sleeping position and mask leaks

[deerock]

hi i am a mouth breather and a side sleeper. i have only had very limited success with full face masks. i now use the mirage quattro as that is the best but it always leaks and i always remove it after a couple hours.

i think its related to my sleeping position. i sleep on my side with my chin tucked towards my chest. i know this closes my airway but there is no other position i can fall asleep in. when i am wearing the full face mask if i relax, the mask hits my pillow and dislodges. when i fall asleep this always happens. i use a down pillow. ive tried foam ones with no luck.

any suggestions? this is ruining my life. i am always completely exhausted. i am seeing a new doctor for sleep next month.

[Julie]

You sound like a perfect candidate for a soft cervical collar - it keeps your jaw (if not lips) closed, your head up and your airway clearer... a forum 'search' will bring up lots of hits and links for you.

[RokMartian]

I've only been on cpap for about 6 weeks, so for what its worth:

I am a side sleeper with a full face mask and for me, sleeping on my side seems to get fewer leaks. I got the CPAPFit pillow to help - and it really has made a difference - my regular pillow would push on the mask a little and had to sleep on the edge of the pillow. There are other cpap pillows that are geared for this, but I have only used CPapFit - it allows you to reshape it a little to accommodate the mask.

I only have my limited experience with my mask, so I don't have much to offer, only that after about 6 weeks, I think I am finally getting the hang of strapping on my mask just right so I am not fidgeting with it all night or waking up do to my mask farting.

Here is the amazon link to the pillow I am using.

https://www.amazon.com/CPAPfit-Pillow-C ... pap+pillow

[LSAT]

It's a great pillow...I, along with many others on the board use it.