15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
savemefrombhindi
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15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by savemefrombhindi » Thu May 20, 2021 5:27 am

Hi everyone

A newbie here. I just completed my 15 days of trial with ResMed Airsense 10 Auto. My sleep test had an AHI of 31.6 with AHI of over 51 in supine position and somewhere around 7 while sleeping on my side. I was also diagnosed with Deviated Nasal Septum and nasal polyps. While the recommended nasal septoplasty is on hold because of COVID, I began with CPAP.

After using CPAP for 15 days, my average usage so far has been 5.5 hours per night with an AHI of 4.5 and a leakage of 40L/Min. Is this a reasonable improvement? Or should I expect better. While AHI has come down, I cannot notice any difference in my tiredness, fatigue and brain fog. How long does it take to feel palpable improvement in symptoms ?

Secondly, being a mouth breather, I was advised a full face F20 mask. But I found it very difficult to use. It made me very claustrophobic; being an active sleeper, I also found it intolerable every time I turned to the sides. The first two nights, I removed the mask after around 2 hours in the middle of the night. AHI was also over 10. I moved to N20 nasal mask and slept well with it. I slept for more than 6 hours every night with a N20 and my AHI has been around 1.5-2. But three nights when my nasal congestion was particularly bad, I woke up with a terribly dry mouth. I was possibly breathing with my mouth. My day time sleepiness was also very bad next days despite a very low AHI.

I went back to F20 mask and I struggled yet again. I managed around 5 hours both night but did not sleep two well. Woke up a few times while turning to the sides when the full face mask impeded my movement. My AHI was also around 8-9. But my mouth was not very dry the next morning. Surprisingly, the day time sleepiness was also better.

So, it is a bit of a conundrum. Despite having bad sleep and a higher AHI with a F20 mask , I feel better the next day. Despite sleeping much better with N20 mask and a much lower AHI, I wake up with a very dry mouth and a mildly worse day time sleepiness.

Should I continue with F20 and persist with it despite being an active sleeper? Or would you suggest that I move to N20? Or would using F20 only on the days my nasal congestion is worse be advisable.

Thanks so much in advance for your advice. Being an absolute beginner with CPAPs, I am still trying to feel my way around.
ResMed Autosense 10; AirfitF20 and N20

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ChicagoGranny
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Re: 15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by ChicagoGranny » Thu May 20, 2021 11:24 am

savemefrombhindi wrote:
Thu May 20, 2021 5:27 am
Should I continue with F20 and persist with it despite being an active sleeper? Or would you suggest that I move to N20? Or would using F20 only on the days my nasal congestion is worse be advisable.
Which direction you work on is up to you.


savemefrombhindi wrote:
Thu May 20, 2021 5:27 am
Should I continue with F20 and persist with it despite being an active sleeper?
If you want to continue to work with the F20, find fitting and adjusting videos on youtube for this model. Watch three or four of them. Some of them are quite good. Here are some general tips on preventing leaks -
To reduce unintentional mask leak -

- Make sure the mask is fitted properly. (See mask manufacturer's video.)

- Make sure the headgear is adjusted properly (See mask manufacturer's video.)

- If you use a low ramp pressure or a low minimum pressure, you should fit and adjust your mask at the higher pressures it is operating at for most of the night. You would temporarily change the machine pressure settings while you do the fitting and adjusting. It's best to do this well before bedtime before you are tired and ready for sleep. Don't forget to change your settings back to the ones you prefer.

- Make sure to use good hose management - the hose should not pull on the mask. Notice how your hose is positioned between machine and mask. It should be positioned to minimize any pull on the mask. Hose management is an individual practice. How it is done depends on the mask, the position of the machine, your sleeping position and other factors specific to the individual.

- If you still have problems, learn from the forum what mask liners are available.

- Start a thread in cpaptalk asking for help. Subject: Need Help with Mask xxxxxx

- If your mask still has excessive leak, try other masks. Many people report trying several masks before they find one that works well for them.

