Several questions from a newbie on his tenth mask in 6 wks.

[Robb]

Have been struggling with tolerating wearing masks since I got my CPAP 6 wks ago.  Last night, I tried my 10th mask (P10) and managed to sleep with it for 6.5 hrs. This was the most I ever had slept with previous masks. With all of the other nasal and full-face masks, I awoke to loud leaks after 2-3 hrs and could not go back to sleep, so I removed them.  In general, without masks, I sleep about 8 hrs, but I normally wake up once or twice an hour. For the past 5 years, I have been experiencing a great deal of daytime fatigue and am determined to make this work and am so glad I found this forum. Anyway, I was hoping to ask you all three questions and appreciate all of your time.

1) Looks like my AHI was 4.6, which is much better than the 34 I got from my sleep study. However, I got the gist from reading the forums that the AHI normally needs to be below 1 before one notices an improvement in their sleep.  Would anyone be able to offer any advice on lowering it? Not sure if the data posted shows anything telling.  Or is the AHI something that for the most part just naturally improves with time, once one's mind and body gets used to a CPAP mask?  

2) I have tried the Bleep mask about half a dozen times, but after about 2-3 hrs, every time, I awaken to my hand on it pulling it off my nose.  There is a part of me which keeps on wanting to use it since there has been so many praises sung for it in this forum and online in general.   I realize that at the end of the day, the most effective mask for an individual is the one that he/she will wear.  Would you all recommend that I bite the bullet and continue trying to use the Bleep mask for a few weeks more, with the assumption that eventually I will stop ripping it off my nose subconsciously?  Is the Bleep mask essentially a better and more effective mask than the P10 once one gets through the initial stages of wearing it?  Since I actually slept the longest with the P10 vs the Bleep and all of the other 8 masks I tried, I am inclined to keep on using the P10.  I also realize that there is probably not a good answer to my question, and that every mask out there can potentially be the best possible mask for a certain individual, given that we are all different.  

3) I noticed that when I slept on my right side, there were no leaks on the P10.  When I slept on my left side, the mask kept on leaking.  Would anyone have any tips on decreasing the leaks on the P10?  I tried all three sizes of the nasal pillows, and the medium feels like the best fit.

Thanks a lot for the good service many of you experienced CPAP users are providing on this forum, and to Pugsy for helping me with posting the data.

Rob

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[Pugsy]

I have always said that the mask journey is the hardest part of this whole cpap therapy thing. If a person can't get the mask right so they can sleep with it then it is just difficult because sleep is our primary goal.

I would suggest that you continue to give the P10 a longer trial since you had better/longer sleep times with it.
At least for now...maybe revisit the Bleep later.

Some people are just hypersensitive to the least little problem that a mask might cause and keeping the mask on is obviously a very necessary part to both effective therapy and getting good sleep quality.

You are new to this therapy and still in the mask search...and I know that makes things even harder.

Take the time to go here and watch the videos to learn how to distinguish awake/arousal breathing from asleep breathing. I suspect that a good chunk of your AHI is likely arousal related because of potential mask issues. Changing the settings and/or increasing the pressure may not be the way to fix or lower the AHI if the AHI has a high arousal flag content. More pressure won't fix arousal/awake stuff. We have to instead try to fix whatever is causing the arousals in the first place and in your situation it very well could be mask related.
http://freecpapadvice.com/sleepyhead-free-software

So a low AHI doesn't guarantee we will sleep great and a higher AHI doesn't mean the therapy isn't working. My AHI is all over the place but I know it's mainly from arousal flagged events. Some nights I don't sleep so great and it's not because of my mask but instead because I am old and have a bad back and it hurts like hell sometimes and so I wake up a lot tossing and turning trying to find a position where I don't hurt so much.

When it comes to which mask is "best"....the one that you can use and like the best is the one that is the best for you.
I do use the Bleep but the P10 is my second choice. I do get some mask movement leaks with the P10 because it is probably not quite as stable since I do a lot of tossing and turning but overall those leaks don't really wake me up and they are brief so I don't care.
Now I had been using a nasal pillow mask of some sort for almost 10 years when I got a chance to try the Bleep....so lots of past experience with cpap masks in general. I was long past the "getting used to a mask blowing air up my nose" thing that disturbed my sleep but when I first started cpap it was probably a good 3 months before my brain was okay with the alien on my face blowing air up my nose. I initially had a lot of wake ups just because my brain wanted to tell me "hey, dudette, do you know you have something weird plastered to your face blowing air up your nose?"

[khauser]

10 makes in 6 weeks? Is unlikely you've given any of them a fair chance. It takes time to learn how to fit a mask (or in the case of the bleep mask, how to apply it), and it takes time for your body to adjust to it, not to mention adjust to cpap in general.

You now that you wake up to yourself pulling the mask off. Why? Are you aware of how it is bothering you?

[Pugsy]

I am thinking that OP might be a prime candidate to add a hose management system to not only the P10 trial but the Bleep trial as well.
Both masks tend to "tug" on the nose a bit and could be potentially disruptive to sleep for people whose brain simply hasn't come to view the alien as its new best friend.

