2nd night and it was a nightmare

[snork1]

stepping carefully around the flotsam and jetsam in the replies here.....

Another couple hints with FF mask seals. Make sure to wash all oils off the mask and off your face before putting on the mask. Using a non-lotion based mild soap. I use dilute non-scented Castille soap myself. (this trick also works for the Activa nasal mask).

Also try routing the hose up OR down. I eventually found routing the hose DOWN worked better for me, although most people prefer routing it up.

No matter what you do, the FF mask will act like a hovercraft with all that area and WILL be tempermental to seal.

Be sure to try adding the hair band, or similar, to add a pull straight into your face as it pressurizes.

All this reminds me why I spent the extra effort to make a nasal interface work!

[photogal]

ROFL, that was my biggest Hee-hee of the day! I'll tell Echo you said so...
( girl stuck to your feet, ROFL)
What a witty mind you have.

[photogal]

I will definitely do the head band. I think I have one moldering away in some drawer from my exercise days.
T'would thrill me if it works.

[gailzee]

Don't fret.........
Many posters have great ideas. I use the swift n. p. seems ''ok'' to me. I hear leaks, and very gently moving the pillow, usually seals off the 'hssss'' sound we all have known to learn and NOT love. I use the chin strap that is sold on cpap.com, it has a fabric molded chin cup type of device, but straps are too short and for us gals, pulls hair out. I still catch myself puffing out of my mouth, so I can probably safely assume it has not sealed my mouth off, as much as I'd like it to.

Were you on another cpap before and had to get a bipap?

Good luck....
gailzee

Gosh, fellow hoseheads, I'm discouraged. I've looked forward to getting my BiPAP eagerly. The first night was bad, but the few hours sleep I got seemed somewhat restful in spite of waking up every 30 minutes. Or less.
Last night was even worse. Every 10-20 minutes I was awake. The mask leaked terrible. Felt huge, hard to lay on my side. I would make adjustments to the straps, to that other thingy at the top which changes the angle, and reposition it on my face, but nothing helped. The leaks are beside the chin/cheek area, and they are huge. I carefully washed the mask yesterday, and went to bed with a scrubbed face, so it wasn't that.

This is the deal. I had read on this forum about the Ultra Mirage FF mask making a whistle, and what you guys had to say about it.
The woman who fitted me came in with a medium. It seemed to fit just fine, but when she turned the air on, it whistled. I told her some folks on this forum had said it was a somewhat common problem, and told her that washing the plastic sometimes seemed to help. She left and washed it, and did some things with the hose connection and said it wasn't coming from the hose, she thought it was at the edges of the mask where it met my face. I don't think so. It didn't sound to me that's where the noise originated. She made a call to someone before giving that statement.
I told her she needed to order a new one in a medium, because maybe it wouldn't whistle. She totally ignored me. Instead, she borrowed another medium from the lab and it whistled, too.
So she brought in a large, and put that on me. It did not whistle, although to me it felt too big. She adjusted it, and for the minute the air was on it seemed OK, didn't whistle, so I came home with it. Of course the tilt of my head while lying in her recliner was NOT the tilt of my head in my own bed.
Now, fellow PAPers, this is what I need to know. Just where is the bottom of a full face mask supposed to fit? Mine fits on my chin projection. I would have thought it should fit between the bottom lip and chin, in that depression. The forehead rest is lying right on the edge of my hairline. So I have mask from hair to the middle of my actual chin. With it fitting so high on my forehead, I can't really move the mask up any further for the bottom to set in the depression above my chin. The air is coming out big-time right beside that chin depression/cheek area.
Everyone says the ResMed Ultra Mirage FF is the best. I like the way the connectors come apart easily.
Is it too big?
Now I'm starting to think NOSE MASK!! Or even pillows. I'm thinking about what MartiniLover told me about ordering a really good chin strap. Then, I remember some posts about taping the mouth shut with some special kind of tape. I don't remember what it was, don't know where to buy it.
My 2nd sleep study (this one was my 3rd) is the only other titration I had, and it was with a nose mask. Of course it didn't work because I was a mouth breather, but that aside, I had no trouble falling asleep with it on and the only reason I woke up is because the tech WOKE me up griping about my mouth being open.
I have either 30 or 60 days to exchange masks with no extra charge, and I'm wondering if I should go the nose mask or pillow route.
ALL SUGGESTIONS welcome, and educate me to the best of the nose masks, and the best of the pillows. I think I read on here there is a new pillow that doesn't go as far into the nose and doesn't hurt as much, right??
I can order the chin strap MartiniLover told me about...tell me what tape and where I might find that particular kind. Or should I forget it? I don't feel I'll get any satisfaction with taking this mask back for another just like it in a medium. I don't think the DME lady will cooperate.
I'm desperate.

