Stop the leaks

[Tripacer]

Hello fellow CPAP users. I need more help (Again)

I really like using these nasal pillows, and on average manage to get 7-8 hours per night on the machine. Here's my problem: I have yet to sleep 7-8 hours straight. I know I am waking up 4-5 times per night. I can get back to sleep fairly quickly, and I feel great in the morning, so I know the therapy is working, but I just feel it could work even better if I could sleep all night, every night (I'd settle for 4 out of 7 nights per week).

I think this is caused by two things: My mouth is opening during the night, and I wake up with dry mouth. ( I think I will order a chin strap - which one should I order?) and two- I'm getting air leaks. The nasal pillows have to to be in perfect position, but as I toss and turn during the night to sleep on my side, they move and leak. I use the large nasal pillow, but have tried using the medium size as well, and have the same problem, it seems worse with the medium size. I think my nose size is somewhere between the large and medium size.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

[tuzacat]

Hi, Tripacer, I have tried several different chinstraps and they all seem to have pros and cons.

This one is good but it is bulky and covered my ears which made my ears hurt. https://www.cpap.com/productpage/deluxe ... hleak.html
This one is pretty popular but it made my jaw hurt. https://www.cpap.com/productpage/ruby-s ... strap.html
This is the one I am using now but I have added a strap in the back otherwise it slips on me. https://www.cpap.com/productpage/pureso ... erapy.html
With all of these I have had to tape to stop the mouth leaks.
I have also used the Ultimate chinstrap which also covers your mouth. At lower pressures it did the job but at my current pressures I still need tape.

I know what you mean about feeling like you are in between sizes with the pillows. The medium for me is a little too invasive and the large feels a little like it wants to pop out. I tried clipping my medium pillows but I didn't love that either. There is someone on here who has explained how to do it. I have wondered how the pillows on the P10 compare size-wise to the Swift FX.

Best,
Tuza

[RobertS975]

Tripacer... are you are pilot by any chance?

I am exactly in your situation.... same P10... love it... I wake up three times a night wondering if I have anything on at all! That's how unobstrusive the P10 is for me. Sometimes it is leaks that wake me, but I have found that by proper strap position, this can be minimalized.

Mostly, it is having to take a leak that wakes me rather than an air leak. Not a prostate issue, but my dependent edema gets resorbed into my circulatory system overnight. My very healthy kidneys sense too much fluid, and hence the need to urinate once or twice overnight.

You are right though... the angle of the pillows has to be right on to avoid leaks. But my leaks are far lower than they were with nasal masks or facial masks.

[Tripacer]

Yes, I am a pilot.

Not full scale though, R/C!

Last night, I went a full 8 hours and 32 mins on the machine. Hit the sack about 10pm and didn't wake up until about 5:30am, NICE!! Mouth didn't open once (Don't know why) and no leaks! (Again, don't know why)

My wife said I stayed in one position almost all night - I guess this is why.

After 5 weeks of therapy, there are some really good nights, and some really poor nights.....

[Pugsy]

After 5 weeks of therapy, there are some really good nights, and some really poor nights.....

After nearly 6 years (notice years and not weeks) of therapy I still have some really good nights and some really poor nights but fortunately the good now out number the poor by a large margin.
I still have some nights with leaks kinda bigger and more importantly lasting a little longer than I would really want to see but it doesn't happen often.
I still have some nights where the AHI gets a little bit ugly for some unknown reason like it did for a short period of time this past Saturday night and I can't blame it on leaks.

Crap happens...with time and experience it will happen less often though.
At 5 weeks...heck, I was still trying to sleep more than 4 hours a night with the damn alien thing on my face.
You are so far ahead of where I was at 5 weeks...

[SGearhart]

I think this is caused by two things: My mouth is opening during the night, and I wake up with dry mouth. ( I think I will order a chin strap - which one should I order?) and two- I'm getting air leaks. The nasal pillows have to to be in perfect position, but as I toss and turn during the night to sleep on my side, they move and leak. I use the large nasal pillow, but have tried using the medium size as well, and have the same problem, it seems worse with the medium size. I think my nose size is somewhere between the large and medium size.

I use the P10 with the large pillows and had the same problem. As far as mouth breathing, I switch between a chinstrap and using a cheapie mouthguard. On the the chinstrap I've tried 3 different brands/designs. Only one pushes my jaw away from the throat while the other two exaggerate my OSA's. As far as the mouthguard, it cost all of $2.50 (I spared no expense)

Pillow leakage - I had to position the pillows just at the sweet spot to seal. When they would leak during the night, I'd pull the mask away from my face, just enough to get a large leak, then release it letting it to self-align. One night when nothing seemed to work, I remembered prior posts about other members using o-rings on different brands to stabilize their pillows. I wound up using 2 different o-rings per pillow and that totally stopped the leakage. It has been 3 months now and this trick is working like a charm. If you're interested, I used a 5/8"IDx3/4"ODx1/8" thickness and a 3/4"IDx7/8"ODx1/8" thickness on each pillow. Thinking about my last statement; I still used them even if you're not interested.

I hope you find relief.

[Tripacer]

LOL S Gearhart, Yes I am interested. "O" rings huh? You mean as in the black rubber rings I would find at the hardware store?? How do they stay attached to the nose pillows?

Pugsie: Yes, I know what you mean, and I guess it will always be like this (Good nights and bad nights). Im now at the 6 1/2 week mark. I'm pretty much consistent with 7-8 hours of therapy per night, and I do feel better each day, even if I wake up 2-3 times each night. I have now made 2 business trips with my machine, and so far the only thing I can complain about is the TSA "friends" at the airport having to open it up and look at it, check for bombs or something. This seems to happen only at smaller airports, O'Hare, I have no issues, they never look at it.

This is a medical device, is there anything I can do to keep them from opening up my CPAP bag and embarrassing me?

[Pugsy]

The O ring thread with some pictures on where to place the O rings.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=76193&p=696113&hili ... gs#p696113

This is a medical device, is there anything I can do to keep them from opening up my CPAP bag and embarrassing me?

No, there's nothing we can do because the TSA guys get to make the rules but I don't see why you find it embarrassing.
Now at some airports there something called "preferred screening" where they don't always go the whole nine yards for going through security.
I have seen the signs at airports (I forget the exact wording) but I don't know what is involved to get that special status but people fly through those lines.
Haven't seen it at my local smaller airport though. I sometimes wonder if the TSA agents at the smaller airports just like to make bigger deals out of stuff that the larger airports let slide....just because they can or they like looking important.