'm wondering if this is a problem specific to the nasal pillows or if everyone has this issue regardless of the type of mask. With the incoming air forcing through the small pillow openings, it feels like there's no place for the exhaled air to go but back in. Breathing through this thing wears me out. Is this normal or is it just me? Would love some feedback, advice, etc. Thanks!

I had this same problem. I solved it by moving up one size on my nasal pillows and increasing my EPR from 2 to 3. Fixed my problem.

ughwhatname wrote:...I had this same problem. I solved it by moving up one size on my nasal pillows and increasing my EPR from 2 to 3. Fixed my problem.

+1 I can agree with this. Pugsy suggested this very thing to me early on and it saved me from probably giving up otherwise. Especially the moving one size up part.

Welcome the the great mask hunt.

I had a similar problem, and ended up moving to a nazel and then a full face mask. I fould not find a pillow that worked for me.

If you are new, your DME may let you try a differnt mask. Mine was limited to 1 switch in the first 30 days........ 5 masks later I am almost there.

Welcome to the forum.
What kind of machine do you have? We can help you turn the feature on if it is merely disabled.
Some machines do not have that feature; it may not be too late to switch it for one you can USE!
You have suffered a week. Enough is enough--let's get this fixed!

If you're exhaling into a pressure above 10 cm then either an EPR setting in Resmed machines or a Flex in Respironics machine could reduce the exhalation pressure by up to 3 cm. Other choices are a BiPAP machine and changing the mask (for example like the one I use).