New to all this

wirenut90 · Post by **wirenut90** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:33 pm

Hi I just joined after learning of this site from a friend. Wish the people at the sleep lab had told me about it. I would have been much better informed when I was set up for the machine on 3/8/07. I have been sleeping 2 to 3 hours at a time with the mask and 3 nights slept right through the night but finding my mask off and no idea how or when it came off. I find the mask claustrophobic but I feel I am getting better at it and am going to keep trying. The reason they gave me a full face is I am a mouth breather and have a beard. Is there a nasal mask I could use that would not feel so confining? I sleep on my side mostly and stomach sometimes. Air pressure is 12 with a 45 min. ramp from 4. Thanks , Don

Linda3032 · Post by **Linda3032** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:51 pm

Don

Well, you've got a good friend there. It's quite common for newbies to remove their masks during the night. One thing you can do it "tie it on" by putting a large headband around it and your head. If that's too tight, any long stretchy piece of material (like a panty hose legging) will work.

Also, your ramp is probably too low and causing difficulty breathing. I would bump the ramp up to 7 or 8 at least.

I will let the bearded ones help you with mask suggestiions.

Good Luck

bdp522 · Post by **bdp522** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:52 pm

Welcome to the forum!

Many find that they take the mask off during the night without knowing it. You stop eventually. Some have taped the mask(headgear) to their face to try to stop pulling it off.
Mouth breathers CAN use nasal masks. You just have to tape your mouth shut. I use the hybrid and CL2 mostly. With the CL2 I tape. Here's how;
viewtopic.php?t=9653&start=0

The hybrid is considered a FF mask but is much less confining. You can check out more masks at cpap.com and then come here and search any that seem promising for you.

Brenda

snoregirl · Post by **snoregirl** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 7:26 am

I agree with moving your ramp. I personally am not comfortable with less than 6 and probably better at 7.

You can probably use a nasal pillow if you are willing to tape your lips shut. There are a bunch of threads on taping

I thought I couldn't use one at first as I am a major mouth breather but with all that air blowing up my nose I am fine as long as I don't have a cold. I do have to tape my lips shut as my mouth drops open on its own in the night. I also use an ace bandage as a chinstrap to help encourage my mouth to stay shut and reduce the strain on the tape, as well as reduce blowfish cheeks.

I am so much happier with the nasal pillow than the ff mask.

You might as well give it a try along with moving up that ramp.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 7:44 am

Tape, denture adhesive, a "Do It Yourself" mouthguard made of boil'n'bite athletic mouthguards... lots of idea to prevent mouthbreathing can be found in the discussions in the link below.

Links to: Mouth leaks - Air Leaks - Tape - DIY Guard
viewtopic.php?t=8011

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:00 am

I have a Hybrid mask and the 431 cousin (the 432). I also have a full beard and prefer sleeping on my side and I toss about alot from one side to the other with occasional time spent stomach sleeping.

I did not find much of a difference between the 432 and the Hybrid (or the UMFF) with respect to sleeping positions. For that matter, I have only been able to manage about 4 hours of sleep in any of the FF masks before they spring uncontrollable leaks.

Fortunately, I am one of the lucky ones able to use nasal interfaces without mouth leaks ... so I generally use nasal pillow type interfaces. I know the day will come when nasal congetion will force me to use a FF mask and that is the only reason I continue to experiment and find a way to make an FF mask work for me for the entire night.

For your sleeping habits, you may need to search for a bed pillow that will accomodate your mask in side or stomcah sleeping positions ... one that comes to mind is the PAPillow (which I have never used). I use a memory foam contoured pillow but if you decide to try one of those I would suggest that you get one of both high density and firmness ... memory foam comes in different firmness and also different densities (two different qualities often misunderstood as being the same).

Finally, everyone is different so I'm sure you will hear differing opinions as to what works for them ... read them all and make your best decision and try it out ... if it does not work try something different but not give up on your treatment.

Best of luck.

Forgot to mention ... your ramp time may be set too high ... try lowering it to 15 minutes or how ever much time it usually takes you between teh time you go to bed and the time you fall asleep.