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there's someone on the forum here that recommends using a sweatband over the lips. it's enough to keep them closed against some pressure without the inconvenience of taping/hair pulling/getting it to stick, etc.

Hmm, well, good and bad. Good: the tape worked. The bad: for whatever annoying reason, I can't tolerate it anymore. :/ I kept waking up with a near-panic feeling and after a couple hours, had to remove it. (The first break in the data shows when.) From there of course it got pretty ugly due to mouth problems. I've got to find a way to fix leak issues. What I don't get is, when I was on treatment before, I taped for way over a year (maybe even two full years) and it just wasn't a problem. Even the first night I tried it. Taped, went to sleep, woke up the next morning, with no wake-ups in between. Now...this. Gah.

Data:

JCraig - I have the same machine and mask you have, and just went through a similar experience. I was showing decent AHI, but had major leak issues. Tried several chinstraps, a new mask, and still couldn't solve the leak issue. In my case, it turned out to be the humidifier! It has to "click" into place to be seated correctly. Mine wasn't clicked in properly and it threw my numbers off and ruined my sleep for 2 weeks before I solved the problem. It seemed random because sometimes I seated it correctly after filling it with water, and sometimes I didn't...so I'd get good nights and bad nights. Don't know if you're having the same issue, but I thought I'd mentioned it just in case. Hope it helps.

If I apply any more pressure to the humidifier, it will break. It's not going in any further.

Also, I saw your thread - you were also hearing loud noises, too, right? Mine's dead silent.

I wish it were that easy.

Yeah, my machine was louder when the water tank wasn't in right. I wish it was that easy for you...good luck.

palerider wrote:there's someone on the forum here that recommends using a sweatband over the lips. it's enough to keep them closed against some pressure without the inconvenience of taping/hair pulling/getting it to stick, etc.

I'll be totally honest - when I read this reply I thought the idea sounded a bit silly. A headband!?!? Yeah, anyway.

BUT. What's the harm, I thought? I need to do SOMETHING. I had an old headband of my wife's, in my drawer of CPAP related crap. I'd tried it before when I was on treatment - as a chin strap, then; that was a disaster.

Yeah, it works. AHI 1.0 (and it was 0.6 for part of the night!), and my mouth was moist when I woke up, which tells me not much mouth opening. Will see for sure when I check the data later when I'm home, but I think it will look real good.

Easy fixes are a wonderful thing.

JCraig wrote:

palerider wrote:there's someone on the forum here that recommends using a sweatband over the lips. it's enough to keep them closed against some pressure without the inconvenience of taping/hair pulling/getting it to stick, etc.

I'll be totally honest - when I read this reply I thought the idea sounded a bit silly. A headband!?!? Yeah, anyway.

BUT. What's the harm, I thought? I need to do SOMETHING. I had an old headband of my wife's, in my drawer of CPAP related crap. I'd tried it before when I was on treatment - as a chin strap, then; that was a disaster.

Yeah, it works. AHI 1.0 (and it was 0.6 for part of the night!), and my mouth was moist when I woke up, which tells me not much mouth opening. Will see for sure when I check the data later when I'm home, but I think it will look real good.

Easy fixes are a wonderful thing.

yeah, at first it does seem silly, but something gently pressing against your lips helps keep 'em closed, it does make sense, when you think about it. I'm glad it works for you!!

And confirmed via data - can't imagine a much better night, really:

that's looking pretty good, all right.

if you check your snore and flow limit graphs, (you can shrink the size of the graphs you've got on screen now to fit more (and, also hit the ^ by the date, or use f12 for screenshots)) you'll probably see some snores or FL's that are driving the pressure up.