CPAPtalk.com

Hi everyone! Thank you for being part of this group, it's a relieve for new users like me to find a place for support and answers.

I was diagnosed with apnea early this month. I got an AirSense™ 10 AutoSet For Her CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier and with it I am using the Fisher & Paykel Pilairo™ Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask. I have been sleeping with this for 15 days now and I am already starting to experience better mornings, feeling a lot more rested than before my diagnosis. I really like how comfortable and light the mask is, even though I've never used any other mask or machine, so I have no point of comparison. Overall, considering how much adjustment I read people have to go through, I think this has been an extremely easy and painless transition for me, so no complaints here. I am dealing with two minor issues though:

1. My nose hurts! Part of my inner nasal cavity is raw. I started using Aquaphor, and it helps a little. I am wondering: is this normal part of the adjustment process? will my nose get used to the mask seal being there every night and eventually get better? OR, is this an indication that I should be looking for a different mask?

2. I wake up with dry mouth. The machine has a humidifier, and I am using it every night with distilled water, as indicated in the instructions. Is there anything else I can do to address the dry mouth effect?

Thank you all in advance for any input you can provide on these two questions. Wishing you all restful sleep!

Dry mouth...first thing we think of is mouth breathing. Use the available software https://sleep.tnet.com/equipment to see if you are mouth breathing enough to impact therapy. You may or may not be mouth breathing enough to impact therapy but you want to know for sure.
For some people the mouth simply dries out so easily that it doesn't take much mouth breathing to dry it out (I am one of those) but you want to make sure that the mouth breathing isn't of the magnitude to seriously impact your therapy quality.
Mouth breathing will show up as leak on the software reports.

You are using a nasal mask and the humidified air is going up the nose...it's not really able to help the mouth when it goes up the nose.
You might need a full face mask (depends on just how much mouth breathing you are doing) but even using a full face mask so the humidified air goes more into the mask doesn't always fix dry mouth.

Review any medications you might be taking...some meds make dry mouth worse.

About the raw nose. No mask should cause anything more than minor tenderness. Anything more than very minor tenderness means something isn't working well..abrasions, raw skin, significant pain...all point to a problem with the mask fit, sizing or maybe it's simply not a good fit for your facial structure.
The most common mistake people make with nasal interface masks like the Pilairo is they make the fit too tight. Review any mask fitting information or videos to see if you might be cranking it down too much.
The Pilairo is a one size fits all...so there are no sizing choices available but I have used the Pilairo and even though the cushion material is quite thin...if it is too big it could be rubbing around on the nostrils even with proper tension (not being too tight). For this reason you might consider a different mask sooner than later. One that perhaps offers more sizing choices.

I am female..nose not horribly big. I did try the Pilairo and I can see where it might tend to move around a bit and moving will cause abrasions to the skin.
So review fitting and if you don't think you might be having it too tight...consider swapping it for something else (check with your DME about mask swapping time limitations because you don't want to use up all your available mask swapping time with a mask that might not work..you can always revisit this mask later if you wish).

is the nose irritation from the mask rubbing or for dryness inside the nose ... if you are opening your mouth more air flows through the nose and can dry it out.

I have the same problem ... opening my and letting the air escape. I use a cheep boil and bite mouth guard and a cervical collar to keep my mouth closed .

there is also a product called "Orajel" : https://www.amazon.com/Limited-time-off ... h+products

Marvin