FF Mask, Side Sleeping, and Diet of Air

[teejer]

Hi. I am somewhat of a newbie here -- been reading a long time, but only posted a time or two.

I was dx'd with SA about 2.5 years ago. Money was very tight at the time, and my lousy insurance didn't cover DME, so I purchased a used Healthdyne Tranquility and a Breeze system nasal pillow mask. I used it very sporadically. Not only did I hate it, but it would never stay on. I might use it 1 day of out 10. It was basically worthless. I am also a mouth breather, and of course would end up with aerophagia all time. It just wasnt worth it to me.

Recently, my partner became alarmed at how bad my apnea was getting and convinced me to give CPAP another try. I purchased a Resmed Plus with CFLEX, a humidifier, and a full face mask (Ultra Mirage). By and large, it has been great. I am sleeping most of the night, and am feeling a lot better during the day -- not falling asleep at my desk, etc.

However, 5 weeks into this, I have developed some problems. I am a complete side sleeper. I never sleep on my back or stomach. Suddenly I am having problems keeping the mask sealed. Last night I ended up with it so tight that my lower gums were blood red this morning (yikes!). I am also suddenly having MAJOR aerophagia. Two mornings ago I almost considered going to the ER because it was so painful and I couldnt get myself to burp.

It seems as though the tighter the mask, the worse the aerophagia. I can feel the air filling my cheeks on one side of the other.

I keep the mask clean. I am not overfilling the humidifier. I have disabled the CFLEX. (It improved a bit with turning off the CFLEX.) I called my doc about reducing the pressure (I am at 16) and he says 16 is as low as he would go.

So, I guess my questions for everyone:

1) Any idea why my mask would suddenly stop sealing? It is in perfect condition, my face hasnt changed. I have a beard, but it says very trimmed. I clean my face and dry it before putting on the mask. I keep the mask clean.

2) Any suggestions for the aerophagia??

Sorry for such a long post.

Thanks!!

Teejer

[tooly125]

viewtopic.php?t=8157

Teejer,
There is a thread called air as a midnite snack with several different things to try. I attempted to put a link to it above hopefully i did it correctly.
I also have to wear my mask kind of tight to stop leaks i've noticed that in doing so my chin is pulled closer to my chest. This could be the culprit(just a guess on my part.

[snoozie_suzy]

Teejer~

I obviously don't have the beard issue to work around, but I have been using the UMFF mask for two months. the first week or so I had the silly mask SOOO tight because I was convinced it would stop leaks and help my therapy. It is NOT supposed to be so tight that your gums get red, or that your face hurts. Other long time Cpap'ers will probably chime in on this that have more experience than me, but from reading THEIR posts I discovered that you do not have the mask so tight. It should be tight enough to get a seal but loose enough that you can stick one finger underneath, for instance. By having the mask in that perfect balance of not too tight and not too loose the air cushion can be more springy (can't think of the correct word to describe). I found when I had the mask very tight that what it was actually doing was forcing my jaw to recess backwards into an almost "underbite" you don't want that to happen because it narrows your airway and defeats the purpose of what the cpap machine is supposed to be doing ----keeping your airway open. Someone before posted the perfect description (Janelle???) before about how the mask should be tightened enough to stay in place but not too tight. I am a total side sleeper too ( I would prefer to be on my stomach, but have settled for side) and you do have to position your pillows just so, so that the pillow doesnt' move the top part of the mask off the bridge of your nose. If you sleep with the side of your head on the very edge of the pillow it usually does the trick.

Hope this helps. good luck.

Suzy

[rested gal]

I called my doc about reducing the pressure (I am at 16) and he says 16 is as low as he would go.

-----

2) Any suggestions for the aerophagia??

Hi Teejer,

Well, that's easy for the doctor to say. He's not trying to use cpap at 16 and having painful aerophagia.

Having experienced aerophagia a few times when I experimentally used some straight pressures of 12 and above, I know what you mean when you say "painful." It can be awful. Geeze, aerophagia so painful that it caused you to have to make a trip to an ER. Some doctor you've got there!...telling you in effect, "Tough."

I'm not a doctor and I'm not suggesting what you should do, but I'll tell you what I'd do. I'd drop that pressure down to where it did not cause me aerophagia. Even if the lower pressure could not stop all my apneas and hypopneas, I would figure it's better for me to be able to use the machine at a sub-optimal lower pressure all night than to suffer aerophagia so bad that I had to stop using the machine at all, or couldn't use it all night or every night.

If I were absolutely going to be stuck with a straight, single pressure CPAP machine, then every few days or every week, I'd raise the pressure up a notch, hoping to gradually get more accustomed to the treatment and be able to work my way back up to the prescribed pressure.

But, I wouldn't let myself be stuck with that machine. heheh. I'd do whatever it took to get an autopap machine, hoping that setting the machine to use a range (like 8 - 16 or 10 - 16 or 11 - 16...whatever low did not cause me aerophagia) would let me spend most of the night sleeping at lower pressures than the 15 I'd been prescribed.

If the doctor wouldn't go along with prescribing an autopap or the DME wouldn't provide it, I'd get a copy of my Rx and buy the autopap out of my own pocket from an online store like cpap.com. No way would I put up with aerophagia wrecking my chance of getting good treatment. Or causing me that kind of pain.

[tater pie]

You might also try a different kind of pillow. I use the Shapeable Pillow. I bought it at Target for about $17.00 and it helps a great deal. I tried a memory foam pillow but it didn't work as well as the Shapeable Pillow. At $17.00, it's worth a try.

[Steve-o]

I use the same mask as you.

I sleep on the edge of the pillow with my face "over the edge" so the pillow doesn't cause the mask to shift.

I also found that for my head, I keep the bottom strap snug and the top strap loose and that works best for me.

Depending on where you are leaking, you may need to adjust the angle of the forehead pad bracket. (ei if you are leaking near the top of your nose, lessen the angle.).

moving the mask up or down on your face my help too. For me, it works better if the bottom is closer to my lip than my nose.

Hope this helps.
Steve