Mask Fitting

jaycee2 wrote:Thanks Pugsy. I have the clinical manual so will have to try that. Do you know if that also applies to the Resmed Autoset S9?

I guess I should have clarified my above statement...I was assuming that the Climateline heated hose was being used...and to have 2 independent settings available for humidity and air temp the heated hose must be used.
If you don't have the heated hose you won't have that option and are stuck with the single setting.
But yes...this applies to the S9 machines as well as long as the ClimateLine heated hose is used. There is a way to change it off of the default "automatic" Climateline setting so that people can use the humidity selection and air temp selection independent of each other.
Automatic with ClimateLine on the S9 is for 80% humidity and it will try to keep that humidity at all air temperatures in the hose.
The AirSense does something different with the Climateline plugged in..I don't know what the default for it happens to be.

If you don't have the heated hose....get one. Lots more customization available with it in terms of humidity and air temp.

Yes, switch it to Patient in the clinicians menu then to manual in the patient menu to get both controls.

PM me if you need clinician's manual.

jaycee2 wrote: The LPN who works with me said that patients tell her that the nasal pillows are a problem if the air pressure is set greater than 10. Mine was set to 15.

Any ideas on why this happened? And as for practicing keeping the mouth shut, once I'm asleep there is no control over that and the jaw slackens and therapy air is lost. Thus the need for the chin strap.

I am using pillows and my pressure starts at 21 and goes up to 24.9 several times during the night. I love the feel of the air blowing in my nose. I am breathing better now than I have in a long time.

I am still looking for an ideal mask but so far the pillows have worked better than a FFM for me. The FFM just blew off my face and were noisy and blew into my eyes. Right now I am using the Nuanace Pro Pillows. I took my chin strap and cut a hole in it. I then fed the tube of the pillow into the hole I cut to hold the mask into place. It seems to work good for most of the night and does not block the vent holes. For a chin strap, I went to wally world and bought a head band that has a strip that helps it stay in place. It works better than the chin strap the DME gave me. Unfortunately, when I have on the pillow, the chin strap to hold it on and the headband chin strap, I look like a ninja. LOL.

Update:

I think we have a winner (at least for me) removed the gecko pad and the airfit seals wonderfully, even with the straps relatively loose, no irritation on the nose or forehead either!

new issue, the last two "nights" (days actually since I am working nights currently) I have had some severe sinus congestion, leading to my mouth opening in my sleep to breathe easier. This creates an issue as the mask fits comfortably in the cleft between my lower lip and chin normally, however when I open my mouth (due to the congestion) while sleeping the mask is either almost (this morning) or completely in my mouth (yesterday morning) leading to EXTREME dry mouth and or a really bad leak (yesterday mornings leak rate was something like 110 lpm). Is it possible that a larger mask could correct this?

Do some "nasal hygiene" before bed. Use a netti pot or saline nasal spray to clear out your nose. During the day drink plenty of fluid to keep secretions thin. And if the congestion is caused by your CPAP, keep working on finding that "sweet spot" of humidification for you.