Ultra Mirage FF still leaks

[DoriC]

Jason, I help my husband fit his mask and I notice that with time the straps stretch out and they have to be pulled a little tighter to get the same seal. Sometimes washing the headgear shrinks it back for awhile but after that it may be time for new headgear. I'm sure Den will speak about AHI vs Leak but I do remember someone here(maybe it was Den?) saying as long as the leak rate is not more than 8-10 lpm higher and not waking him and his AHI is good, he doesn't worry about it.

[Wulfman]

One final thought......
Bed pillows can make a huge difference when it comes to mask leaks. I've been using a Chiroflow water-based pillow long before I started CPAP therapy and it has worked very well since I started. About a year and a half ago, I decided to try a "regular" pillow again. I made it through a night and a half before I couldn't deal with the leaks anymore and switched back to my Chiroflow. My head was sinking into the pillow and then the part of the pillow at the end was shifting my mask to the point where it was leaking.

The way I look at it, if I can sleep through the leaks, I'm still doing OK, because my machine is still blowing and I'm still breathing. I've had my share of "interesting" leak lines, too.

It's not a problem with your machine or the Viewer software.


Den

I'm back to the flat pillow because the tempurpedic was giving me neck pain. My leak rate seems a bit high, in the low 40's with my avg pressure about 9.6cm. Usually I don't see many, if any, large leaks. And I'm not usually waking to leaks not detecting them before I sleep. I guess I could tighten the mask and see if the leak rate drops.

My AHI has dropped significantly since using this mask, but if my leak is too high maybe its messing with my numbers and I'm not as good as I think I am.

I can't recall who made the post or when, but it was somebody knowledgeable about leakage affecting the event detection in Respironics machines. Anyway, it was stated that they're accurate up to a leak rate somewhere around 70 lpm (or maybe more). Of course, event detection is suspended during large leaks (except for snores).


Den

[always_tired]

Thanks for the suggestion on pillows. I think that is an issue on the large leaks since I sleep a lot on my sides. When I tried the ComfortGel FF mask, which is much deeper than the Ultra Mirage, I felt the mask move as soon as I turned on my side.

But when one night everything is OK and the next night is mostly large leak and I haven't done anything different that I can tell, it's hard to know what needs fixing. I certainly have some questions for the doctor, like is some therapy better than no therapy? Are the large leaks significantly impacting the therapy?

Has anyone with a high pressure tried techniques that work with mild/moderate apnea (mouthpiece, etc.) in order to lower the pressure they need?