Venting air waking me up: new mask recommendation?

[DigDugSlug]

I sleep most comfortably on my side, but lately air from the exhalation vent on my mask has been waking me up prematurely.

I've been using the Dreamwear gel pillows for a few months, which is mostly comfortable and provides a great seal with no leaks. But if I sleep on my side, I'll always be awoken by the exhalation air sometime before morning. I can sometimes avoid this by sleeping on my back, but then it usually takes me over an hour to fall asleep. And there's no guarantee that I won't end up turning onto my side at some point at night anyway, eventually being woken by vented air.

Prior to the Dreamwear, I used a Wisk for a couple of years, which was alright but they seemed to have changed the cushion material. I would wake up with light red blotches on my face where it came into contact with the cushion. The other drawback of the Wisp, according to the data on myAir, was multiple leaks during the night. The new gel pillows on the Dreamwear never leaked at all!

So, I guess I'm looking for something with minimal contact like the Dreamwear gel pillows, but that is good for side sleepers and is quiet.

I know that the F&P Brevida and Pilario Q have diffusers. Do you think either of those would be a good option for me? Also, I can't quite tell what the advantages or disadvantages are between these two models. Can someone illuminate please?

Finally, how do you think these compare to the Resmed P10? Are there any other masks I should consider?

[Pugsy]

The Brevida has a smaller pillow than the Pilairo and the head gear is a bit more adjustable. Otherwise it's a very similar mask.
I preferred the Brevida over the Pilairo because the inhale/exhale ballooning effect was less annoying with the Brevida...but it was still a bit annoying. More noticeable if a person uses some form of exhale relief where there is a difference in pressure between inhale and exhale.
They are both quiet with the optional diffuser on the vent holes.

The P10 is still my preference though...and silent in terms of venting unless the vent holes get about 1/2 inch from the bed covers or my arm.
At one inch away I can barely feel the vented air.

If you want a diffused venting system...these are pretty much your choices.

[DigDugSlug]

Thank you so much for your reply!

[DigDugSlug]

I've been using the P10 for the past 4 nights. It is really quiet, which is good, but for some reason I'm waking up multiple times during the night, which isn't good.
The first 2 nights I was getting 11 L/min according to myAir. I realized after that, that I needed to add the headgear clips to tighten the seal. This seemed to help a bit, but I still wake up many times during the right. This never really happened when I wore the Wisp and only happened with the DreamWear due to the noise of exhallation.

Any ideas of what might be happening or how to solve this? Is there anything I should be looking for in the Sleepyhead data? The graphs and numbers still mostly look like Greek to me, so I can barely read my reports.

[Julie]

Post a couple of SH reports on Imgur and link to this thread so we can see them... My Air isn't much good.

[DigDugSlug]

Here's a link to the PDF on google drive. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BdMLwo ... sp=sharing

I haven't had restorative sleep in over 15 years and my cognitive abilities are declining, so I'm hoping you can help me interpret this data.

[Julie]

Well, your problems may be due to OSA, but have you recently had other tests done, i.e. for sugar, thyroid, other hormonal labs, cardio, etc? Not everything is about apnea, unless it turns out that it is.

[DigDugSlug]

yeah, been tested for everything. no one knows why this is happening.

but right now, i'm just trying to figure out why i can't sleep through the night with this new $80 mask.

[Pugsy]

Sometimes our problems sleeping aren't related to the mask or sleep apnea.
Sometimes they are related to something totally unrelated to the cpap mask or pressures or therapy effectiveness.
I speak from first class experience here...my therapy is fine....and the mask disappears on my face and I rarely even know it is there but I still find myself waking sooner than I want or more times than I want and sometimes not being able to get back to sleep.

Now sometimes I know the reason...like the damn dog wanting to go outside to pee at 2:45 AM and then I couldn't get back to sleep until 6 AM.
But sometimes I don't know the reason and it just happens.

I would love it if all my sleep problems could be fixed by the mask and machine...I have that part down pat.

If you find that you seem to sleep better with one mask over another mask...use the one that let's you sleep more soundly.
Sometimes very small annoyances with one mask can cause major sleep issues.

Frequent awakenings...google "sleep maintenance insomnia"
Poor sleep quality no matter what the reason is going to make us feel like crap. Figuring out the why we have poor sleep quality isn't always so easy.
Been there done that...and in fact doing it right now.

[DigDugSlug]

Every mask I’ve used is very problematic for me for one reason or another. At this point, after trying many many masks over the years, I can say that I don’t like any of them.
Since my AHI is low now, it seems pretty clear that the CPAP is treating the OSA and my unrefreshed sleep is due to something else.
But it’s ruined my life. I have no job, no friends cuz I can’t do anything. I give up.

[JimW159]

Your SH reports seem to be quite good to my untrained eye. The leak rate seems especially good - not once did I note it trending upward in any appreciable way. The only modifications I might suggest is to get rid of any personal information before posting. Also, eliminating the dead space between sections might make it more easily read.

[USMCVet]

Every mask I’ve used is very problematic for me for one reason or another. At this point, after trying many many masks over the years, I can say that I don’t like any of them.
Since my AHI is low now, it seems pretty clear that the CPAP is treating the OSA and my unrefreshed sleep is due to something else.
But it’s ruined my life. I have no job, no friends cuz I can’t do anything. I give up.

Having realistic expectations what would your ideal mask be able to let you do? What are the things you need in a mask?

For me I needed something comfortable and that would let me toss and turn without getting all tangled up and having problems. I also needed something that would let me wear my glasses so I could watch some boring shows before falling asleep.

I got extremely lucky and am happy with my first mask which is in my signature.

Originally I thought I wanted the Amara view mask because I was a "mouth breather". I created a poll here though about mask types which made me change my mind.

Lastly a big part of feeling better is mind set. For me, I refuse to let anything or anyone get in my way of feeling better as fast as I can.

P.S. if you still feel bad after getting therapy dialed in it can't hurt to get a pulse oximeter that records data to see how you're doing on that front.

[Sheriff Buford]

While we are on the subject, don't nobody try to unknowingly "block" or "reroute" the mask vent. You need the vent to remove the CO2 or SO2 (can't remember which ). This has come up before and we had a forum member suggesting rerouting the exhaust. You can get into trouble real fast! Just sayin'

Sheriff

[MrsRinPDX]

While we are on the subject, don't nobody try to unknowingly "block" or "reroute" the mask vent. You need the vent to remove the CO2 or SO2 (can't remember which ). This has come up before and we had a forum member suggesting rerouting the exhaust. You can get into trouble real fast! Just sayin'

Sheriff

Excellent point Sheriff.

[LSAT]

I don't see any problem with waking several times during the night. I have been doing it for years. I am a light sleeper and wake up every time I roll over or turn from side to side. I ususlly go right back to sleep. I still average 1.5-2.5 AHI and get about 7 hours sleep.