Inflating mask of mouth breather

Newbie here. Hope you have some insight into what’s happening and how I can resolve it.

Have been using the cpap for three weeks. My progress has been better since I decided to sleep on my side instead of my back. Last night I woke up on my back with a very dry mouth. This has happened before, so have decided to sleep on my side then this doesn’t happen. I have a hard time falling asleep otherwise. I am a mouth breather. If I am on my back, when I start to relax and fall asleep, my mouth starts to open, the mask starts inflating A LOT and the mask seal even starts making a loud flapping sound. All this awakens me and I have to turn on my side and start the sleep process all over again. It’s very frustrating. I don’t have any of this happen when I am on my side. I don’t think I breath through my mouth when I am on my side and why I have been making progress. I can’t help thinking that this isn’t how to resolve the inability to sleep on my back, the problem with the bulging and inflating inflating mask, etc.

I was told by my CPAP tech that I have the full mask and it can regulate the amount of air I am getting even if I start bringing air in through my mouth. That I should just trust it and go with what’s happening. But I get awakened by the volume of air coming onto the mask, it bulging out, flapping and have a very hard time getting back to sleep at all. It’s why I gave up sleeping on my back two weeks ago. Does anyone here have any suggestions? I sure would like to be able to sleep on my back and my side and would greatly appreciate your input.

Please say what exact model of which machine you have, and what mask, plus pressure settings. Without that basic info it's hard to suggest changes.

If "mask farts" are waking you, perhaps you need a mask liner.
Karen, at Padacheek.com is a cpap user, and her products are quite effective.

OOOPS! I just added all my equipment into my Profile, so it shows now at the bottom of my post. I don't have the pressure setting though. I believe it's 20.
My doctor never mentioned what it was or my cpap provider's technician who works with me. It seems as if they don't want the patient to know what it is. I will ask the next time I see them and post it back here. I just remember reading/hearing somewhere, YouTube I think, that the setting can be found on the cpap machine. Found in the "deeper" menus if I remember right.

You can get your clinician manual here.
Read it and take informed charge of your therapy.


https://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap- ... tup-manual

JPB

Sleeping on your back causes increased apnea because of the mechanics of gravity. Your airway is more likely to be obstructed on your back. That causes the pressure to increase. If you adjusted your mask for the lowest pressure when you first don your mask, then it cannot hold against the leaks.

There is a "Mask fit" setting which will raise the pressure to the maximum set for a few minutes while you adjust your mask. Try that setting. Remember not to make it super tight to stop leaks. The cushion must fully inflate to stop leaking and can't do that if it's crammed down on your face. Lying on your back and using the mask fit setting, adjust the straps just enough to stop the leaking, no more.

Try that and see if it helps.

Jimbud,
Thanks much for the information. I've bookmarked it and will check it out further.

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 19, 2019 1:47 pm

If "mask farts" are waking you, perhaps you need a mask liner.
Karen, at Padacheek.com is a cpap user, and her products are quite effective.

I also use the F20 Airtouch and an anti-leak strap solved my problems.

Please see https://www.padacheek.com/product-page/ ... leak-strap

Janknitz wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 23, 2019 4:15 pm

Sleeping on your back causes increased apnea because of the mechanics of gravity. Your airway is more likely to be obstructed on your back. That causes the pressure to increase. If you adjusted your mask for the lowest pressure when you first don your mask, then it cannot hold against the leaks.

There is a "Mask fit" setting which will raise the pressure to the maximum set for a few minutes while you adjust your mask. Try that setting. Remember not to make it super tight to stop leaks. The cushion must fully inflate to stop leaking and can't do that if it's crammed down on your face. Lying on your back and using the mask fit setting, adjust the straps just enough to stop the leaking, no more.

Try that and see if it helps.

Trying the "Mask Fit" setting sounds like a very good idea. It makes sense as I have been using the "ramp" setting when I adjust the straps and the pressure is low at first. I'll give it a try tonight. Yesterday was one month use of my silicon mask cushion. I noticed the silicon was stretched out at the bottom of the cushion when comparing it to the new one. The new one is perfectly symmetrical all around. The old cushion took all the abuse of a new cpap user I guess! I tossed it out and slept much better with the new silicon mask . . . at least I THINK that was the reason I slept better.

The amount of "options" there are to add to the cpap equipment is rather staggering. I'm just feeling my way around. I will keep the item you suggested at the PadACheek website in mind though. Trying the Mask Fit setting tonight may prove valuable. My DME tech didn't encourage me to use Mask Fit, saying that it was an old setting that RESMed kept on board. Thanks for the tips to you and to everyone else here. .

TropicalDiver wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 23, 2019 7:00 pm

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 19, 2019 1:47 pm

If "mask farts" are waking you, perhaps you need a mask liner.
Karen, at Padacheek.com is a cpap user, and her products are quite effective.

I also use the F20 Airtouch and an anti-leak strap solved my problems.

Please see https://www.padacheek.com/product-page/ ... leak-strap

Thanks Diver for the suggestion. I will keep the info. Right now I'm just going day by day, gathering information and seeing what works. Last night it was a brand new silicon cushion as the first mask was misshaped from use. I didn't realize it till I opened up the new one and compared them. It could be the source of previous nights leaks as I slept much better with the new mask cushion. I still have to deal with the dry mouth thing though. I want to sleep on my back, not just on my side. I think that will be much harder to rectify. I sure appreciate your input though. Thanks.

Janknitz wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 23, 2019 4:15 pm

Sleeping on your back causes increased apnea because of the mechanics of gravity. Your airway is more likely to be obstructed on your back. That causes the pressure to increase. If you adjusted your mask for the lowest pressure when you first don your mask, then it cannot hold against the leaks.

There is a "Mask fit" setting which will raise the pressure to the maximum set for a few minutes while you adjust your mask. Try that setting. Remember not to make it super tight to stop leaks. The cushion must fully inflate to stop leaking and can't do that if it's crammed down on your face. Lying on your back and using the mask fit setting, adjust the straps just enough to stop the leaking, no more.

Try that and see if it helps.

I agree that back sleeping definitely causes increased apnea. I can't get any sleep on my back hardly at all! I have been able to get the most real sleep these past few weeks sleeping on my side and at last am getting to feel rested again. I tried the Mask Fit setting last night with a fresh, new pillow for my mask and the pressure caused all kinds of noisy leaking. The noise was constant. I made the mistake of trying it when I was going to sleep, but will try it again during the day. I tried tightening the straps, but none of that worked and I gave up for sake of time as it was getting late. I don't know what else to do to adjust the mask except to move it up or down on my nose. I'll try tightening the straps again, but the pressure was strong. I'll have to keep fiddling with it. It was last night that I realized I need more help and decided that the PadACheek liner is worth a try. Looking at it on that website didn't inspire any idea of how it would support the headgear with all the pressure. I think I'll add a good chin strap as well. Thanks for your ideas, along with that of others here on this forum. I'll post back once I try things out.

The mask fit option will run for three minutes, then switch to treatment if you don't turn it off.