Help! Newbie trapped in a wind storm!

I have had my equipment for one week and am now a certified walking zombie. No trouble falling asleep or with claustrophobia (former SCUBA diver). The Ramp is a blessing and I only wish I could activate it when I wake up in the middle of the night so I could gently go back to sleep!

When I turn from sleeping on my back to sleep on my side, the seal breaks, awakening me with loud "face farts." I am blasted with a gale force wind—which I am unable to control because the Sleep Center won't let the patients adjust the pressure (I have no idea what the pressure is, although I've been diagnosed with "severe sleep apnea", so it must be high). After little more than three hours use I have to turn the machine off and hopefully go back to sleep! I then don't sleep well because of the apnea. Can you help me?

Equipment: ResMed S9 AutoSet with H5i humidifier; ResMed Quattro Air full-face mask, size small, silicone cushion.
I am unable to tell if the machine and/or mask are "for Her." The tech did not use a template to determine the mask size.

CorgiMom wrote:I have had my equipment for one week and am now a certified walking zombie. No trouble falling asleep or with claustrophobia (former SCUBA diver). The Ramp is a blessing and I only wish I could activate it when I wake up in the middle of the night so I could gently go back to sleep!

Turn your Resmed S9 Autoset OFF and then ON and the ramp will be reactivated. There is NOTHING wrong with turning the machine OFF and ON in the middle of the night; it won't affect the compliance data.

When I turn from sleeping on my back to sleep on my side, the seal breaks, awakening me with loud "face farts." I am blasted with a gale force wind—which I am unable to control because the Sleep Center won't let the patients adjust the pressure (I have no idea what the pressure is, although I've been diagnosed with "severe sleep apnea", so it must be high). After little more than three hours use I have to turn the machine off and hopefully go back to sleep! I then don't sleep well because of the apnea. Can you help me?

Perhaps others can help with that Resmed Quattro Air mask.

As far as the pressure goes: Until you have an idea of what you are trying to accomplish therapy-wise, it's not a particularly good idea to go messing with the pressure settings.

That said: The pressure needed to control the OSA depends on the structure of the person's throat and not the severity of the OSA. There are some people wit very severe OSA who need relatively low pressure to hold the throat open and there are people with mild OSA who need a lot of pressure.

So you need to get a copy of your sleep study so that you understand just how severe your untreated OSA is. And you need a copy of your prescription so that you know your pressure setting.

Think of it this way: If you had been diagnosed with type II diabetes, wouldn't you want to know just how bad your (untreated) blood glucose levels are so that you really understood how severe the diabetes is? Same thing with your untreated AHI and the degree of severity of your OSA. You need to know it.

Likewise, if you were diagnosed with type II diabeties, wouldn't you want to know the name and dosage of every drug prescribed to treat your condition? Same thing with OSA and your CPAP settings. You need to know them.

Others will let you know how to obtain the clinical manual for your machine, and that will allow you to see (and change) the therapeutic settings once you understand what you're doing.

CorgiMom, if you want to become more familiar with your machine -- for example, if you want to know what the pressure(s) your machine is set on -- follow the link below in my signature box to see a short video tutorial of the S9 menus. As we try to help you out with the adjustment issues it will help us to know some of that information. You may have a single fixed pressure or a range with Minimum and Maximum pressures set. Also check to see if EPR (exhale pressure relief) is set to 3, 2, 1 or Off. Note too your climate control settings.

It's not unusual for people to be sent home with an Autoset with the pressures set wide open, so that you go to sleep but are awakened later when the pressure has soared from as low as 4 to as high as 20. A mask that fits fine when you start the night on Ramp can start leaking and "farting" as the pressure climbs higher. All that can be worked on.

At this stage we're not suggesting you change anything, but it will be helpful to know where things are at to start.

http://www.apneuvereniging.nl/forum/pdf ... manual.pdf

Provider/clinical manual for the S9 in pdf format at this link above.

Also you may want to contact your provider and ask for a new mask-let them know the problems you are having. The mask come with a 30 day trial period so they should be able to refit and change it for you.
You may also want to try mask liners:
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/remzzz ... iners.html
They help create a better seal between the mask and your face.
Good luck!

Also note that to sleep easily on your side, sleep at the edge of the pillow so your mask can hang over the side.

I use the Airfit F10 and alternate with the Quattro Air. I was having a lot of leaking that kept waking me up and sometimes I would just give up and take the mask off and go back to sleep. I saw a video on fixing the leaking on FFM. They suggest using a mouth guard to keep your lower jaw from dropping back when you're relaxed. I've been using one for the past two days, Day 1 with the Quattro Air and Day 2 with the Airfit and it works. I sleep mostly on my side. No more leaks!
If you want to see the video, follow the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuljE0Qe1Lg

CorgiMom: I had many problems with the Quattro Air but leaks were the least of my enigmas.

I very much agree, however, with another poster that the best way to sleep on one's side (and thus avoid some leaks) is to cradle one's face on the edge of the pillow. A few stiff necks will result but they're usually gone by mid-morning.

Many thanks for your responses, everyone! I will follow up on all suggestions except hanging my mask off the edge of the pillow, as I have severe cervical vertebral problems.