Note: Links to just some of the mask manufacturers' instructional videos can be found on the forum host's website - https://www.cpap.com/cpap-masks.php and https://www.youtube.com/

- CG
savemefrombhindi wrote:
Thu May 20, 2021 5:27 am
Despite sleeping much better with N20 mask and a much lower AHI, I wake up with a very dry mouth and a mildly worse day time sleepiness.
If you go this direction, you need to find a way to keep the mouth shut. If air escapes through the mouth when using a nasal mask, the therapeutic pressure may be lost, and breathing events could occur. Members can help if you choose this route.
savemefrombhindi wrote:
Thu May 20, 2021 5:27 am
I woke up with a terribly dry mouth. I was possibly breathing with my mouth. My day time sleepiness was also very bad next days despite a very low AHI
When large leaks occur, the machine may undercount the number of breathing events.
savemefrombhindi wrote:
Thu May 20, 2021 5:27 am
active sleeper
Once you get your therapy optimized, you may find you are no longer an "active sleeper". Your breathing events may be causing you to toss and turn.
savemefrombhindi wrote:
Thu May 20, 2021 5:27 am
I was also diagnosed with Deviated Nasal Septum and nasal polyps. While the recommended nasal septoplasty is on hold because of COVID, I began with CPAP.
Correction of these problems might make it much easier to use CPAP.

Eventually, using OSCAR will be a good thing.

As you move forward, please stick to this single thread. It helps members see your history easily.

(Okra IS slimy unless you know how to fry it in oil in a cast iron pan with cornmeal.)

savemefrombhindi
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Re: 15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by savemefrombhindi » Fri May 21, 2021 8:22 am

Thanks so much for your very detailed response.
If you want to continue to work with the F20, find fitting and adjusting videos on youtube for this model. Watch three or four of them. Some of them are quite good. Here are some general tips on preventing leaks
I have been able to bring down the leakage rate after first couple of nights struggle with F20. The last three nights of using F20 had leakage between 10-20 L/min. Is that reasonable or should I aim for better control? The bigger worry is the pressure of the mask on the face when I turn to the sides. That caused discomfort and woke me up quite often and made me feel very claustrophobic
When large leaks occur, the machine may undercount the number of breathing events.
That may explain why I am feeling worse the next day after using N20 despite low AHI. Perhaps the AHI count is deceptive and is giving me a spurious sense of comfort. At the same time, the leakage rate for last night was less than 5 and yet, the same pattern followed. Is it that leakage through an open mouth is not captured by the CPAP Machine?
Once you get your therapy optimized, you may find you are no longer an "active sleeper". Your breathing events may be causing you to toss and turn.
I certainly hope so. That may also possibly be the case for all my roommates in college dorms used to comment on how I used to sleep absolutely still like a corpse. So possibly, this is a relatively new habit caused by apnea. If this is indeed the case, may be it makes sense to continue with F20 and it will alleviate the need to turn to the sides.
Eventually, using OSCAR will be a good thing.
May I ask how convenient and accessible is OSCAR for people who are not very comfortable with tech stuff. This business of locking a SD Card and also putting all the data in a single graph sounds somewhat intimidating.

thanks again

And thanks for that tip on okra, sounds worth trying, but no power on earth can get me to like that vegetable
ResMed Autosense 10; AirfitF20 and N20

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Re: 15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by Pugsy » Fri May 21, 2021 8:33 am

savemefrombhindi wrote:
Fri May 21, 2021 8:22 am
May I ask how convenient and accessible is OSCAR for people who are not very comfortable with tech stuff. This business of locking a SD Card and also putting all the data in a single graph sounds somewhat intimidating.
I wish that OSCAR authors would make it plainer about the need to lock the SD card for people.
The ONLY cpap users who need to lock the SD card are the ResMed S9 model users and even then it wasn't the end of the world if they forgot.

So you are using the ResMed AirSense 10 model machine.... Is it the CPAP model or the AutoSet model? These are 2 separate models and the "CPAP" model isn't compatible with OSCAR but the AutoSet model is compatible.
You mention both models....which is it?

Waste of time to download OSCAR if you are using the "CPAP" model AirSense 10 but if using the AutoSet model ....don't worry about locking the SD card as it isn't needed.

The reason for the need for S9 users to lock the card was some computers added a little text file to the SD card when the SD card was inserted in the computer. The S9 model machines didn't like that little text file on the SD card so those machines would tell you the SD card was corrupt and prompt for erasing the card. It really didn't hurt anything to have that text file on the SD card but the S9 machines just didn't like it.

