High Pressure causing air leaks around the mask

[wiltfarm]

I am using a Mirage FX Nasal Mask and a ResMed VPAP Adapt machine. My average pressure is 22. With this high pressure I am having a hard time with the mask sealing. I am getting a lousy night sleep because either I wake up to adjust my mask because of an air leak or my wife wakes me up because the noise from the mask is waking her up. Any suggestions on how to get a good seal. I am close to sleeping in another bed so at least my wife will be able to sleep. I have tried several different masks but have not found one that works good. The Mirage FX Nasal Mask seems to be the better then the others so far. I am always extremely tired and have fallen asleep at inappropriate times. My memory is terrible. It has affected my job and homelife. I know it is from a lack of good sleep. Two weeks ago my Doctor put me on Nuvigil 250 mg. This has helped me stay awake however I am concerned with becoming depended on this drug in order to stay awake. I think this is just putting a bandage on the problem.

I asked my sleep Doctor if this high pressure could be the cause of my central apneas and his response was: nice try. He does not take the time to explain things to me. He told me to lose weight followed by the comment that he could have an MRI done on my belly to see if I'm pregnant. I am a man and did not find this comment funny or appropriate. I am thinking about getting another doctor however I am not sure how to find a good one.

Has anyone tried those pillows made for people wearing a mask? They have a place carved out in the pillow so it won't interfere with the mask. Just wondering if this would help me.

[Pugsy]

With such high pressures you might like to add a mask liner. Several other forum members who have to use high pressures say that a liner does help.
You can make your own from an old T shirt to get an idea if it would help.
Padacheeks makes some nice custom made liners.
http://www.padacheek.com/PAC_Maskliners.html

I think that those cpap pillows are fairly popular. I don't use one. I use a buckwheat hull pillow and just move the hulls a little to make a nest for my mask to rest.

If you think you want to try one of those pillows with the cut out on the side you might want to go to WalMart and get a cheap memory foam pillow and cut out your own hole to see if that idea seems to help.
There's more to the pillow's comfort than just the hole for the mask. There are a large number of such masks available for purchase and some are too hard, some are too soft...it's just like any other pillow...you don't know what it feels like until you try it and they are pretty pricey.

[lazer]

Would this advise also apply to the FFM Quattro FX? I'm about to tweak my pressures from say 8-20 to around 9.5 to 15. I'm waking up to 14 to 17+ every morning with air escaping around all sides of my FFM.

Not trying to hijack the thread but "How would I make a temporary T-shirt liner for my particular mask"
- Does it circumference all sides?
- just 1 thin layer of materal?
- I assume this is just a small strip you end up with covering only where the silicon part of the mask meets the face?

Thanks!

[Pugsy]

Not trying to hijack the thread but "How would I make a temporary T-shirt liner for my particular mask"
- Does it circumference all sides?
- just 1 thin layer of materal?
- I assume this is just a small strip you end up with covering only where the silicon part of the mask meets the face?

T Shirt mask liner discussed here
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=71892&p=662064&hili ... er#p662064

yes, all sides, one layer usually.

[lazer]

Not trying to hijack the thread but "How would I make a temporary T-shirt liner for my particular mask"
- Does it circumference all sides?
- just 1 thin layer of materal?
- I assume this is just a small strip you end up with covering only where the silicon part of the mask meets the face?

T Shirt mask liner discussed here
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=71892&p=662064&hili ... er#p662064

yes, all sides, one layer usually.

Thank you Pugsy. Will reference mentioned thread.

[Tino2You]

Don't cover the vents..they are important
-tino

[Denial Dave]

Im on bipap with pressure settings of 21ipap 15 epap. Pad a cheek liners worked on some of my leak issues. But the mirage fx ffm could not stand up to my tossing & turning. I have moved to the standard quattro ffm with pad a cheek liners and my leaks are now below 20 all night.

Dave

[Conrad]

I can't comment on your pressure issue but I did want to say something about your doc's sense of humor.

I really liked my old doctor, he had a great sense of humor and always had a good joke at the ready whenever I saw him. This doctor moved away and my new doc has ZERO sense of humor, she's ALL business and not very personable. Both of these docs explained things to me just fine but I would rather have a more personable doc with a sense of humor any day.