Please help me troubleshoot my AirMini with Airfit P10 setup

[jpek]

Recently, I bit the bullet and bought a very expensive (for me) emergency travel CPAP setup for staying in the mountains with possible power outages. My regular machine/mask setup is the Airsense 11 with humidification and a DreamWear pilllows mask, which together work very well for me. But this setup will take way too much power from my portable battery in an outage, hence the AirMini with the pillow mask. Yesterday, I tried this setup for the first time (still at home, not in the mountains) but it didn't go that well and I'm trying to figure out why.

What I noticed right away:

• The straps Airfit P10 felt a little too tight around my head. I have a fairly large head and the straps pressed on it just a bit too hard, although not quite enough to give me a headache right away. There was no way to loosen them more, although, as I understand from reviews they loosen over time.
• The medium sized mask felt uncomfortably big in my nose once the air was blowing (although I use a medium with the DreamWear) and the small size felt just a little constricted. I guess I'm between sizes, but I settled on the small.
• My AirSense is set to 13 to 20 pressure, but the 13 seemed too much with the AirMini / P10 setup, so I reduced it to 12.6.

After all that I was able to fall asleep with the new machine and mask okay and slept for something like six or seven hours. The readings on the app confirm that the mask fit was good and I had no events. But I woke up feeling horrible. Not only was my nose pretty dry, which I kind of expected, but I had a tension headache that spread to my neck and shoulders. They were all really tight. Also, confusingly, I had similar sensations to when I nap without my CPAP. I don't know if anyone will be able to relate to this, but when I sleep without the machine and have lots of events, I sometimes wake up with a kind of physical hunger for sleep that's really in my muscles more than my head. That's what I felt when I woke up this morning.

I switched masks and machines to my regular setup and slept a bunch more hours, after which I felt somewhat better, though not completely. But I don't understand what the problem was or how to address it. I am in a trial period with this machine and will need to return it within 30 days if it doesn't work for me. Since it cost me nearly $1000 I'd like to be able to determine if it will work for me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[ozij]

Good for you for trying up the setup at home.
In order to troubleshoot, you should leave all things equal except for one.
So:

1. try you regular mask with the new machine, forget the P10 for now. The P10 is lighter of course, but won't have much of an impact on battery usage - but using it now on the AM is not helpful.
2. Do you use EPR in your everyday machine? Does the AirMini even have EPR?
   Set both machine to the exact same pressure relief, and see what happens then. If the AirMini has no EPR (exhale pressure relief) see how you feel without EPR on you everyday machine.
3. Once you've figured out pressure settings that work with your regular mask, see if you can get the P10 to serve you well on your everyday machine.

Only when you've done the above, see what happens when you try the P10 on the AM.

Troubleshooting does need better tools. Download OSCAR, or go to SleepHQ. I haven't checked if either of them handles the AirMini - but you really need one of them for better comparing and troubleshooting.

[jpek]

Unforunately, the two machines and masks are not interchangeable or mutually compatible.

Try you regular mask with the new machine, forget the P10 for now.

No go. The AriMini is only natively compatible with three Resmed masks. My regular mask, the DreamWear, is not one of them, and isn't even Resmed. There is a universal hose adapter that can be fitted to the AirMini, but in this case I will not be able to use the AirMini HME humidification system, which is built into the AirMini hose. I might be able to use a generic HME filter, but those don't work as well as the dedicated Resmed ones and the DreamWear is not a good mask for an HME adapter anyway, because there is a long passageway between the nose and the main hose, prevenig the breathed-out air from condensing and providing moisture. So, basically, if I connect the DreamWear to the AirMini, I would be using it with no humidification at all, and I know that won't go well.

Once you've figured out pressure settings that work with your regular mask, see if you can get the P10 to serve you well on your everyday machine.

Also a no go, at least without spending extra money and time. The P10 comes in two flavors -- one that can be used with any CPAP machine and another that is specifically for the AirMini. I have the one for the AirMini. It has a different hose. My only options for using the P10 with my Airsense 11 machine are either to buy a new P10 mask that's compatible with generic CPAP machines, or a $26 third party adapter on Amazon that will connect the AirMini-specific hose to my regular hose.

Troubleshooting does need better tools. Download OSCAR, or go to SleepHQ. I haven't checked if either of them handles the AirMini - but you really need one of them for better comparing and troubleshooting.

Are these apps? What do I do with them?

[ozij]

Unforunately, the two machines and masks are not interchangeable or mutually compatible.

Ouch.

Are these apps? What do I do with them?

OSCAR is an app that will read data written by the CPAP on an SD. The card has to be in the machine when it's working. SleepHQ is an internet platform that will do the same.
I happened to look at them today for my own reasons. Unfortunately, neither support the AirMini - given that it's so small, I wonder if it records data at all.

I'm sorry I couldn't help you more.

[Mijjil]

The Resmed AirMini™ lacks an SD Card slot so there's nothing to import into OSCAR or upload to SleepHQ.

I know a developer who wrote an Android app that uses Bluetooth to capture the detailed data from the AirMini™ which creates files suitable for OSCAR and SleepHQ, but he has not published the app on the Google Play Store (yet).

[jsmit86]

The OP can purchase an adapter that will allow the machine to be used with standard tubing and current mask.
I'd give that a try.

https://www.cpap.com/products/zephair-a ... 8ea2&_ss=r