Another frustrated newbie

I tried a different nasal pillow with the Airfit F30i last night, and got 85% large leakage. The rest of the data is irrelevant.

It sounds like you're willing to try nasal pillow masks, even though you breathe through your mouth sometimes during the day. Right picture?

If so, you might want to consider the bleep mask, which just doesn't leak when it's properly used. There are "ports" that stick via adhesive to your nose, then a "dreamway" interface that attaches to the ports. Google "bleep dreamport" and you'll see more information.

People report that it works fine for men with facial hair. (In fact, the president of the company has a short mustache and beard.)

If you investigate this option, I recommend that you get the updated version, which has a little black thing (looks like a bikini bottom) that holds two pieces of diffusion material over the vents. It also has a longer and more flexible short hose than the original version.

The mask I referred to covers the mouth also.

Ah! Got it.

Okay, here we go into the search for a mask. Having exhausted (pun intended) the few options my DME provider offers, I'm going to go to an on-line supplier and order various masks until I either succeed or give up. My DME is sending me my prescription, so I can shop around. I'm not sure where to start; I only know what doesn't work. In 11 nights, I have yet to get a good seal, valid data, or a good night's sleep. In fact, I now have all of the symptoms of sleep apnea that I didn't have before starting on CPAP. Y'all have my sympathies....

MushCreek wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 04, 2021 10:22 am

I'm not sure where to start; I only know what doesn't work.

you can go to our forum sponsor's website and have a look around-

https://www.cpap.com/plp/cpap-masks/ZT0xMDA

good luck!

+1 zonker. They have a good return policy to help reduce the cost of the mask quest.

94% Large Leakage last night. I did sleep a bit better, though.

I took the night off, and slept great for the first time in two weeks. I'm going to try a nasal pillow next. I've got 30 days to try different masks for free.

If you want to try a nasal pillow mask, a minimalist one is the ResMed P10. Get the fit pack so you can try different sizes of pillows. Also, keep the bleep option in mind (earlier post).

I tried the P30 last night. I wanted the P10, but my supplier didn't have one. It seemed to work well, but showed 31% large leakage? My AHI was 16. I was wide awake from 2 AM to 4 AM, when I turned it off, and OSCAR showed apnea during that period. The only time my O2 dropped below 90% was also when I was wide awake. I'm starting to really doubt the accuracy of the machine readings.

My supplier didn't want to give me another mask because they said insurance only pays for one re-fit. I argued that they have yet to properly fit me once. I'm going to find out where and how to formally complain about this supplier; they are awful. From now on, I'll be paying out-of-pocket to try new masks, unless I just give it up.

Awake breathing is much less regular than asleep breathing. If you pay attention during the day, you'll see that you pause between breaths or hold your breath quite frequently. What kind of events did you have while you were awake?

I'm sorry your supplier is so awful and hope you prevail. But even if you have to self-fund, do keep trying to find the most comfortable mask possible. It makes such a difference.

After a night off, I tried again. I went back to the original mask I started with, and paid close attention to the problem. I started out with it completely loose, and snugged it up just enough to seal, which it did for a few breaths. Then, it started leaking. More adjustments. Seal, then leak. More adjustments. Seal, then leak. The slightest twitch of my face breaks the seal. In total, I spent three hours adjusting before I turned it off. Wouldn't it be nice of you could go to a medical specialist who could look at the mask to see what's going on, help you adjust it, and actually try to make the therapy work? My supplier is in the business of separating my insurance company from their money. They obviously don't care at all about my possible success.