Can you talk with nasal mask on?

[zenman72]

I never used to be able to talk, and taking a breath through my mouth took alot of effort. That has changed and it seems I can talk much more easily. I have also been having difficulties sleeping again after a couple of years of doing well.

Wondering if other people can talk/breath easily or if I should look for other causes for recent issues.

[chunkyfrog]

First, the talking just seems to work out on its own, like riding a bike.
Second, tell us what kind of problems you are having,
we've probably each had a few, and found solutions here.
It might be a good idea to fill in your equipment, so we can put the puzzle together.
Text, rather than pictures, works best.

[Pugsy]

Yes, I can talk with my mask on and machine blowing.
Couldn't do it at first but seemed to have adapted somehow along the way.
Sounds a little weird but I can be understood from what hubby says. Minimal air exiting the mouth.
I can also yawn a nice big yawn and not have any air exit my mouth.

[zenman72]

Yes, I can talk with my mask on and machine blowing.
Couldn't do it at first but seemed to have adapted somehow along the way.
Sounds a little weird but I can be understood from what hubby says. Minimal air exiting the mouth.
I can also yawn a nice big yawn and not have any air exit my mouth.

Thanks for the feedback. Just seems that talking is now so natural and easy to me with the mask on when it didn't used to be. It has probably just been a gradual change over the years but I'm trying to grasp at reasons why I am having such problems now. I'm gonna try to sleep again in a little while with the new mask (for the second time) and hope for some better results.

First, the talking just seems to work out on its own, like riding a bike.
Second, tell us what kind of problems you are having,
we've probably each had a few, and found solutions here.
It might be a good idea to fill in your equipment, so we can put the puzzle together.
Text, rather than pictures, works best.

Thanks Chunkyfrog for the suggestions. I have documented some issues in the thread viewtopic/t87276/advice-welcomed-please.html and Pugsy has already been a huge help. Basically I have had a black market machine for 4 years but have never changed the mask/tubing till now. I didn't really have any education on using it, but it seemed to help me from being tired so I was happy. I use min 12 press max 20 and after the first weeks it has always been comfortable even if I don't know what an appropriate setting may be for me. I have recently had alot of issues sleeping again even with the cpap and it seems to be getting worse each night and upon a search hence my discovery of this very helpful forum. My last couple nights AHI have been around 12 and 15 but because of high leaks I understand that they may not be accurate. I use a resmed S8 autoset, activa mask but now switching to mirage FX.

I also have medical insurance that will be kicking in soon so hopeful to get to a sleep study soon, but I literally can't function at work at my current sleep pace. Just trying to find at least a temporary fix so that I can get my brain back functioning. My concentration/memory is very low and my irritability high.

[Pugsy]

You know I was thinking....maybe you could try a higher minimum like 14...do your fitting at that pressure and see if you can keep the seal better. Your AHI is already too high and would maybe be higher if leaks weren't an issue.
Maybe the variable pressures of APAP mode are adding to the difficulty keeping the seal.
A little more minimum...maybe reduce by preventing a few of those events (assuming they are obstructive) the AHI and a by product would be less variances in pressures which make it difficult to get and keep a good seal if the pressures are roaming all over the place..
Heck...maybe try a tight range or cpap mode.

[zenman72]

Interesting idea Pugsy. I actually went to 13 about 2 weeks ago and tried a couple of nights at 14 min. It is currently back at 13. I was wondering can the small increase be causing me to open my mouth at night, in which case I might benefit by going back to 12? Or is it silly to think that reducing the pressure may help since I am already getting high AHI reading? In which case perhaps you are right, maybe raising the min and a tighter range would help.

Thanks so much for your wisdom and feedback.

I'm thinking to try to video myself tonight or try to get to sleep before my wife so she can observe me.

[Pugsy]

I was just thinking that limiting the apap range somehow might help limit the leak so we could at least evaluate the AHI more reliably.

