Bad and good.- getting sinues infection/ mucus a LOT

Just wanted to update.

Yesterday I tried again. humidity up to 7 out of 8. tube temp at 84F. And I changed my mask to a full face mask.

This morning throat and nose feel completely ok. AHI was 1.4 . The mask fit shows a red alarm so will try a different size and will hopefully solve that. but overall much better than the nasal masks and the hybrid full face mask.

bananas85 wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 04, 2022 8:48 am

Just wanted to update.

Yesterday I tried again. humidity up to 7 out of 8. tube temp at 84F. And I changed my mask to a full face mask.

This morning throat and nose feel completely ok. AHI was 1.4 . The mask fit shows a red alarm so will try a different size and will hopefully solve that. but overall much better than the nasal masks and the hybrid full face mask.

But how do you feel?

I am not saying mask leaks shouldn't be addressed but my current mask sometimes leaks a good bit more than others and so long as I feel great I am ok with a mask leak. (I don't ignore the numbers if they are high but so far when I feel good I have equally good number of AHI.)

@ bananas-

If 7 works for you, that's great. If you experience rainout, which is condensation inside the air hose, may I suggest two strategies: 1) keep machine lower than your head, so that condensation will drain down into the water tub, (2) or use a hose hanger on headboard or hanging from the wall so that a portion of the hose is higher than your head, which causes the humidity to drain. You may not experience rainout, or maybe only during the winter, but something to think about.

Regarding the mask, masks are the toughest part of CPAP for many users. Often, the straps are too tight, which can distort the silicone and cause the mask not to seal against your face. Check the straps to ensure they are as loose as possible without leaking. When you first mask up at night, and after ask inflates, pull it out for a sec and reseat it. Something to think about.

Last few days have been unsuccesful. I have been going to bed when I am not tired yet but it is late so its time for bed. Then I just lay there waiting for sleep to come. ( I am also dieting - bodybuilding style, low calories) so sometimes sleep is harder to come when calories are restricted.

The mask is not being conducive to fall asleep, and after about 1 hours of just laying there I take it out. and then finally fall asleep. It sucks cause I know when I use the mask it really helps my sleepiness the next day.

The other thing about this full face mask is it does a wierd "poof" in the pause between inhale and exhale. Also the small air flows touch skin and cause itchy feeling. Maybe I should start taking the EPR down from 3 to 2 cause that initial unable to exhale feeling is not present anymore now that I am used to the APAP.

All minor stuff, and I sound like a complainer, but I really want to get it to work as I do feel good when not sleepy the next day

This is an interesting thread. I have really bad sinus and allergy issues plus live in the Southeast US with four full seasons of allergens. Recently my sleep has been really bad with my nose clogging up in the middle of the night, which would wake me up and force me to replace my nasal pillows with a full face mask. I turned up the humidity a bit as was recommended and slept through the past two nights just fine.

Still so much to learn about CPAP. Glad I peruse the forum regularly to learn little tidbits like this!

Jlfinkels wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 07, 2022 3:41 pm

This is an interesting thread. I have really bad sinus and allergy issues plus live in the Southeast US with four full seasons of allergens. Recently my sleep has been really bad with my nose clogging up in the middle of the night, which would wake me up and force me to replace my nasal pillows with a full face mask. I turned up the humidity a bit as was recommended and slept through the past two nights just fine.

Still so much to learn about CPAP. Glad I peruse the forum regularly to learn little tidbits like this!

what is your humidity level you are using. I wonder if we go back to nasal pillow with the higher humidity if things will be better. For comfort related to mask nasal pillows are better. If the sinus congestion can be ameliorated by using high humidity all things being equal i rather be using the nasal pillow

bananas85 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 07, 2022 4:08 pm

what is your humidity level you are using. I wonder if we go back to nasal pillow with the higher humidity if things will be better. For comfort related to mask nasal pillows are better. If the sinus congestion can be ameliorated by using high humidity all things being equal i rather be using the nasal pillow

I use a heated tube with humidity set to 5 and tube temp is 81. I keep the same settings when I switch to a full face mask.

My nasal pillows are Resmed P10 and FFM is the F20. It took me quite a while to find the best fit for both but now can sleep fine with either. It is a continual learning experience to find what works best for me.

Note that I do use a neti pot a few times a week. That helps a lot.

Hang in there!