For now though I think that more time on the P10 needs to be given. Was last night a fluke good night or is it something that can be done consistently???? Worry about the Bleep later.

It takes time to learn how to fit a mask (or in the case of the bleep mask, how to apply it), and it takes time for your body to adjust to it, not to mention adjust to cpap in general.

[zonker]

3) I noticed that when I slept on my right side, there were no leaks on the P10.  When I slept on my left side, the mask kept on leaking.  Would anyone have any tips on decreasing the leaks on the P10?  I tried all three sizes of the nasal pillows, and the medium feels like the best fit.

you might want to give this a try-

viewtopic/p1089718/viewtopic.php?f=1&t= ... s#p1086296

now, i realize that the topic covered and the solution is aimed at mouth breathing. and that's what drew me to jay's method. but i found, to my surprise, that having the scunci positioned just under the nose helped to keep my p10 more firmly in place!

it's a cheap try, at any rate. i think a pack of five suncis at your local drugstore(in the hair accessories aisle) are five or six bucks.

good luck!

eta: oh! and you might try lansnoh. it's a lanolin cream used by nursing mothers to get relief from sore baby chewed nipples. besides smoothing things out, it has a slight tacky property which will help seal the pillows to nose. find it in the infant care section when you go to the drugstore for those scuncis!

[Robb]

Pugsy: This clears a lot up for me, as I didn't take into consideration the difference btw the awakenings and arousals. What you are saying makes total sense, so I won't necessarily put too much stock in my AHI and will take into account the big picture. I watched a few of the Lanky Lefty's videos from the link, and they were helpful. I agree with you about the alien part. Will try my best to hang in there. (: Thanks a lot for your time.

[Robb]

10 makes in 6 weeks? Is unlikely you've given any of them a fair chance. It takes time to learn how to fit a mask (or in the case of the bleep mask, how to apply it), and it takes time for your body to adjust to it, not to mention adjust to cpap in general.

You now that you wake up to yourself pulling the mask off. Why? Are you aware of how it is bothering you?

I was convinced I needed to have a full face mask, so half of them were full mouth masks. Wished it would have occurred to me that I could just tape my mouth shut and use a nose mask.

Not sure why I wake up to myself pulling the mask off. I hate having something on my face but I tough it out, and my "Id" or subconscious self surfaces when I sleep. This applies to dental retainers as well. I always woke up with them on my bed or pillow.

[Robb]

I am thinking that OP might be a prime candidate to add a hose management system to not only the P10 trial but the Bleep trial as well.
Both masks tend to "tug" on the nose a bit and could be potentially disruptive to sleep for people whose brain simply hasn't come to view the alien as its new best friend.

For now though I think that more time on the P10 needs to be given. Was last night a fluke good night or is it something that can be done consistently???? Worry about the Bleep later.

It takes time to learn how to fit a mask (or in the case of the bleep mask, how to apply it), and it takes time for your body to adjust to it, not to mention adjust to cpap in general.

I have been using one of these, and it has helped.

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[Robb]

Zonker, I just ordered the Scunci band and nipple cream from Amazon. Thanks. I don't have a baby, so will be interesting to see my wife's reaction when she sees what I ordered.

[zonker]

Zonker, I just ordered the Scunci band and nipple cream from Amazon. Thanks. I don't have a baby, so will be interesting to see my wife's reaction when she sees what I ordered.

on a related note, i'll never forget my dog's reaction when i got up in the middle of the night to go pee. i wear my mask plus the scuncis plus a firm foam cervical collar. i scared the hell out of him and he stood there barking until i could convince him i was ME.

[Robb]

Zonker, I just ordered the Scunci band and nipple cream from Amazon. Thanks. I don't have a baby, so will be interesting to see my wife's reaction when she sees what I ordered.

on a related note, i'll never forget my dog's reaction when i got up in the middle of the night to go pee. i wear my mask plus the scuncis plus a firm foam cervical collar. i scared the hell out of him and he stood there barking until i could convince him i was ME.

I just visualized that and had a good laugh.

[Pugsy]

I just visualized that and had a good laugh.

There's a real picture floating of Zonker floating around here with him being made up in full glory....it's not surprising his dog didn't know him. I don't have a link to it handy nor have I saved it myself but don't be surprised if someone doesn't come along and give you the real deal to look at so you don't have to visualize it in your mind. We have had a lot of fun with that picture.

If you stick around here for a while you will find that in addition to helping that we like to have a good laugh as well and certainly like to kid around. It's how we stay sane in all this mess.

[babydinosnoreless]

Here ya go viewtopic.php?f=1&t=178094&hilit=Ode+to+zonker

[zonker]

Here ya go viewtopic.php?f=1&t=178094&hilit=Ode+to+zonker

oh, THANKS!

[Pugsy]

Here ya go viewtopic.php?f=1&t=178094&hilit=Ode+to+zonker

oh, THANKS!

We both knew it would happen. That's why I never bothered to save it.....I knew others did and it saved me the work.
You handsome devil you. But you have to admit....with all that crap on your face and head...it probably would scare your poor dog. Probably thought the boogey man was in your bathroom.

My dogs never cared when I went on cpap but the cat sure did.