Nasal pillows (small masks) make me tired

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
fastiguana
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2022 5:55 pm

Nasal pillows (small masks) make me tired

Post by fastiguana » Tue Mar 01, 2022 6:04 pm

Hi everyone,

I've been using CPAP successfully for about 10 years now with an Activa nasal mask (currently on ResMed AirSense 10). When I was starting CPAP, I tried nasal pillows, but felt that they made me sleepy, despite having good AHIs. I just figured that they weren't my thing, and happily went back to the Activa.

However, I recently tried the AirFit N20 nasal mask, and found that they, too, make me tired! I just don't feel well rested the day after, despite having low AHIs (< 1), and low leak, according to the machine. (I have tried configuring the machine to nasal mask or pillows, and either way, the leak numbers are low.) At first, I thought I just wasn't used to the N20, and wasn't as comfortable sleeping with it. However, it's now been a month, and I'm thinking of going back to the trusty Activa. But, 1) I like the smaller size of the N20, and 2) am worried how much longer the "old" and bulky masks will be kept around.

Does anyone have an explanation, or experience overcoming this? I'd like to be able to use an N20 or P10.

Thanks!