nasal mask question

[Axe]

hey all! I've been using CPAP for over a month and was using a full face mask. Over the past 2-3 weeks my leaks have been really bad (40-50% a night) so I decided to try the nasal mask that I had left over from my sleep study. I've always been a mouth breather but I would start with my mouth open when I would go to sleep. The past 2 nights I have started with my mouth closed but I don't know if its staying closed and I can't ask my wife because she has been working overnights and isn't home. The past 2 nights my leak has been zero and AHI 0.5 with the nasal mask. So my question is this; if my mouth opened while I was sleeping would it cause me to wake up and would my machine register it as a leak? My wife isn't off work till Monday night and I really don't want to wait another night to know if I'm using the nasal mask in vain. (all info in my signature is accurate except for the mask obviously since i switched to the nasal mask)

[Julie]

If a leak is large enough (very large) the machine may not register it at all, so you have to try other methods to find out if it's happening. You said your AHI was 0.5, which sounds terrific, but what other factors did you see, and can you post a graph here for others to look at (you need to do it thru something like Photobucket and then post the link here). If your AHI was very high, then I'd advise you to at least try taping for a few nights to see if things improve, but that's not the case, though basing any decisions on one night's AHI is not a good idea - much better to have closer to a week's worth of data to go by, plus how you actually feel.