Wish me luck tonight! ;-)

OK community - after three months of fairly decent AHI numbers, but continued struggles with minor leaks and having to wear my full face mask uncomfortably tight, I've finally listened to all your good advice and gotten a new mask to try - so tonight I sleep with the Mirage Softgel!

I have to admit, it feels fantastic on first try (no sleep yet, just playing around with it) - the contact area to my face is SO much smaller then my full face mask there just seems a hugely smaller chance of those bothersome into-the-eyes leaks (fingers crossed there) - and the cushion part is so much thicker and nicer on the Mirage Softgel - and it seems I can have next to zero tension on the head gear (I'm really excited about that one!).

But the big thing for me (and this is where I need you to wish me luck!) is that I'm hoping I've trained myself up well these last three months to keep my dang mouth shut when I sleep tonight

Anyone else make the move from full face to just nasal care to share their experience? Should I count on needing a chin strap - or even the tape I see folks using to keep their mouth shut - I'm not sure how much my mustache and short beard will appreciate that?

I'll post my progress!

Good luck. I have to use chin strap and tape to keep my mouth shut. Hopefully you can do it

Yep, good luck, Roger.

Like josh816, I have to use a chin strap and tape to keep from mouth breathing, in order to use a non-FF mask. Perhaps you'll be more fortunate! Hope so.

It's too bad the Philips Respironics machines can't show the data from just the previous night in the machine window. They show only weekly/monthly averages; no "daily" data (like ResMed provides along with weekly/monthly) in the little window to see just "what happened last night?" Would be a lot more helpful if the machine would let you look at the leak rate for just the one night when you switch from a FF mask to a nasal mask. For one-night-at-a-time information, you'll need the software to do a download. Perhaps you have the software.

Do please let us know how it goes. (And good luck, again!!)

Well, I'm happy to report that I think I did pretty well for my first night with a new mask! I wound up putting my padacheek liner from my full face mask on the new one - mostly because I'm so used to that feel these days - it wasn't a perfect fit, but it did the job. Then after a bit of trying, I felt like my mouth might pop open as I was drifting off, so I converted my padacheek extra mask strap to be a chin strap - just put the hole that normally goes over the hose attachment at my chin instead - it wasn't perfect, but seemed better then nothing. This new mask is most definitely more comfortable then my full face mask - and just about zero leaks - that's huge for me!

This screen shot is likely too small for people to read, but I wanted to show a previous day of my data for comparison (I didn't use last night because I only slept a few hours - unrelated cause - and the pauses in data from last night were not due to mask issues) - things do not look very different to me at all - which I think is good - I am not yet very skilled at reading my own data though My AHI stayed under 2 (my average has always been under 2 since starting cpap). I didn't get a leaks graph last night - I think that is a bug (has been reported) in the sleepyhead software - but the number shown on the left seems to be at least in the same general range.

So, today I'll try to get a better chin strap - if my DME doesn't have one I can pick up today, looks like Amazon can have on to me by Monday. I'll keep updating my progress, but as of this morning, I'm pretty encouraged that I'll be making the move to this nasal mask and away from my full face one

Chin strap and tape here too. Taping might b a little difficult with a mustache.

Roger

I had similar results w/Mirage FX. I didn't have any problem keeping my mouth closed but I did the same thing that you did w/my Padacheek leak strap as a substitute chin strap.

See my thread from 2 days ago here: viewtopic/t67631/amazing-results-with-M ... -mask.html

It's so encouraging to see that extremely low AHI and barely any leak!

Wishing you continued good luck!


RandyJ

Thanks kempo and RandyJ - I'm wondering what chin strap to get (RandyJ, did you continue to use your padacheek leak strap, or did you get a more traditional one)? As with all cpap gear, there seem to be many choices - which is great - I'm glad there is a variety to choose from - it's just hard to know which one to try first

Very good results, Roger!! That was good to see!

Roger...you could also try a mouthguard....cheap ones (boil and bite types) can be had from Wal-Mart (less than $2). It works two-fold. It makes it difficult to mouth breathe...and it protects you from teeth grinding. I love my PapCap chin strap...but in the summer, the cap is hot on my head.

At any rate, experiment with what works for you ...and good luck.

I know this sounds odd, but this worked for me, better than a chin strap and better than tape:

pantyhose tied around my head. Yep! I cinch it tight under my chin and it's not as cumbersome as a chin strap felt to me, and I don't get chipmunk cheeks like I did with tape. I wake up with my tongue practically glued to the roof of my mouth, and my mouth isn't dry (which is how I'm fairly certain my mouth isn't swinging open, but I'll never know until I get out of the dark ages in terms of a machine.)

Just for anyone following this who might be making a similar move (from full face to nasal) - I've been experimenting each night with slightly different set ups - and here's the two main things I've learned so far:

1. I somehow trained myself to not mouth breath with those three months on the full face mask - because what I have found works the best for me while on the nasal mask is absolutely nothing at all! That is, no chin strap and no mouth gear and no tape needed (at least not so far) - the nights I sleep with just my new nasal mask and nothing else is when I've had the best luck at no mouth breathing at all. I'll update if this lasts

2. This nasal mask (Mirage SoftGel) CAN have leaks unless I use my padacheek liner. I thought at first that maybe it wouldn't (the gel part is so soft and the seal seems so good), but for me it does - and they are the annoying ones right by the eyes. But that's not been a problem for me as the padacheek liner I had from my full face Quattro fits fairly well on this nasal mask, and I've ordered a better fitting one from Karen on the padacheek site (BIG thanks go out to Karen - what would we all do without her fabulous products?!?!

I get to keep "borrowing" this nasal mask for another week and a half (lucky for me my DME was taking a weeks vacation right after my going in to ask about trying a new mask) - but so far I feel like I'll be switching to this one permanently.

rogerconnelly wrote:Just for anyone following this who might be making a similar move (from full face to nasal) - I've been experimenting each night with slightly different set ups - and here's the two main things I've learned so far:

1. I somehow trained myself to not mouth breath with those three months on the full face mask - because what I have found works the best for me while on the nasal mask is absolutely nothing at all! That is, no chin strap and no mouth gear and no tape needed (at least not so far) - the nights I sleep with just my new nasal mask and nothing else is when I've had the best luck at no mouth breathing at all. I'll update if this lasts

2. This nasal mask (Mirage SoftGel) CAN have leaks unless I use my padacheek liner. I thought at first that maybe it wouldn't (the gel part is so soft and the seal seems so good), but for me it does - and they are the annoying ones right by the eyes. But that's not been a problem for me as the padacheek liner I had from my full face Quattro fits fairly well on this nasal mask, and I've ordered a better fitting one from Karen on the padacheek site (BIG thanks go out to Karen - what would we all do without her fabulous products?!?!

I get to keep "borrowing" this nasal mask for another week and a half (lucky for me my DME was taking a weeks vacation right after my going in to ask about trying a new mask) - but so far I feel like I'll be switching to this one permanently.

Update? I'm trying a softgel tonight.