How much leaking is acceptable?

ResMed Mirage FX nasal mask:

Discouraged. Asked for decaf, but must have received regular. Too much caffeine too late yesterday. Wide awake last night.

Minimal leaking around the cushion. No matter how often repositioned, the difficulty remained. Perhaps, because of the coffee. The leaking was light and, otherwise I'm sure, wouldn't have kept me awake. Unhooked completely around 3 a.m. and slept without.

Any suggestions? Other than my face being 75 years old and a big saggy, there isn't an unusual feature of or around my nose that should result in this problem. On one of the ResMed videos, the guy pulled the nasal mask away almost 2 inches from his face, and replaced it. I noticed his bottom straps were loose enough to sag so it wasn't a true-to-life demonstration. Trying to eliminate leaks completely, I gradually tighten my straps to just short of uncomfortable and reposition-reposition-reposition, but doesn't that sound excessive? Is there some technique for correct placement in a try or two? What -am- I doing wrong?

Just askin'.

Thanks for asking this question. I'm wondering how high your pressure is. High pressures are a bear to seal, for me anyway. If memory of other posts serves me right, leaks are part of the deal and I wouldn't be concerned unless they are waking you up or affecting your AHI. Which of course they did last night.

I too, wonder if my mask is too tight, but it seems to be a fine line. As for techniques, I don't know of any that you're not already using. But I'm pretty new to this game. I eagerly await the other replies.

Overtightening can create new microleaks in places and doesn't really help anything. A little leaking is ok as long as you feel decent and Sleepyhead stats are otherwise OK. Are you using SH?

Julie and MrsRinPDX...
I need to learn how to use this forum, i.e. answering each of you individually.

Tonight will be better. No coffee. I'm not going to be nuts about small leaks. The people monitoring will let me know if there is concern.

Julie,

SH? If that's SleepyHead, no. I'm a slow learner and poor rememberer.

AHI...don't know what that is either. I know there is information here about terms and abbreviations.

Please know how much i appreciate both of you, time and information.

susan

Hi Susan,
The poor memory is an effect of the sleep deprivation/sleep apnea. I have it too. My sleep specialist tells me it will get better and indeed it is improving with the use of my BiPAP machine. Oxygen is a wonderful thing.

AHI is the index of your apneas and hypopneas per hour. The lower the number the better. Anything 4 and below is considered "normal" or no sleep apnea. If you had a sleep study done they should have told you your AHI so you know how bad your problem is.

Some machines come with some type of reporting software that will give you an AHI nightly so you can monitor your progress.

SH is Sleepyhead - is there any chance you have a friend/family member who's a little more computer savvy and could help you get set up if I leave the links to the program for you?