leaks when supine: might pad-a-cheek liner help?

[napstress]

Hi, all.

After doing a Search of the archives, I'm thinking that a pad-a-cheek mask liner might help. But I have a couple of questions before I buy it.

I find that I am waking up about 2 hours after falling asleep. I fall asleep on my side, but wake up on my back with the machine huffing at me at my highest pressure setting, 9. The mask leaks when I'm on my back, but not when I'm on my side.

Also, I have a painful red mark on my nose on the side on which I had been lying.

I wear a preventative bandaid on the bridge of my nose and I bought a buckwheat hull pillow in hopes of alleviating the red mark on the side of my nose. If I get a mark like that after 2 hours, I can't imagine what would happen if I can ever get to the point where I am sleeping several hours through the night. But even with the buckwheat pillow, I get the red mark.

Do you think the pad-a-cheek mask liner could help reduce leaks when I roll onto my back? Could it also protect the side of my nose against the mask gouging into it?

I know I could take steps to prevent my rolling onto my back, but I want to be able to be able to do so: it keeps my bottom hip from aching, it helps my bottom sinus to drain, and I think it's healthy to move how I want to move in my sleep.

I tried the nasal pillows first, but did not find a way to keep my mouth shut. I tried chin strap and taping with surgical tape. The doctor switched me over to the RES MED Quattro FX Full Face Mask, and it is working better for me, with the exceptions of the side gouging and the supine leaking.

Sometimes I feel I'm getting closer to finally being able to use my CPAP machine successfully; at other times I feel so discouraged and wonder if no number of support gizmos will help me get the rest I'm longing for.

[bayourest]

HI
I cant really answer the question about leaks and the padacheek liners. I think you have to adjust the mask properly with or without liner. The padacheek liner, in my opinion, increases the overall comfort of the mask tremendously. I started out with a quattro mirage in Nov and within a week or two I had a raw nose. DME gave me a gel pad which worked fine. After I joined the forum and learned about padacheek I ordered a liner and I have never needed the gel nose pad again. I wouldnt consider not having a padacheek liner. Whether it will prevent leaks is hard to know, but when your mask is adjusted properly it certainly wont increase leaks. I have the quattro FX full face mask with a padacheek liner now and it is the most comfortable combo I have found.
I think you could contact Karen at Padacheek directly and ask her for assistance with your situation. You could also check with the DME or the doctor's office for help with adjusting the mask. It might not be the right mask for you or it might not be adjusted correctly.

[Bugdude]

I've just got my pad-a-cheek liner and I'm finding it's not an improvement for the FX as it was for the Mirage. I'm going to give it one more night after giving it some tweaks. I think the liner needs some design improvements though.

But for me I find the FX is more likely to leak when I'm on my side, not on my back.

[bayourest]

I dont find the quattro FX to be exceptionally leaky. I have very low leak rates with it, actually better than with the mirage or the ultra mirage.
I love the padacheek liner and wouldnt be without one. but you know all this is like buying shoes...it has to fit you and feel good to you!

[NightMonkey]

I find that I am waking up about 2 hours after falling asleep. I fall asleep on my side, but wake up on my back with the machine huffing at me at my highest pressure setting, 9. The mask leaks when I'm on my back, but not when I'm on my side.

You need to ask Rooster about positional sleep apnea. If I understand you correctly, your machine goes to the max pressure setting when you are on your back. The waking up could be because the pressure is not high enough to prevent events when supine and the events are waking you. What is the min pressure setting? What pressure were you titrated at?

[napstress]

Thanks for feedback, everybody!

The waking up could be because the pressure is not high enough to prevent events when supine and the events are waking you. What is the min pressure setting? What pressure were you titrated at?

I asked my dr. about this at my last visit. She said that rarely do I reach 9, my max, and I don't stay there long. She thought that by increasing my pressure she would not be doing me any favors. The way she said it made sense at the time, like it would cause other problems. My titration range is 4-9. But is it logical to conclude that it doesn't stay at 9 for long because I wake up and take the mask off?

Last night I used the straps to tighten my mask and tested it out while I was lying on my back, and was able to stop leaks, so that's good. But still woke up after another hour.

Maybe I'll get the mask liner to see if it can help with the gouging issue.

[NightMonkey]

My titration range is 4-9. But is it logical to conclude that it doesn't stay at 9 for long because I wake up and take the mask off?

Somebody please help this dear lady. You experts know almost no one gets good therapy with a min pressure of 4!

Help her get the software and see what is going on and get the proper titration.

Thank you.

[Mary Marshall]

I have a pillow that has indentations for the mask to fit into. I don't remember the name of it, but it's a memory foam pillow with a low spot on each side so if you sleep on your side, the mask fits in it. It's worked great for me. I just bought the Remzzz mask liners and it's alleviated the red spots on my face and my upper lip cleared up which had been severely irritated from the mask itself.