Don't you DARE touch that strap!

Nose pain, leaks: I thought I had it under control.

After two months of trying three or four masks (some of different sizes, and no, my sleep lab or DME never fitted me), I found the Activa LT. Within a couple of weeks of fiddling with the straps, I finally got it right.

Finally, I didn't need a band-aide every night to protect the bottom of my nose.

Finally, my leaks remained pretty steady in the range of 10 to 15L per minute. Not perfect, but the best I could do.

My AHIs were consistently 1.0 and below.

I felt great. I was in CPAP heaven.

Then I trimmed my mustache.

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My mask began leaking again. No problem, I thought, I'll just tighten the straps a bit, on the fly, while the mask was filled with air.

BIG mistake. Made the problem much worse: My nose hurt again and my leaks skyrocketed. The more I fiddled, the worse it got.

I hit bottom last night. My baseline for the night was around 27 lpm, with 10 to 20 minute peaks shooting into the 50s.

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The problem seems to be that, over the night, my mask creeps upward, until it's pressed against the bottom of my nose and blowing air into my eyes.

I am now in the process of adjusting the straps a tiny bit at a time, each new strap position precisely marked by a pen.

So a word to fellow newbies; don't touch that strap until you've either marked it with a pen or measured it with a ruler, and written down the results to within a 1/4 inch.

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And how some folks here achieve nearly 0 lpm leaks . . . right now it feels to me an like impossible dream, like they're walking on water.

Maybe I'll try nasal pillows . . .

Relax a bit on the leaks. Your PAP can compensate quite nicely for leaks under 40 L/M. And all masks have a built-in allowed vent rate which varies according to the mask model.

We have all been there. All you have to do is put the headgear on a little different and it changes everything. If you dont go to sleep quickly you start to fiddle....big mistake.

Slinky wrote:Relax a bit on the leaks. Your PAP can compensate quite nicely for leaks under 40 L/M. And all masks have a built-in allowed vent rate which varies according to the mask model.

This conflicts with everything I've read on this board concerning ResMeds S9, and how to interpret the leak data in ResScan.

1) From what I've read here, ResScan automatically compensates for the masks vent rate when showing leak data.

2) And I seen posts quoting ResMeds own engineers saying that leaks above 30 L/pm negate ResScans data and compromise your therapy.

I'd be delighted to be wrong on this, other posters please correct me if I am.

Mike6977 wrote: This conflicts with everything I've read on this board concerning ResMeds S9, and how to interpret the leak data in ResScan.

1) From what I've read here, ResScan automatically compensates for the masks vent rate when showing leak data.

2) And I seen posts quoting ResMeds own engineers saying that leaks above 30 L/pm negate ResScans data and compromise your therapy.

I'd be delighted to be wrong on this, other posters please correct me if I am.

ResMed's line in the sand is that 24 L/min leak red line in the software reports. 40 L/min is way too much with ResMed S9 machine. It would be quite acceptable with just about any other brand of machine though as most report total leak and not just unintentional leak.

I don't know where Slinky came up with 40 L/min being okay unless she thought you were using a different machine.
You are using a S9 Autoset machine. Now if you were using an S8 machine the leak line in the sand is .40 L/Sec. Seconds, that is what S8 machines report. To convert to minutes must multiply by 60...
.40 X 60 = 24 L/min

While I wouldn't worry if the leak wasn't at 0.0 all the time I would make sure I understood how ResMed reports leaks and what the median, 95% and maximum numbers mean. I would prefer to look at the leak line itself. If I spent a lot of time near or over that red line I would worry. If just occasional small short lived bump over that line, I wouldn't worry so much about it either. It is the long lived time spent near or over 24 L/Min that I would worry about.

Mike6977 wrote: Maybe I'll try nasal pillows . . .

I think that nasal pillows are by far the easiest to seal bc there is less sealing surface. A dab of Lansinoh and its off to sleep. ni ni

Loosening my top straps around 1/4 inch did the trick.

MED: 9.6
95%: 19.6
Max 26.7

Not the best numbers, but much better than last week.

Mike6977 wrote:Loosening my top straps around 1/4 inch did the trick.

MED: 9.6
95%: 19.6
Max 26.7

Not the best numbers, but much better than last week.

Mike6977, Glad you started to get it back under control. Leaks can become depressing

Good work.

DSM

What do I know, leaks per M, leaks per s ???? Sorry 'bout that. Can I blame it on fat fingers??

Mike, if your mask isn't working well, take an hour to fiddle with it before you get sleepy. The problem with doing it at bedtime is that you're both sleepy and inexperienced. Or at least that was a major problem for me. Mask fitting is a complicated and fiddly art, and my sleepy brain had a lot of trouble figuring it out. By the time I got the mask to seal, I was usually wide awake. The good news is that eventually you'll be able to make adjustments half-awake without really thinking about it. I'm not quite there yet myself, but it is getting a lot easier.

Also try putting moleskin on the bridge of your nose. That's really helped keep my QFX from creeping up. Should work even better with a smaller, lighter mask. It helps keep the air from jetting into your eyes too.

Hurry up!!! Grow you mustache back!!!