How do you know when you have a good seal?

[babon87]

Hi Everyone ,I am fairly new to CPAP machine using (less than two weeks) please pardon my silly question,
how do Iknow that I have a good seal ? or shall I say what constitutes a good seal ? I feel that maybe some leaks maynot have easily detectable signs , My machine AHI reading is fairly low (.5 dropped from 2.0 ) and mask large leakage is( 0.00) but I dont trust that, I am financially strapped and saving up for theEncore Viewer software hoping that it will shed more light .
I had a great difficulty in convincing my doctor to approve a sleep study becauase I am a triathlete and appear very fit and good pysical shape , according to him " I dont fall in the normal category" however I have been waking up with high blood pressure which stabilizes during the day and I do need to get thsi undercontrol.
I am using a quattro full face , prior to that i tried comfort gel which was hurting my nose bridge.
I am grateful for for this forum, you guys rock !
Thanx

[Emilia]

Wow, those are great numbers! I would say you are doing just fine! What did your sleep study show--- was your AHI very high? It would seem to me that if you were having leaks, your AHI would be higher than .5 so I wouldn't worry too much. The bigger question is how do you feel? Is your BP lower now when you wake up? You are in extremely good shape as a triathlete so you are definitely not the 'stereotypical' OSA type. I guess if you are feeling better with lower BP, and you keep getting numbers like you have, you are on your way to great health!

Keep us posted!

[Goofproof]

If you had the software shown in your profile, the dailies would show your leak, which could be compaired with your masks published leak rate at your pressure 5 to 10 % above the published leak rate would be OK, as lond as it didn't go over 40 LPM, 38 LPM would be better. Jim

The leak rate for your mask can be found in the specs that came with it.

[Janknitz]

The screen on your machine will not give you useful information about leaks. It only shows "Large leaks" and shows them as a percentage of time over 7 and 30 days. You have to have a leak the size of a jet plane wash for a good long while to register on the screen--believe me you will know when that happens. I have no idea why they thought this would be useful information.

There can be little leaks. Usually you will feel or hear these leaks, or wake with a swollen, weepy eye because a little leak anywhere along the side of the mask travels up your nose or the side of the mask, bumps into your eyebrow ridge and back down into your eye.

The fact that you have such a low AHI and are not perceiving any leaks means you are doing just fine. There is a certain amount of leakage that's inherent in every mask--some because of the vent and some just because. As long as it is not annoying you, your AHI is good, and you feel great, don't worry about it.

[Goofproof]

However if your TRUE leak rate is TOO HIGH, the data will not be correct... JIm

That's why everyone need software...

[Rogue Uvula]

I can tell when I don't have a good seal because it sounds like my wife is wheezing, but the pace changes if I control my breathe!

[chunkyfrog]

I cannot make any sense of my leak data
--It ranges from low teens to once in a while over fifty;
but the green smiley face is ALWAYS there.
Is my machine working right?

[babon87]

Hi Everyone ,I am fairly new to CPAP machine using (less than two weeks) please pardon my silly question,
how do Iknow that I have a good seal ? or shall I say what constitutes a good seal ? I feel that maybe some leaks maynot have easily detectable signs , My machine AHI reading is fairly low (.5 dropped from 2.0 ) and mask large leakage is( 0.00) but I dont trust that, I am financially strapped and saving up for theEncore Viewer software hoping that it will shed more light .
I had a great difficulty in convincing my doctor to approve a sleep study becauase I am a triathlete and appear very fit and good pysical shape , according to him " I dont fall in the normal category" however I have been waking up with high blood pressure which stabilizes during the day and I do need to get thsi undercontrol.
I am using a quattro full face , prior to that i tried comfort gel which was hurting my nose bridge.
I am grateful for for this forum, you guys rock !
Thanx

Added:
My AHI in my sleep study was 17.2 and I had a separate titration study done where the ramp pressure was set at 11 which produced 6.0 AHI , and as i mentioned earlier now my machine AHI is down to .5 (7day avg) I somehow distrust the machine info and dont know how relaible that is.
I physically feel awesome , my blood pressure at the beginning few days dropped dramatically to borderline but after two weeks it a few points higher than I want, but still a lot less than what it used to be (I realize as I write this that maybe I am expecting
a miraculous recovery in two weeks!!!)
Thnx for all the response .

[Beachmeezer]

I cannot make any sense of my leak data
--It ranges from low teens to once in a while over fifty;
but the green smiley face is ALWAYS there.
Is my machine working right?

I wish my machine had smiley faces!

[Gerald?]

Now you have had some serious helpful answers....

He can balance a ball on his nose and doesn't bite you!