AirSense/AirCurve10 model machines.....they don't care if that little text file is on the SD card.

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savemefrombhindi
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Re: 15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by savemefrombhindi » Fri May 21, 2021 8:49 am

Ah thanks. That helps a lot.
So you are using the ResMed AirSense 10 model machine.... Is it the CPAP model or the AutoSet model? These are 2 separate models and the "CPAP" model isn't compatible with OSCAR but the AutoSet model is compatible.
You mention both models....which is it?
Oh, I was not aware of CPAP itself being the name of a model. I have an Airsense 10 AutoSet model.
ResMed Autosense 10; AirfitF20 and N20

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Julie
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Re: 15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by Julie » Fri May 21, 2021 10:08 am

Cpap as such is used in very many machine names by all mfgrs to describe what the machine does... it's not 'the' name (let alone trademarked) of any company as such... just that's it a Cpap machine.

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Re: 15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by ChicagoGranny » Fri May 21, 2021 11:18 am

Julie wrote:
Fri May 21, 2021 10:08 am
Cpap as such is used in very many machine names by all mfgrs to describe what the machine does... it's not 'the' name (let alone trademarked) of any company as such... just that's it a Cpap machine.
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savemefrombhindi
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Re: 15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by savemefrombhindi » Sat May 22, 2021 12:18 am

I wish that OSCAR authors would make it plainer about the need to lock the SD card for people.
The ONLY cpap users who need to lock the SD card are the ResMed S9 model users and even then it wasn't the end of the world if they forgot.
Thanks so much for your reply to my post earlier.

I downloaded and installed OSCAR without any difficulty. But I was not able to import any data from the SD Card of my Airsense10 Autoset. This is the message I receive when I click on CPAP Importer

https://imgur.com/a/dzMY9Py

Am I doing something wrong?

Is it possible that my laptop SD Card port is not working? For when I clicked on 'This PC' on my windows 10 laptop after inserting the SD Card, I did not see any drive for the SD Card. I have never used a SD card so far but I would assume that it would show up just like a pen drive on 'My Computer/This PC'.

Sorry for such silly questions. But I am a complete Luddite and would be grateful for any help.
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Re: 15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by Pugsy » Sat May 22, 2021 6:07 am

Yes it is very possible that the slot for the SD card on the laptop isn't working like it should.
If your computer can't find the drive with the SD card in it then OSCAR for sure can't find it.

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Re: 15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by zonker » Sat May 22, 2021 11:41 am

savemefrombhindi wrote:
Sat May 22, 2021 12:18 am


Is it possible that my laptop SD Card port is not working? For when I clicked on 'This PC' on my windows 10 laptop after inserting the SD Card, I did not see any drive for the SD Card. I have never used a SD card so far but I would assume that it would show up just like a pen drive on 'My Computer/This PC'.

Sorry for such silly questions. But I am a complete Luddite and would be grateful for any help.
NOT a silly question. we aren't born knowing everything so never fear in asking something.

yeah, it looks like your laptop has decided "sd card? what sd card?". :)

so you have to find a work around. i would suggest you find an sd card reader. this is a small unit with a usb cord on one end and an sd card on the other. plug the usb cord into the usb port of the laptop and then the sd card into the sd card reading end.

here's some on amazon-
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=sd+card+read ... doa-p_3_14

good luck!
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Re: 15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by ChicagoGranny » Sat May 22, 2021 1:41 pm

savemefrombhindi wrote:
Sat May 22, 2021 12:18 am
https://imgur.com/a/dzMY9Py

Am I doing something wrong?
Probably. You are looking under Users. Open up the path to

This PC/SD

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Re: 15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by GrumpyHere » Sat May 22, 2021 8:42 pm

savemefrombhindi wrote:
Thu May 20, 2021 5:27 am
F20 mask. But I found it very difficult to use. It made me very claustrophobic
savemefrombhindi wrote:
Thu May 20, 2021 5:27 am
Should I continue with F20 and persist with it despite being an active sleeper? Or would you suggest that I move to N20? Or would using F20 only on the days my nasal congestion is worse be advisable.
You can consider a third alternative. Try another mask. The differences in strap placement can perhaps make them feel less claustrophobic. Many DMEs have 30 day trials. viewtopic/t179224/30Day-Mask-Trials.html

