Mask Leaking Only at High Pressure? Help!

[lsalms]

Hello all,

Well, I am so glad to have found this forum. I am STRUGGLING. AHI is 49. Female. Been on the CPAP for about 2 weeks and have not had a decent night's sleep yet.

I got fitted for the Resmed AirFit F40 mask, which is a nice soft silicone instead of the hard plastic face masks. I took off the ramp, since it seemed like I was suffocating. My prescription is 7-17. I go to bed with a great seal, however I am waking up with air constantly blowing around my mouth. It's not a huge leak, but the cool air is enough to wake me up. I can tell the pressure is much higher, cause of the amount of air coming in my mask, as well as how much more it inflates the silicone mask.

Any ideas?? I see mask liners, but that doesn't exist for my mask type of Amazon. I wash my mask everyday, I'm a female, so no issues with facial hair.

I browsed Reddit, and don't see any questions related to having mask leaks only at high pressures. If anyone can help, I'd love to hear from you. Take care.

[zonker]

I see mask liners, but that doesn't exist for my mask type of Amazon.

try here-

https://www.padacheek.com/airfit-f40

[LSAT]

What was the pressure when it woke you up? It was NOT necessarily your maximum pressure. It should have said on the scfreen.

[robysue1]

I go to bed with a great seal, however I am waking up with air constantly blowing around my mouth. It's not a huge leak, but the cool air is enough to wake me up. I can tell the pressure is much higher, cause of the amount of air coming in my mask, as well as how much more it inflates the silicone mask.

Actually the pressure itself may not have increased very much.

The machine compensates for the leak by blowing more air into the "semi-closed pressurized system" comprising the machine, the hose, the mask, and your upper airway. The larger the leak, the more air that must be blown into the system just to maintain a given pressure.

Think of it this way: If you were able to blow as much air into a tire with a leak as was leaking out of the tire, the tire would not go flat.

That said: Padacheek makes high quality reusable mask liners for your mask. They're worth trying.

[lsalms]

I see mask liners, but that doesn't exist for my mask type of Amazon.

try here-

https://www.padacheek.com/airfit-f40

Thank you so much! I'm wondering if I should try these first? Or try switching to a nasal pillow option first? I heard those are better for leaks...

[lsalms]

I go to bed with a great seal, however I am waking up with air constantly blowing around my mouth. It's not a huge leak, but the cool air is enough to wake me up. I can tell the pressure is much higher, cause of the amount of air coming in my mask, as well as how much more it inflates the silicone mask.

Actually the pressure itself may not have increased very much.

The machine compensates for the leak by blowing more air into the "semi-closed pressurized system" comprising the machine, the hose, the mask, and your upper airway. The larger the leak, the more air that must be blown into the system just to maintain a given pressure.

Think of it this way: If you were able to blow as much air into a tire with a leak as was leaking out of the tire, the tire would not go flat.

That said: Padacheek makes high quality reusable mask liners for your mask. They're worth trying.

Thank you for your comprehensive reply! Much appreciated. I'm wondering what your thoughts are on nasal pillows? I heard those are better with leaks, given there is a smaller surface area? I also wanted to ask if you would interested in viewing my OSCAR report sometime once I have more reliable data? Thank you kindly for your response.

[robysue1]

Thank you for your comprehensive reply! Much appreciated. I'm wondering what your thoughts are on nasal pillows? I heard those are better with leaks, given there is a smaller surface area? I also wanted to ask if you would interested in viewing my OSCAR report sometime once I have more reliable data? Thank you kindly for your response.

I've used nasal pillows right from the start since putting anything over my nose triggers a whole lot of sneezing.

I don't typically breathe through my mouth, and as a result, my unintentional leaks are almost always so close to 0 that they're easy to just ignore (as long as they don't wake me up.)

If you don't breathe through your mouth during the daytime, it's certainly worth trying nasal pillows. As you said, they have a much smaller surface area and hence they may be far less prone to leaking caused by moving around in bed.

[McSleepy]

[...]
I'm wondering what your thoughts are on nasal pillows? I heard those are better with leaks, given there is a smaller surface area? I also wanted to ask if you would interested in viewing my OSCAR report sometime once I have more reliable data? Thank you kindly for your response.

Posting your data would be very helpful. Specifically, the pressure maximums. Mine are at 21cm H20 and I've never been able to get any non-pillow mask to work (I also sleep face-down, which makes it hard to keep the mask firmly in place). As far as that is concerned, the difference between nasal pillows and most other kinds of masks is that when the pressure increases, it tends to expand the mask, thus lifting and separating the mask from the points of contact with the skin. As opposed to the pillows (I use the so-called "dilator pillows"), which are actually pushed more firmly into the nose lining, thus improving the seal. Some modern nose-pillow masks have very shallow pillows, where that effect may not be as pronounced, but still better than, say, full-face masks. If your pressures are very high (I wish you that weren't the case; although, with an AHI of nearly 50 on CPAP, it may very well be the case), nasal-pillow masks may be your only option. Good luck!

McSleepy

[lsalms]

[...]
I'm wondering what your thoughts are on nasal pillows? I heard those are better with leaks, given there is a smaller surface area? I also wanted to ask if you would interested in viewing my OSCAR report sometime once I have more reliable data? Thank you kindly for your response.

Posting your data would be very helpful. Specifically, the pressure maximums. Mine are at 21cm H20 and I've never been able to get any non-pillow mask to work (I also sleep face-down, which makes it hard to keep the mask firmly in place). As far as that is concerned, the difference between nasal pillows and most other kinds of masks is that when the pressure increases, it tends to expand the mask, thus lifting and separating the mask from the points of contact with the skin. As opposed to the pillows (I use the so-called "dilator pillows"), which are actually pushed more firmly into the nose lining, thus improving the seal. Some modern nose-pillow masks have very shallow pillows, where that effect may not be as pronounced, but still better than, say, full-face masks. If your pressures are very high (I wish you that weren't the case; although, with an AHI of nearly 50 on CPAP, it may very well be the case), nasal-pillow masks may be your only option. Good luck!

McSleepy

Thank you for your comprehensive response! I don't have an SD card, so I don't have access to my data. Will purchase on Amazon soon. My CPAP technician and I spoke briefly today about my challenges, and she said my average pressure is 16, which she said is quite high.