CPAPtalk.com

As a newbie I can help you on the tec aspect of your care but I can give you a little advice on keeping with it. Just like me I am having problems getting the pressure right and did have mask issues when I first started. I did switch from a moth and nose mask called a F10 full face mask that seems I got a lot of leaks to another mask the P10 nasal mask that seems to work much better.

I even built a set up so the hose does not get in the way sleeping or turning over from side to side I suggestion is to take some time to read about our common problem of sleep apnea.

Because of my job I have to make this work so failing is not a option. I know that with time I will make it work. I have noticed and other friends have noticed that even tho I don't have my problem solved I am getting better rest that I was getting for years. My ahi was at 45 per hour now down to some nights of around 5 to last night my worst of 35.

Just make up your mind that you can and will make this work. I know I and a lot of other people has and did. This is a great bunch of people who know what they are doing, Just ask and read and you can do it also.

Wulfman... wrote:

blownaway wrote:Thanks for all the great responses. I'll start first with a very basic question: What constitutes mask leaks? ONe has to exhale and I'm not sure where that goes. Under the mask? Seems like every time I move my head, I hear a leak. I can adjust it OK so long as I don't move, but that won't last long.

I can start off nicely with no leaks and pressure holding at 4.4, but just turn my head and that's the end of that. The roaring and hissing starts and I have to manipulate mask once again. Which leads to question # 2: how tight should the mask be? I seem to do better at first with looser than tighter yet after I fall asleep that doesn't hold.

Just to make things more complicated, I'm a home dialysis patient and go to bed hooked up to a dialysis machine. Wrapped and tangled in tubing and hoses, Just getting up to go to bathroom is an ordeal.

What specific mask are you using? Nasal or full face?
If nasal......"pillows" (the kind that fits against the nares/nostrils) or the kind that covers your nose ("nasal mask")?
Brand and specific model would help.

In general, masks shouldn't be all that tight. If it's a nasal or full face, it should "float" on your face to allow the cushion to seal. Too tight and it crushes the cushion and can leak more.

Sometimes the bed pillow can make a huge difference. If the user's head sinks into the pillow too much it can push the mask out of alignment and leak excessively. Many of us use something other than standard fiberfill pillows.


Den

.

I Think its a nasal pillow: It covers the mouth only and rests up under the nose and I breathe into and from it. Brand is Respironics. I got NO literature with it. I wonder if it was used? Gad, what next? Label on strap sez "Amara View".

I sleep elevated on three pillows and move very little, averaging about 4 hours/night. That's enough for me, I'm not tired.

Played around with mask some last night and found the pulling tight causes more leaks than loose. I guess there is a happy medium in there somewhere. ResMed said my leak ratio was "good" last night. Mask is not uncomfortable and leak ratio is not extreme so not thinking about replacing. my thinking now is that I can tame this wild animal by devoting time to just observing how it performs. For example, the hurricane blasting hasn't happened the last two nights but I've no idea why. Every time I've woken up and hit the read button, the pressure was 4-6, far lower than what some of you are dealing with.

Now my main beef is dryness and stuffy nose. I'm normally a mouth breather anyway as I have a deviated septum and avoided getting that fixed 40 yrs ago. Numerous meds, just make it that much worse. Even so, I have breathed thru nose much more than usual lately. The mask sure calls attention to how one breathes.

I get everyone's point about patience and giving it time. Time being, I'll just keep it simple and not try to cram my head with all that I read.

QUESTION; Is there supposed to be a small amount of air flowing under the mask, that is, where does the exhalation go? I'd hate to think that I'm re-breathing it. With light leakage I notice that the pressure does not ramp up and that its nearly impossible to get an absolute, air-tight seal.

From your description is this the mask your using ?

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... -mask.html

My guess is you use foam pillows. In my experience those tend to push on your mask when you switch potions and that can cause air leaks. I use a buckwheat pillow that you can conform to any position and the pillow stays that way unless you move it . Here is the pillow I use. found it on amazon for cheaper and I think they have a coupon for it in this in the forums

http://www.pur-sleep.com/shop/cpapfit-pillow.html

Yes there is a small amount of air that comes from the mask. It has small air holes that blow air away from your face. Do you feel any air coming from the top sides or bottom of the mask?

Also the dryness of ypour mouth is caused from breathing from your mouth. That can be helped by using the heated humidifier. You can adjust that in the settings of your machine/ I use the auto setting for mine.

blownaway wrote:Thanks for all the great responses. I'll start first with a very basic question: What constitutes mask leaks? ONe has to exhale and I'm not sure where that goes. Under the mask? Seems like every time I move my head, I hear a leak. I can adjust it OK so long as I don't move, but that won't last long.

I can start off nicely with no leaks and pressure holding at 4.4, but just turn my head and that's the end of that. The roaring and hissing starts and I have to manipulate mask once again. Which leads to question # 2: how tight should the mask be? I seem to do better at first with looser than tighter yet after I fall asleep that doesn't hold.

Just to make things more complicated, I'm a home dialysis patient and go to bed hooked up to a dialysis machine. Wrapped and tangled in tubing and hoses, Just getting up to go to bathroom is an ordeal.

You really do need to say "which mask" cause that's very important for any of us to "draw parallel experiences". Let me give you my experiences and I was as frustrated/paranoid/claustrophobic as anyone who ever went through this. My first 2 tests were 6-7 years ago. Neither the Doc or techs would tell me much of anything other that you need to sleep "on this machine at my settings for 6 hours and then we'll consider treatment". Hogwash to say the least and since that time I suffered cause I couldn't make it 5 minutes with the rush of air.

Tried another sleep study about 3 minutes ago and same results. Finally conned the Doc to let me try on my own and he gave me the same Airsense 10 with the Airsense F10 mask. I'm a mouth breather and understand the dry mouth.

I'm about 7 weeks into this and have basically gotten over all of the fear anxiety...He started me off ramping from a 4 to 10 and has it set so I don't have to exhale against the rush of air. I sat down with the machine the first afternoon in front of the TV and worked on desensitizing myself. It worked cause no one was standing there rushing me.

When I went back last Monday, he decreased the ramp time to 30 minutes before it goes to 10. Except for the dry mouth, the itches under the mask(but I've learned how to scratch w/o taking the entire mask off and stopping everything.

Couple of tips:

1. Make sure you clean the mask daily. Should not take long, but I started having bad leaks, noise, air rushes on the second night. My tech said "clean the mask" and she was right. It's a daily thing with me now.
2. Make sure you wash your face, brush your teeth before going to bed. Sounds silly, but use a soap to cleanse your face that won't dry it out. Might also use a little non petroleum face lotion around the mouth and nose. It took about a week or so to get over the raw nostrils and dry nose, but the lotion helped.
3. Get some Biotene mouthwash. I try not to overuse it, but when my mouth gets really dry, a little swish does help.
4. I've been going to bed early and am luckily retired so I don't normally have a lot of rushes in the morning. I'm really concentrating on getting as much time on the machine to make sure I stay compliant with Medicare and if I have a bad night, I don't get too frustrated because those are not the norm.
5. Use the Resmed website, Myair.resmed.com to track your results...It really is a motivator and gives you some really good tips.

I'm guessing you're on the full face because of the mouth issues...could be wrong. Just hang in there and don't quit. I never thought I could say that I look forward to going to bed with this "torture device" and I'll bet you're calling it something similar right now. You will persevere...just be stubborn like me. You will not drown, you will not die of asphyxiation.