[snamvar]

I can not give you any advise on the FF mask and it's fitting as I have never used one, but I can tell you a lot about how to deal with DMEs. In my opinion, most DMEs are just in sales of CPAP and other products at a much higher price.
Please be assertive and don't give up to anything you don't feel comfortable with. If the girl has a attitude, have more attitude
I know that the right mask and the fitting is the challenging part. Don't expect too much of yourself. This all takes tme and patience.
Best Wishes.

[photogal]

Thanks, snamvar. I've always had somewhat of a problem asserting myself. I've worked on it the past 10 years and do OK most of the time, as I insisted I wanted an Ultra Mirage FF when she tried to palm something else off on me.
That's probably why she has an attitude with me, because I already faced her down once. It is hard for me, though.

[Janelle]

When we first married over 38 years ago, I was a shy, retiring, quiet kind of person. But that changed after our first move and I was left by myself during the day to deal with utility people/customer service and them never coming when they said and then giving bad service. Next on the menu was car repair mechanics. So, over the years, I have become an opinionated bitch who is afraid of no one or anything.

See, it just takes practice

[photogal]

Janelle, you GO girl!

[CI_SeaWolf]

Photogal, as a new user myself, I understand your frustration. I had an experience with my DME and just got plain ol' MAD DOG MEAN.... Don't use swear words, or get abusive with them, bue BE FIRM!!! I started yelling at them I HAVE SLEEP APNEA! IT MAKES ME IRRATABLE AND GROUCHY! Use a lot of pleases and thank yous... If You get to the point were you think you are going to explode. Hang Up and call back when you are back in control... I've hammered on my ISP like that after a probelm and had folks calling me for months afterward to make sure that I was satisfied and well taken care of. Don't let them take charge of your health. I wish you good luck and good health.

[SleepyGuy]

I use the Ultra Mirage FF mask. With mine the whistle was definitely coming from the anti-asphyxiation valve where the hose connects to the maks. I could usually get it to stop by pressing on the hose. It would also whistle only when I exhaled. I suspect that on low pressure, exhaling was enough to neutralize the intake pressure and let the valve flutter a little bit.

It's better now that it's broken in.

[snork1]

I use the Ultra Mirage FF mask. With mine the whistle was definitely coming from the anti-asphyxiation valve where the hose connects to the maks. I could usually get it to stop by pressing on the hose. It would also whistle only when I exhaled. I suspect that on low pressure, exhaling was enough to neutralize the intake pressure and let the valve flutter a little bit.

It's better now that it's broken in.

I THINK I remember someone mentioning something about taking apart the mask and making sure the gasket/valve was properly seated and assembled and clean and that helped THAT particular whistle. I might be mistaken, but its worth a shot.

[sleepy gal]

Hi Photogal, boy do I sympathize with you!

I went through all of that also. But the good news is that it has gotten better, at least for me, so hopefully it will with you also.

I am using both an Ultra Mirage FF (medium) and a F & P flexifit
FF (small) and interchange them during the night.

My pulmonologist sent me back to the DME with a scrip to show me different masks and essentially to help (they hadn't helped before).

They had a new RT and she was wonderful, worked and worked with the head gear on both masks until it was much better. There is no way that I could have done that on my own.

Not easy to be assertive, and I needed my doc's help, but it made a big difference. I seem to be able to keep one mask or the other on most of the night now.

Good luck to you and keep on trying!

[photogal]

I'm so glad you had a good doctor that did that for you. My pulmonologist didn't even see me at first, until I made waves and insisted. My regular doctor, who sent me there in the first place, told me when I went back to him, "I don't know anything about that stuff, you'll have to see Dr. Lewis."
It's a shame that we have to act mean to simply get the care we should have received in the first place.
Thanks for sharing.