New user questions

[Clizby]

Hello all,

I got my CPAP machine yesterday and other than my sleep study, last night was the first time to be on it. I have a few questions.

1) Those of you have have been doing this awhile, how long do you give mask to decide if you are going to like it. My provider said they will trade out within 30 days, but I also realize I need to make sure i give good test time (and this may not be an issue, just curious).

2) I chose a nasal mask (it is this one https://www.cpap.com/productpage/wisp-n ... ck-pr.html ). The reason I chose it is because I used a nasal mask in my sleep study and felt it went fairly well. Also the sleep technician said that I appear to breathe mainly through my nose. He's right, however after my first full night at home I'm trying to decide if while I USUALLY breath through my nose if I can deal with NEVER breathing through my mouth. Do the full face mask work even if usually you just use your nose? I'm wondering if I need to give a full mask a try at least if that is the case.

3) Those of you that have nasal masks, are you able to move onto your side without leaks? I mainly slept on my back last night. Once I got on my side safely but another time I tried it and felt air coming up towards my eye. I gave up kind of quick, but long term I'd like to be able to still sleep on my side.

4) Followup to question 3 - if you've used nasal masks and full masks, do you find that the full masks stay sealed better when you are moving?

Thanks all, I just want to find out what I can to make this as good of an experience as possible!

[Julie]

What you ideally want to do is use software (like SleepyHead that's free to DL from here - see top note on forum page from Pugsy) so you can track lots of features of Cpap that go on overnight, including leaks. Without knowing to what extent you mouth breathe (chin straps won't stop 'open lip' leaks) or not, you can't know whether you need a FF mask or not.

There are many, many masks out there (see Cpap.com for details) and you need to find which work for you, as no one's face is exactly like another's, so what works for one (when turning in bed) won't necessarily work for you, nasal or FF. Cpap.com does allow you to try masks (and you get them the day after ordering) for a small return/insurance fee, so you may want to check out that route, especially if your local DME does not have many, or won't let you try them lying down, and/or is not knowledgable about fitting them properly.

Pad-a-Cheek.com sells 'liners' that go under masks to help with leaks and strap marks.

There are people here (and out there) who will tell you that FF masks don't seal as well, etc. etc. but that just isn't necessarily so depending on your face, mask and adjustments, plus it's always helpful to have FFs on hand in any case for e.g. when you get a cold and cannot breathe through your nose, so don't allow other prejudices to make up your mind for you!

[Sheriff Buford]

Hello all,

I got my CPAP machine yesterday and other than my sleep study, last night was the first time to be on it. I have a few questions.

1) Those of you have been doing this awhile, how long do you give mask to decide if you are going to like it. My provider said they will trade out within 30 days, but I also realize I need to make sure i give good test time (and this may not be an issue, just curious). You will keep a mask until you are so frustrated with it that you think of terrible things you'd like to do to it! You will know when you are done. Most folks go thru several mask (maybe dozens) before finding one that is comfortable and doesn't leak.

2) I chose a nasal mask (it is this one https://www.cpap.com/productpage/wisp-n ... ck-pr.html ). The reason I chose it is because I used a nasal mask in my sleep study and felt it went fairly well. Also the sleep technician said that I appear to breathe mainly through my nose. He's right, however after my first full night at home I'm trying to decide if while I USUALLY breath through my nose if I can deal with NEVER breathing through my mouth. Do the full face mask work even if usually you just use your nose? I'm wondering if I need to give a full mask a try at least if that is the case. I think a nasal mask is an excellent choice. Look at my mask. I'd kill to be able to wear a nasal mask or mask pillows. You can train yourself not to breath thru your mouth. Chinstraps can help if you can wear them.

3) Those of you that have nasal masks, are you able to move onto your side without leaks? I mainly slept on my back last night. Once I got on my side safely but another time I tried it and felt air coming up towards my eye. I gave up kind of quick, but long term I'd like to be able to still sleep on my side. Sleeping on your side and getting leaks are normal. I use a buckwheat pillow to help me. I carve out a "gap" to prevent the pillow from hitting the mask. I have also used to Contour pillow for side sleeping, but after a long and exhausted trial period, I was able to get the buckwheat pillow to work better for me.

4) Followup to question 3 - if you've used nasal masks and full masks, do you find that the full masks stay sealed better when you are moving? Full face masks require more sealing surface than nasal masks. More surface can mean more leaks, but it depends on your face structure. On another note, consider a hose hanger. It gets the hose outta' the way at night, so you don't have to mess with it. It was a really good investment for me and I never leave home without it.

Thanks all, I just want to find out what I can to make this as good of an experience as possible!

You seem to be doing very well! It gets easier as you go. Keep it up! Work all your issues (big and small) here!

Sheriff

[49er]

Clizby,

I will share my experiences not because you should copy me but hopefully, it will help you make your own decisions.

