Newbie with a mask question or two

[trainerguy212]

Hello, all.

I have been using my CPAP machine for not quite two weeks and am on my second mask. It has been a bit of an adjustment to get used to the mask and while it feels as if I'm almost there, I still have a couple of nagging issues.

Background: I'm using a full face Comfort Gel mask with liners from Remzzzs. The first mask was a nasal mask and I used it for only one night because I couldn't breathe enough due to nasal congestion. I have a full beard, though it's relatively short.

Issue #1: the mask folds in along the bottom so that it covers my lower lip when in use. This doesn't seem right to me yet the leak rate seems quite low (current 7-day average is 3%). Do you suppose this is because the mask is too large or too small, or could something else be wrong to cause the mask to fold in this way? It doesn't seem to be too tight because if I loosen up the lower straps much more I get leakage.

Issue #2: some nights it feels as if the area around my lower lip and chin are soaked with cold fluid. This is a quite annoying feeling and yet the reality is that there is no moisture present. I've taken the mask off when I've had this sense of excess moisture and found everything to be dry. Any ideas what might be going on to cause this feeling?

Thanks.

[LinkC]

Issue 1: The seal should be below your lip, resting firmly between lower lip and chin. Your description sounds like you need a larger size if I read it correctly.

Issue 2: Air escaping thru a small leak can feel like moisture. My guess is the poor fit at your chin is allowing a leak.

[Ichabod]

You need to consider that you have an ill fitting mask. I had a situation when I wanted to replace my pillows with a mask. My face will not easily fit a mask because of the size and shape of the bridge of my nose... I'm real purdy!...Anyway... you are describing the same issues I had. I love my old Swift.

[trainerguy212]

Thanks to both LinkC and Ichabod. The guy from my DME dropped by today with a large size mask in the same style I've been using. We'll see how it goes from here. I had a really good fit with the nasal mask that I used for just the first night but it felt as if I couldn't breathe after only four hours. I have a deviated septum and have always done a certain amount of mouth breathing so it seemed reasonable to switch to a full face mask. That said, there's something appealing about the minimal amount of real estate that the nasal pillow style mask takes up.

Thanks again. I love the forum and have already learned much more than I picked up from my sleep doc, the sleep lab and my DME.