F&P even has a mask targeting mouth breathing.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/fisher ... -cpap-mask

Popular FFM compared
https://youtu.be/-4jUtnTIFyM

Full Face Mask Review Videos:
Dreamwear FFM: https://youtu.be/RUwIa3xnsDQ
Vitera: https://youtu.be/ZTvziBMUg94
F30i: https://youtu.be/S1L1b8F8rEU
F30: https://youtu.be/WTBsvlQG5Og
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Re: 15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by booksfan » Mon May 24, 2021 7:15 am

GrumpyHere wrote:
Sat May 22, 2021 8:42 pm
savemefrombhindi wrote:
Thu May 20, 2021 5:27 am
F20 mask. But I found it very difficult to use. It made me very claustrophobic
savemefrombhindi wrote:
Thu May 20, 2021 5:27 am
Should I continue with F20 and persist with it despite being an active sleeper? Or would you suggest that I move to N20? Or would using F20 only on the days my nasal congestion is worse be advisable.
You can consider a third alternative. Try another mask. The differences in strap placement can perhaps make them feel less claustrophobic. Many DMEs have 30 day trials. viewtopic/t179224/30Day-Mask-Trials.html
This is good advice, especially if you have a good DME. Mine was great and my first month on CPAP, I probably tried a dozen masks (a few were a no-go right there in their office!). They were very patient and understanding, but I felt bad going through so many masks and finally "settled" for the least problematic and spent the next 14 months buying masks on my own (drove my husband nuts as he is a die-hard P10 adherent!), probably about one new one every month (!), until the Bleep finally came out and I found what works for me. For some, it does take a while to find what works. Others luck right into it. Either way, CPAP is totally worth it! You are definitely in the right place for help...good luck!

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savemefrombhindi
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Re: 15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by savemefrombhindi » Tue May 25, 2021 11:24 am

You can consider a third alternative. Try another mask. The differences in strap placement can perhaps make them feel less claustrophobic. Many DMEs have 30 day trials. viewtopic/t179224/30Day-Mask-Trials.html

F&P even has a mask targeting mouth breathing.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/fisher ... -cpap-mask
Thanks so much for sharing these. I will see which of these are available in my country and explore these options.

Nonetheless, I am also getting more comfortable with the F20 Mask with leakage less than 10 l/m and AHI between 2 to 4. I have managed close to 7 hours of sleep for each of the last 4 nights and possibly could have managed more but for the back pain caused by a spinal condition I have. In fact, I had not managed more than 6 and half hours of sleep in one go for close to almost a decade now because of this spinal condition. I hope I am not counting my chickens before they hatch but I am already quite thrilled that I managed to sleep for 7 hours 6 minutes last night and can see the palpable benefits of CPAP.
so you have to find a work around. i would suggest you find an sd card reader. this is a small unit with a usb cord on one end and an sd card on the other. plug the usb cord into the usb port of the laptop and then the sd card into the sd card reading end.

here's some on amazon-
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=sd+card+read ... doa-p_3_14


I have ordered a SD Card. I cannot wait to see that work.

Thanks again for all your assistance.
ResMed Autosense 10; AirfitF20 and N20

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Re: 15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Post by ChicagoGranny » Tue May 25, 2021 12:01 pm

GrumpyHere wrote:
Sat May 22, 2021 8:42 pm
F&P even has a mask targeting mouth breathing.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/fisher ... -cpap-mask
That oral mask should only be recommended to someone who cannot breathe through their nose at all. Even in that case, correction of the nasal problems should be addressed.
savemefrombhindi wrote:
Tue May 25, 2021 11:24 am
Nonetheless, I am also getting more comfortable with the F20 Mask with leakage less than 10 l/m and AHI between 2 to 4. I have managed close to 7 hours of sleep for each of the last 4 nights and possibly could have managed more but for the back pain caused by a spinal condition I have. In fact, I had not managed more than 6 and half hours of sleep in one go for close to almost a decade now because of this spinal condition. I hope I am not counting my chickens before they hatch but I am already quite thrilled that I managed to sleep for 7 hours 6 minutes last night and can see the palpable benefits of CPAP.
Count those chickens! Count sheep. You are making quick progress!