Husband tosses and turns making the mask leak

My husband is a newbie (2 weeks) and he started with a medium full face mask. He tosses and turns all night so with every turn, it leaks waking him up to readjust the mask and also the tubing aggravates him to death. I thought a bigger mask would help because the medium seemed to leak at the corners of his mouth. Tried a large, same thing. Ordered a nasal cushion and pillow. Thought this would help with the leaking from tossing around and also eliminate the tubing in his face. He tried the cushion and after 5 minutes, changed back to the mask because he said he couldn’t stand all the air shooting up his nose. He’s really trying to get used to it but is very discouraged and not to mention very tired. Says he got more sleep before the machine. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Welcom, Jenny Lee. Your husband might benefit from a hose lift, aka hose stand. These route the hose up and out of the way. The Hose Buddy is very sturdy; I’m currently using the Houdini, which telescopes down during the day and hides behind a pillow. Sadly, though, it tends to break. Search on Amazon and you’ll see a variety of these gizmos.

A hose cover can make the hose less uncomfortable if he doesn’t use a stand.

Some people also benefit from using a CPAP pillow, which has cutouts on the sides for masks. Others prefer to hang the mask off the side of a regular pillow.

Miss Emerita, I will definitely check those items out! We are willing to try anything to make this new way of life more bearable and effective! Thank you so much!!

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 8:17 pm

Welcom, Jenny Lee. Your husband might benefit from a hose lift, aka hose stand. These route the hose up and out of the way. The Hose Buddy is very sturdy; I’m currently using the Houdini, which telescopes down during the day and hides behind a pillow. Sadly, though, it tends to break. Search on Amazon and you’ll see a variety of these gizmos.

A hose cover can make the hose less uncomfortable if he doesn’t use a stand.

Some people also benefit from using a CPAP pillow, which has cutouts on the sides for masks. Others prefer to hang the mask off the side of a regular pillow.

Miss Emerita, I will definitely check those items out! We are willing to try anything to make this new way of life more bearable and effective! Thank you so much!!

Hi Jenny Lee. Perhaps your husband needs a mask for a active sleeper. I just recently changed to the ResMed AirFit N30i mask. It works great for me as I turn from side to side at night sometimes. the hose connects at the top of head.

Jennylee1123 wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 7:31 pm

My husband is a newbie (2 weeks) and he started with a medium full face mask. He tosses and turns all night

That is a sign of fractured sleep.

I had a friend staying with me recently, she was the same way, she told about how sometimes she'd wake up and her blankets had been turned 90 degrees on the bed.

I also noticed she was snoring, so I suggested she try one of my spare machines and masks.

After a few days and my getting the settings close to what she needed, she quit tossing and turning, because he breathing wasn't constantly waking her up, now her blankets are staying put.

palerider wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 9:20 pm

Jennylee1123 wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 7:31 pm

My husband is a newbie (2 weeks) and he started with a medium full face mask. He tosses and turns all night

That is a sign of fractured sleep.

I had a friend staying with me recently, she was the same way, she told about how sometimes she'd wake up and her blankets had been turned 90 degrees on the bed.

I also noticed she was snoring, so I suggested she try one of my spare machines and masks.

After a few days and my getting the settings close to what she needed, she quit tossing and turning, because he breathing wasn't constantly waking her up, now her blankets are staying put.

I will definitely research this! Thank you!

As stated earlier get you husband to try the ResMed AirFit N30i mask. This is what i use and I had the same problems as he is having.

The bigger the cushion the more leaks I had. I went to a smaller size and had less area for it to leak from. I was a very active sleeper tossing and turning. Now I sleep quietly only turning over when my shoulder gets too painful to sleep on. My husband complained that he was so used to my flipping and turning and now that I am so still he constantly has to check to see if I am still breathing. Lol. Btw I had real problems with the hose on top of my head. It would grab my hair and pull it. I use the N-20 "for her" over the nose nasal cushion because I like it best. Have him go to cpap.com and look at all the styles and reviews. Mask choice is varies greatly from person to person and success with the mask makes all the difference. Wearing it for a few hours in the evening while watching tv or reading helped me to get used to a mask and made actually sleeping with it easier.

Jennylee1123 wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 7:31 pm

making the mask leak

Take the exact name of the mask he likes best. Search for it on youtube. Watch three or four videos on fitting and adjusting. Some of the videos are very good.

It may also be helpful to download the Oscar software and see what's happening. In addition to getting used to the equipment, sometimes the initial settings aren't optimized AND the mask fit isn't optimal for big increases in pressure.

I would tackle the settings first. Some clinics leave "wide open" settings 4-20 on the theory that it will "catch" any apneas. But if the settings aren't dialed in a little more closely, the machine has to "chase" the apneas, causing bigger pressure increases and bigger leaks. Sometimes optimizing the settings will settle a lot of that down. Then he might sleep more peacefully.

If settings are optimized, equipment is tweaked, it might be worth using the mask fit feature to fit the mask at the highest pressure to reduce leakage when the machine has to go there.

This initial period IS hard. But if he can get everything dialed in well, his sleep may be much calmer and deeper and he will finally start to feel the benefit. The key is not to give up.

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 05, 2021 5:55 pm

Jennylee1123 wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 7:31 pm

making the mask leak

Take the exact name of the mask he likes best. Search for it on youtube. Watch three or four videos on fitting and adjusting. Some of the videos are very good.

Thank you! I’ll try that!

Adapting to a new way of sleeping is difficult. He is feeling what most of us CPAP users have felt and it is to be expected. It would be most helpful for him to either be on the forum or look over your shoulder whilst showing him the posts. CPAP is frustrating at times, but the folks on this forum are a most helpful lot.

Personally i used a full face mask for 8+ months and only now am trying nasal pillows (Resmed P10). The full face mask (Resmed F20) worked fine and was comfortable enough, but I was looking for a better overall sleep experience. I followed the advice of many on here to wear the new mask while awake to get used to it and also to use a soft cervical collar to sleep to help keep the airway open. It has made a remarkable difference so far. AHI numbers have improved, pressure is not as high as with the F20, and I feel the effect during the day rarely needing a kip.

As others have said installing an SD card in the CPAP, downloading OSCAR, and posting a few graphs will help the experts immensely in analysing what is going on. Asking for advice here is a big step towards improving sleep and being successful with CPAP.

You can start with posting the pressure settings, mask type, and AHI. If you don’t know it we can help locate the information. Fair play to the lad for attempting it on his own, but it does not have to be difficult and he does not have to feel knackered all the time. Help is here for the asking.

tlohse wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 9:14 pm

Hi Jenny Lee. Perhaps your husband needs a mask for a active sleeper. I just recently changed to the ResMed AirFit N30i mask. It works great for me as I turn from side to side at night sometimes. the hose connects at the top of head.

I will look into that! That would be very helpful I think!

Jennylee1123 wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 8:43 pm

I will definitely check those items out!

The website of our forum sponsor, CPAP.com, is a good place to see photos, specs, ratings and reviews of most masks.