Because of nasal congestion, I erroneously assumed I was a mouth breather went through months of what I call full face mask h-ll. What I didn't realize until finally having an aha moment was that I definitely preferred to breath through my nose and that full face masks at least in my experience were making it harder for me to do that than the elan cloth mask that I ended up trying.

So far, my leak rates have stayed in the acceptable range and when I had my titration study recently, the tech said I didn't have any leaks until near the end of my sleep cycle.

Now, I will be seeing an ENT about optimizing nasal potency whether it is by conservative or surgical means. But many folks who assumed they needed full face masks found that they didn't.

That is not to say you don't and you should definitely look into it if you feel it might help. They definitely help many people but not me.

Regarding having one for colds, I got one about two months ago and actually found the pressure quite soothing for my sinuses using the cloth nasal mask. The full face masks seem to only make things worse when I had a cold.

But this is just my experience so take it for what it is worth.

49er

Hello all,

I got my CPAP machine yesterday and other than my sleep study, last night was the first time to be on it. I have a few questions.

1) Those of you have have been doing this awhile, how long do you give mask to decide if you are going to like it. My provider said they will trade out within 30 days, but I also realize I need to make sure i give good test time (and this may not be an issue, just curious).

2) I chose a nasal mask (it is this one https://www.cpap.com/productpage/wisp-n ... ck-pr.html ). The reason I chose it is because I used a nasal mask in my sleep study and felt it went fairly well. Also the sleep technician said that I appear to breathe mainly through my nose. He's right, however after my first full night at home I'm trying to decide if while I USUALLY breath through my nose if I can deal with NEVER breathing through my mouth. Do the full face mask work even if usually you just use your nose? I'm wondering if I need to give a full mask a try at least if that is the case.

3) Those of you that have nasal masks, are you able to move onto your side without leaks? I mainly slept on my back last night. Once I got on my side safely but another time I tried it and felt air coming up towards my eye. I gave up kind of quick, but long term I'd like to be able to still sleep on my side.

4) Followup to question 3 - if you've used nasal masks and full masks, do you find that the full masks stay sealed better when you are moving?

Thanks all, I just want to find out what I can to make this as good of an experience as possible!

[Clizby]

Thank you all for your replies! I'm not at all throwing in the towel on my current mask, just kind of curious what the adjustment period is and all. I will admit that I felt like last night (my second night) went better than my first. I too have concerns a little about nasal congestion which is another reason I asked about the other mask.

My Nasal mask seems to do okay. I will say when I have had it on all night, I feel a little sore on the...I guess it would be called septum of my nose. That seems to go away after I've been awake awhile. Is the mask something I would potentially get used to where that wouldn't happen?

Also, the last 2 mornings I've work up with a sore throat. Nothing terrible, just an annoyance mostly that I figure is from the air blowing in. Again, curious if that is something that I can get used to. My unit has a humidification setting. It was set to 2 the first night and I set it to 3 last night, so maybe I need to play with that some more.

As far as the software, it mentions sleep mapper on the unit, but I wasn't sure that I understood how to get to the data. I am assuming it would require pulling the SD card and downloading the data? I'm certainly curious if the leaks when I lay on my side are a problem or not.

Again, thanks, I'm mostly just here to learn and find out more about what the adjustment period is like in general.

[Guest 2]

Clizby,
I'm also new to CPAP, I've used the Resmed N10 nasal mask( similar to your Wisp mask) anyway I really like that mask but I was always adjusting it to keep it from leaking, and in the early mornings when my pressure would be high the mask wouldn't exhaust properly and I would wake up not able to breathe. I worked with that mask for about 14 nights, so I called my DME and she had me try another mask ( F& P Eson nasal mask ) Wow what a difference, I've just had the best 3 nights of sleep since I started this dance. Not every mask will work for everyone, so your the one who needs to use it so if it doesn't seem right change it or you won't be happy, you need to do this it your dance. I'm a nose breather and wear a full beard so I didn't feel a full mask would be for me (I hear some work well with beards), I'm not sure about the pillows, but I can tell you those two nasal mask I've tried are a night a day difference . The Eson leaks far less for me.

Good luck with your therapy.
Guest 2

[WinterLily]

3) Those of you that have nasal masks, are you able to move onto your side without leaks? I mainly slept on my back last night. Once I got on my side safely but another time I tried it and felt air coming up towards my eye. I gave up kind of quick, but long term I'd like to be able to still sleep on my side.

I use the same mask. The CPAPfit pillow, made of buckwheat hulls and sold on Amazon, has worked really well for me when side-sleeping or back-sleeping. Not only did my neck stop hurting, but the mask barely leaks because the pillow isn't pushing it out of place. It does sometimes if the straps are too loose - it took some time to find the right adjustment.

The way the hose is positioned can make a difference as well - putting it over the head means having to loosen the top straps and tighten the bottom ones (but it tends to feel more comfortable since the vent blows air away from the eyes).

Good luck!