Leaks, Leaks, Leaks!

[sister]

Hi,
I have tried everything,mouth guard,taping,and wide chin strap,polident sometimes, rolling a towel up under my chin,holding my hand up under my chin, just everything that I can think of but I still have leaks! last night they were 0.76 and I could detect absolutely no leaking at all.
I went to sleep around 10 pm and I did not move until 6 am this morning. I woke up exactly as I had gone to sleep,never moved a muscle, now that's sleeping!!!!
I feel great this morning but I sure would love to get these leaks down. I cannot wear a ffm,I have tried so many times.
Any more suggestions out there?
Thanks so much in advance.

[Hawthorne]

I used to tape but about 6 weeks ago I fell and hurt my mouth and bottom lip along with some front teeth issues. I had to stop taping. I planned to only stop until things settled down but, after 6 weeks without taping I am not mouth breathing at night. I never did mouth breath in the daytime. I THINK I trained myself to keep my mouth closed while I was taping and during the day. What I did was place my tongue on the roof of my mouth, just above my top front teeth. I did that every night even though I was taping. I also did it during the day and now find myself, unconciously,doing it when I am sitting at the computer, reading or watching TV.

It seems to have become automatic. I don't know if it will work for everyone and I'm not even sure it will continue to work for me but, for now, it is working well.

Might be worth a try.

[sister]

Hey, Congratulations!! I know you are happy about that. I have read somewhere that some people have trained their mouth to stay shut.
I will practice doing that in the daytime and hopefully if will work for me!
Thanks!!!!

[robysue]

last night they were 0.76

Can you give us a unit of measurement for that 0.76 number? Is it L/minute or L/second? Depending on what the unit of measurement is, that may be a significant leak rate or it may be a trivial leak rate.

[torontoCPAPguy]

I use ductape or crazyglue - in reality I tend to sleep with my mouth closed but seem to have allergies this time of year that blocks my nose so I use a FFM. And if I use my nosebag? Well, if my mouth opens a bit I have a wee space betwwen my bottom teeth just perfectly spaced to create a loud whistle from the escaping air.... the other night I awoke to catch my wife gently pressing my lips closed. THAT works best!

[Hawthorne]

sister - Thanks! Yes, I am happy it worked and I hope it keeps on working!

Hope it works for you too!

[sister]

last night they were 0.76

Can you give us a unit of measurement for that 0.76 number? Is it L/minute or L/second? Depending on what the unit of measurement is, that may be a significant leak rate or it may be a trivial leak rate.

hey, i'm sorry they are leaks /second. They're always high no matter what i do.
I wanted to look up the package that the swift fx came in but guess what? I can't find it so I have no idea what this mask allows for leaks!
Thanks!!

[KatieW]

Sister, on the S8's, you chose the Mask Setting, and then the Leak Rate is automatically calculated for your mask. On the LCD screen, it's given in l/s. So your leak rate of .76 l/s would be (60 x .76) = 45.6 l/m.

The S8 Clinical Manual says: "acceptable" leak rate is under .2 l/s or 12 l/m. Over .4 l/s or 24 l/m affects therapy and the accuracy of the readings.

I know you've tried lots of different things, but I encourage you to keep trying. I find I sleep better if my leak rates are lower, because they wake me up. Consider a different mask, head pillow, hose management?

I've had best results with: the Activa Lt nasal mask, Papcap Plus. Lately I've been experimenting with taping--2 small strips of Nexcare Paper Tape placed vertically at the corners of my mouth, leaving the "middle" of my lips free, to drink though a straw or cough/sneeze.

[torontoCPAPguy]

You have received much good advice on this thread and may want to check past threads for other suggestions as well; I know it made a huge difference to me in my quest. KatieW is a veretable icon of information. There are others. And as you develop your experience and knowledge one hopes that you will contribute and pay back to other newbies. I still use my nosebag (Mirage Activa) when in the den watching TV in case I doze off. But for bedtime I have pretty much settled on my Mirage Quattro full face mask... it gives me very low leakage during the night and I find, for some reason, that it does not seem to be pushing as much air into my face as the nose mask; likely because of equalization of pressure between nose and mouth.

Need to get a manometer... my S9 seems to push less at 12cmH2O than my S8 at the same.

[Junebug999]

good thread -- because of ya'all I'm working on the keep my mouth shut in daytime as well. AND because of ya'all -- I did succeed last night with TAPING my trap shut. i started out with 1-1/2" wide across my mouth with folded over at each end for pull tabs.

Then I tried this. I took off tape and tore in half, the end with the tab I put on chin below lower lip, then presswed tape upward over lower lip, then upper lip and then top of tape on fultrum under my noise -- sort of the BLUE HITLER moustache lo0ok going on!!! AND it worked.

Did my nightly report, and NO SNORES.

and lowest AHI ever (since beginning cpap of 2.71!!!!!)

woooohoooooo!

I tried 1/2 nite with Vista nasal and the last half of nite with Comfort Gel nasal because I though both had leaks more than my Quattro FFM leaks.

Vista leaked just a little more than Comfort Gel, but I find the Vista more comfortable.

Going to try the Vista all night tonite to see what happens with my Hitler tape.

You know I take pics of myself in bed with these masks on -- I'll have to take a pic of the Hitler tape look.....oh brother.

I need breakfast and coffee.

[DoriC]

Junebug, where do Y'all live? We don't talk like that up here in New Jersey!

[ozij]

A leak rate or 0.46 liters per minute (l/m) on the display screen may only refer to short periods of maximum leak.

Does it look so bad in the software too, over longer time periods?

Check the humidifier's sealing system - sometimes the source of leaks is there.

O.

Edited typo

[sister]

A leak rate or 0.46 liters per minute (l/m) on the display screen may only refer to short periods of maximum leak.

Does it look so bad in the software too, over longe time periods?

Check the humidifier's sealing system - sometime the source of leaks is there.

O.

Hi, I don't have software. I was thinking about getting it but my dr. just ordered a month's trial on autopap and if it works I may be getting a new machine. So I really didn't want to spend money on the old machine until I find out for sure if I'll be keeping it.
I do know that the leaks wake me up a 5 am every morning so they might be just early morning leaks.
I sleep really good for 6-7 hours, not waking up, so could it be that it just starts leaking in the early morning when I'm about to get up anyway?

THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!

[jonquiljo]

Are occasional leaks (from rolling over on your stomach, etc.) that do not seem to "inspire" events - really important to get rid of? I have leak moments throughout the night, but they don't appear to be hurting my therapy or waking me up. I occasionally have mush mouth in the morning, but a sip of water clears that up instantly.

[Cindy Lou Who]

Sister,
You've tried a mouth guard and chin strap, but did you try both at the same time? And you may have to change your headgear.
I came home from the DME with a Swift FX in April and it wasn't until Sept. that I gave up tweaking and experimenting to stabilize the pillows. Could not keep leaky air out of my eyes no matter what i tried. My face shape and the FX were so not meant for each other It's unfortunate because the FX is so light I hated to give it up.
So tried my hubby's back-up Opus 360. The pillows are a little firmer and don't pop out of my nares as easily. After three nights of adjusting the straps I got a great fit and a L/min of 5 or less (some nights 0.0L/min).
I use the mouth guard and chin strap to keep my lips from going Bbbbbbzzzzzzzzs and loosing therapy air! Hubby is happy I don't wake him and I feel lots better.
Good luck finding your solution...hope it happens real soon!
cindy