Back on CPAP after a few months off

[GPLarge]

Hey all,
I haven't posted in quite some time. I had Bariatric surgery in December of 2015 and it has been quite successful. Around October last year I had lost a good amount of weight and had constant mask leaks (ResMed AirFit P10) and decided to try sleeping without it. I slept great! I had an appointment in early December with my sleep doctor and he ordered a sleep study. Had that in early February and found, although asymptomatic, I was still considered to have severe sleep apnea I had 30 events per hour during the study but here is the kicker my O2 sats never dropped below 92% My blood pressure has been great and I have been off the meds for that for almost a year now. Anyway I started back on CPAP the other night, brand new AirFit P10 mask, and the MyAir software is reporting all good except for leaks. Showing around 25-26 L/min. The only indication of anything is my mouth has been dry the last 2 mornings, other than that I feel fine. My wife hasn't said there has been any loud hissing so I'm not sure. Did the mask fit test and it was green. I will try a different pillow tonight incase the one I presently use is knocking it just loose enough to leak. Does anyone have suggestions on a CPAP pillow or if they even help.

[Pugsy]

25 to 26 L/min numbers from MyAir are what we call 95% numbers and all they are is a number where your leak was at OR BELOW for 95 % of the time. It is NOT where you leak was for 95% of the night.
5 % of the night you were above that number...we don't know how much above it.
We also don't know how low it went or how long the leak might have been well below 24 L/min.

I suggest you use available software to evaluate the leak in more detail. It is very possible that minimal amount of time was spent in large leak territory.
https://sleep.tnet.com/equipment

[GPLarge]

%Thanks @pugsy. Was just looking at the stats in SH. I think a few more nights of data and can get a better picture of what is happening leak wise. Last night was in Large Leak 38.67% with the longest one almost 27 minutes in duration. AHI was great though at 2.09.

[GPLarge]

Did not check SH yet but leaks were down from 26 L/min to 16 L/min just with a pillow change. I need to find a contoured pillow that comes up a bit higher than the one I used last night though.

[Pugsy]

95% leak numbers of 16 L/min...I don't even give those a second glance or blink of an eye.
As long as I sleep through the leaks I don't sweat the leaks in that range at all.

[SewTired]

Try adjusting where the hose lays. I found that I had a lot more leaks if the hose was laying in one way than in another with that mask. Once I found the perfect place for the hose, I had virtually no leaks.

[GPLarge]

Try adjusting where the hose lays. I found that I had a lot more leaks if the hose was laying in one way than in another with that mask. Once I found the perfect place for the hose, I had virtually no leaks.

Oh I did that. I think it was the pillow I was using. It was well stuffed and soft and I am mostly a side sleeper. The pillow would mold to my head and knock the mask just loose enough to cause the leak. I have always slept with the hose under the covers to help prevent rain out old school style. My first machine (ResMed S8) was notorious for it. The AirSense 10 is so much better. May try a heated hose when I'm due.