Wish I could see the software reports from your machine....would really help to see where the pressure wants to go and why and how long.

If you can keep the leak to 0.40 L/sec or less (that would be 95%) I would trust that AHI as being fairly accurate. There might be a short time frame with larger leak but it wouldn't last long.
When you start having 0.50 L/sec...that's 30 L/min an the machine might have some trouble.

I don't expect you to have 0.0 leaks... I think that is something you will have great difficulty obtaining...if you can keep it below 0.40 (even if it is barely below) I would consider that acceptable and giving reliable AHI.

Are you mouth breathing? I forget if we had that discussion....if your mask doesn't cover the mouth..there's always that possibility when we see big leak numbers. If you have FFM...doesn't matter if you mouth breathe in terms of therapy.

[zenman72]

No, I am using a nasal mask. I don't know that I am mouth breathing but I am suspecting that I might be at this stage, or perhaps it's just me grasping at straws.

The efficacy data has been reset for the day, and it will be my first full day with the new mask, so we will see about leaks and AHI today with a fresh start. Gonna attempt to sleep again soon.

[Pugsy]

If you still have a big leak number after tonight we probably should consider mouth breathing as a possible culprit.
This is where it would really be nice to have the software reports to look at.
We can't tell by a number just how much mouth breathing you might be doing...might be 30 minutes...might be 3 hours.
That's why I like to see the 95% number below large leak territory...gives some wiggle room before we go assuming the whole night's therapy went in the toilet.

I have a pretty good example of what I am talking about in this thread here if you want to check it out.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=86705&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=45

My 95% leak in that example above was 27 L/min... your 0.4 L/sec is equal to 24 L/min...to give you an idea how close your number is to mine.

[SleepyToo2]

If your top pressure is too high, it is possible that you are getting central apneas - your brain doesn't tell you to breathe. In your case, it may be your brain says it has enough oxygen (actually, it's the carbon dioxide level that is the trigger, but that's getting complicated), thanks, so no need to breathe. Your machine picks that up as a problem. So, reducing the pressure might actually help. I agree that having the software and some readable reports from your machine would help with the assessment of what your challenges might be (we can't diagnose, because we are not physicians/prescribers).

[LSAT]

EZ Talk Valve
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/ez-tal ... -cpap.html

[zenman72]

I tried last night originally with a range of 12 to 16. Several hours later after waking up constantly I looked at the readings and they were 21.8 AHI and .28 leak. I increased back to 14 and couple hours later still no sleep, kept waking up.

After watching a little television I decided to try again and put the pressure down. I brought it all the way down to 8. Things seemed to go a little easier on me and I got a little actualy sleep it seemed. My end numbers for the night was 9.7 AHI and .32 leak. I'm gonna try again tonight with the same 8 min pressure and see what numbers we get after a full night.

[zenman72]

10.2 AHI last night with leaks .28

.28 is still a bit on the high side I assume? I'm thinking I may have a mouth leak?

[Pugsy]

10.2 AHI last night with leaks .28

.28 is still a bit on the high side I assume? I'm thinking I may have a mouth leak?

Actually for the S8 that is acceptable...especially compared to your other leak numbers.
0.28 L/s equals 16.8 L/min...so that better than over 24 L/min.

You lowered your minimum pressure to 8??? What did you do with the maximum?

[zenman72]

10.2 AHI last night with leaks .28

.28 is still a bit on the high side I assume? I'm thinking I may have a mouth leak?

Actually for the S8 that is acceptable...especially compared to your other leak numbers.
0.28 L/s equals 16.8 L/min...so that better than over 24 L/min.

You lowered your minimum pressure to 8??? What did you do with the maximum?

I put the max back to 20. Average press was 13.4. I am getting some dry mouth too, so I really suspect I am mouth breathing. I haven't slept much at all in days. I'm gonna ask if anyone has a full face mask available for me to try before I buy one after just having bought this new nasal mask.