Just Starting Out

[Chronocidal Guy]

So, a couple weeks ago, I finally get tired of falling asleep at work, and after ruling out any thyroid/diabetes/etc. issues, I go in for a sleep study. Not the best night in my life by a long margin, but it's a good thing I did. My mother has OSA, and has been doing well with it, so I was kind of suspecting it, so they were all prepped for a split night study.

In the 40 or so minutes I actually slept during the first part, my AHI hit around 53 (66 for the RERA total), and I spent 30 of those minutes around 80% O2, with a low of 77%. I didn't even get to REM, they just woke me up and put me on a CPAP as quick as they could. Overall they put me down as OSA, but also saw CSA. Looking at the results though, I mostly had a boatload of hypopneas. Even at the best part of the night, I still had an AHI of 24, but it was an improvement.

So, end result, they put me on a BPAP of 17/12, which I hear is kind of high, but the ramp feature has been helping. I tended to leak out my mouth at the clinic, so I just straight up asked for a FFM at the DME, and so far I've been sleeping a few hours a night with it, best was tuesday where I actually made it 7 hours. My AHIs are dropping to around to 5, so definitely much better, but I haven't felt any real difference in my sleepyness yet.

In the meantime, I've been lurking and browsing here, checking the equipment reviews and such, and I greatly appreciate having so much information in one place.

I do have a couple of mask questions though, if anyone has any ideas. The local DME employee who set me up with my equipment suggested what I think was a ResMed Ultra Mirage, but what I kind of suspected would happen did: I've got a relatively decent overbite, and even when I tightened down the mask, the seal just kept flapping under my lower lip. So I wound up going with the Forma, since it goes under the chin. Now, the tricky part.... I love it. It seems like it fits me perfectly, and my nightly records are showing an average leak rate of 0. But unfortunately, something about the way the mask fits is rubbing the top of my nose a little. It's taken a few days to get irritated, but I've started to put something like a bandaid or piece of cloth over my nose when I go to sleep.

I've been looking at the Pad A Cheek site, and thinking of getting one of either the nose pads or liners, but does anyone know if they work for the Forma mask? The Forma has a double wide forehead pad, so I'm not sure how the forehead pad might attach.

I'm considering clipping a piece out of the foam insert to allow more room for my nose, but I'd rather get a spare one before I start doing that, and I think I need to wait a month before I can replace that through the DME.

In the meantime, I've been clipping up an old t-shirt, and making a nose pad that ties to the forehead support, and wraps around the foam insert to secure it. It's better, but I don't think I'll notice the difference until the raw spot on my nose heals.

[Pugsy]

When in doubt about a mask liner at Padacheek.. send Karen an email and just ask. If she doesn't have what might work she will try to fix something that will work.

[Pugsy]

I am so bad. Left my manners somewhere where I can't find them.

Welcome to the forum. Lots of great people to offer their ideas and experiences.
I have zero experience with your mask so no help along those lines.

[BlackSpinner]

I'm considering clipping a piece out of the foam insert to allow more room for my nose, but I'd rather get a spare one before I start doing that, and I think I need to wait a month before I can replace that through the DME.

You can try new masks within 30 days - the manufacturers allow replacements. Not after 30 days. Your insurance will only allow you to replace your mask every 3 months (sometimes 6 months)

You may want to look at the respcare Hybrid (NOT the Liberty). It works well for non Ken & Barbie faces.

[MidnightOwl]

Call your DME now. As BlackSpinner said you may be able to get a different mask without charge. You definitely need to do something immediately to keep this from getting worse and to let it start to heal.

After it heals you might want to consider if you had the mask too tight. That's a fairly common mistake many of us make when we're starting. It seems logical that tighter means fewer leaks but it doesn't. It goes something like loose = no leaks, slightly tighter = some leaks and much tighter = fewer leaks again.

If you want to buy replacement cushions before your insurance will cover them you can do it online at cpap.com (or elsewhere). If you can afford it you can also buy additional masks. Sometimes it's worth it to get something done faster than going through insurance will allow.

Good luck.

[Chronocidal Guy]

When in doubt about a mask liner at Padacheek.. send Karen an email and just ask. If she doesn't have what might work she will try to fix something that will work.

Was just thinking of doing that actually. I love tinkering, so I started playing with the idea of some liner tweaks to work with the F&P FFMs. I don't have any experience or equipment for sewing though, so the shredded t-shirt liner I made is rough at best. The F&P slidey-hook attachment thingy makes things a bit tricky, but I think I found a solution.

I'm not too worried about getting a new mask yet, since I know I can sleep with this one. I still have plenty of time to exchange it if I absolutely need to, since I've only had it a week now. You're right though, I may be tightening it too much, so I'm still experimenting with the headgear.

What I meant by a spare though is that I want to get a spare foam insert before I start cutting up the one I have. I may just order a spare liner and insert online anyway to experiment with, but I know I can get those through the DME every month.

Also, I realized why my nose was irritated. The contact point on my nose caused my skin to break out. My skin is kind of oily, so it tends to do that. Once the spot clears up, I think I should be fine with a nose pad (or maybe just cleaning my nose better).

When I can get a new mask in 3 months, I probably will get a different type to try out, but for the moment, I want to try everything I can to make it work (partially because I like how it fits otherwise, partially because I'm just stubborn that way). If I'm still getting nose irritation in another week or so though, I'll definitely be heading in to see what else they have.

Thanks for the input.