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Great advice as always! I'll get the smaller cozy for the short hose, That is what probably was happening last night and why my machine moved around, I was pulling on the cozy which I cinched up super tight on the short hose and must have been yanking it which moved the machine out of position.

This nose pillow is pretty new - my supply company shipped me 6 months worth and I just replaced it a couple weeks ago. Funny you mention the mesh exhaust vents. I'm not at home right now but I recall them not being much of a vent. Almost like they have the texture of a vent but I can't get air in or out of it? I don't know.. I'll check it when I get home. Should I be able to blow air through them?

I'll also check to see if the inner cones have gone inside out. That happened to me once and I just couldn't figure out what was wrong other than something was clearly wrong and I probably slept all night with one inner cone inside out.

Hey everyone, been a little bit since I last posted.

I switched back to my top of the head nose pillow mask (the p30i) and I think this time it's helping with my "waking up with lower back pain" issue that I've had for a month.

Unfortunately, I'm now waking up with kind of a dusty/chalky feeling in my throat and mouth. My left nostril also seems to close and plug up about halfway through the night, and for the the past 5 months my nostrils have been very "open" during CPAP. Along with a very very minor sore throat, like so minor you wouldn't be able to tell unless you're used to not having a sore throat (I haven't caught as much as a minor cold since 2019). These have only started happening since switching to the P30i.

I'm not sick, no cold / flu / COVID / RSV, I have no allergies, nothing in the house has changed. These new sensations started the day I woke up after using the P30i and have been happening every day now for the week I've been on the new mask.

Any ideas what this could be? I have my heat level set to 80, humidity set to 3, EPR on a 3, Ramp off with Min pressure to a 7 and Max Pressure at a 20 (but SleepHQ shows me never going above a 16). My AHI is doing great, under 4 every night, no mask pressure problems, and I'm sleeping mostly okay except waking up about 3 hours early with that closed nostril feeling and chalky mouth / throat.

It sounds to me like your nose and throat want more humidity. Not sure why they might all of a sudden want more, but the symptoms you describe sure sound like a humidity problem.

If I were you, I'd bump the humidifier setting up to 4 for a few nights, and see if the sensation is better, worse, or about the same. And address what to do based on how a small increase in humidifier setting leaves your nostril and throat feeling.

Been trying out the N20 nasal mask which I actually like! I never had any issues with with the nose pillows but I wouldn't say I loved them, I more tolerated them. My medical supply company sent me the wrong supplies this month around and it included the N20 nasal mask so I figured I'd give it a try.

Having only been on the nose pillows for the past 6 months, so far I admit I do kind of like it. Trying to get a baseline, first night I put my Resmed 11 on "Auto" climate control and ugh, woke up about 5 hours later with the mask practically half full of water. Never had anywhere close to this bad of a water problem with the nose pillows but this was awful! My room was not particularly cold so I don't know why there was so much condensation, and I have those soft cloth wrappers around all the hoses.

Last night I set the humidity low - like at a 2 - and set the temperature at 80 degrees which worked much better. Last night's stats looked good, less than 3 events, "good" mask seal, however the app did say I somehow had 4 masks on/off which quite literally is impossible because of how the mask is secured to my face. Dunno what's up with that stat.

Unfortunately the skin spot between my nostrils is kind of red and inflamed this morning, and for the first time in probably 15 years I have a pimple on my nose! That seems way too coincidental that I switched to a nasal mask and immediately had a skin issue.

Anyone else like or use the N20?

decker12 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 19, 2022 12:29 pm

Been trying out the N20 nasal mask which I actually like! I never had any issues with with the nose pillows but I wouldn't say I loved them, I more tolerated them. My medical supply company sent me the wrong supplies this month around and it included the N20 nasal mask so I figured I'd give it a try.

Having only been on the nose pillows for the past 6 months, so far I admit I do kind of like it. Trying to get a baseline, first night I put my Resmed 11 on "Auto" climate control and ugh, woke up about 5 hours later with the mask practically half full of water. Never had anywhere close to this bad of a water problem with the nose pillows but this was awful! My room was not particularly cold so I don't know why there was so much condensation, and I have those soft cloth wrappers around all the hoses.

Last night I set the humidity low - like at a 2 - and set the temperature at 80 degrees which worked much better. Last night's stats looked good, less than 3 events, "good" mask seal, however the app did say I somehow had 4 masks on/off which quite literally is impossible because of how the mask is secured to my face. Dunno what's up with that stat.

Unfortunately the skin spot between my nostrils is kind of red and inflamed this morning, and for the first time in probably 15 years I have a pimple on my nose! That seems way too coincidental that I switched to a nasal mask and immediately had a skin issue.

Anyone else like or use the N20?

I never tried the N20 but I do use the N30. Besides both of them being nasal masks they both have the soft silicone cushions. I like the softness of them. I can tolerate the "pillows" like the P10 but just don't find them quite as comfy.

IIRC you were having quite a time. I can't recall if you were getting a lot of leaks or if it was back pain or something like that? (sorry I didn't scroll to the top). How is that working out for you with the new mask? (your original issue)

I use lanolin to help create a tacky seal but you might want to spot test that to be sure it doesn't irritate. However, Ayrs saline nasal gel with aloe gives a similarly tacky feel and might help the sore pimple area. Or, you might have to swap to another mask for a few nights until it calms down.

Good luck.

Yeah, it's been a struggle of sorts to figure out the right combination of masks, hose position, sleeping position, etc. It's actually a pretty big hassle. I know my wife is tired of hearing me talk about it. I have a friend of mine who recently told me she's been on CPAP for years and I'm like uhhhhh how do you just nonchalantly say it's been years? Didn't you struggle with it like I am? How long did it take you find the right working combination of masks, humidity, heat, etc? Especially when I know they aren't on a forum like this getting assistance from like-minded people!

Summary for me is:

• I still can't take a nap without the CPAP machine, regardless of sitting up like on an airplane, laying on the couch, or laying on the bed. The very back of my throat just feels like it's closing up as soon as I get into that sleep-mode-breathing.
  
  I cannot take a nap with the nose pillows. I've tried maybe 10+ times over the past 6 months and simply cannot fall asleep with them unless it's actual bedtime. I was up late Friday night and up early in the morning, getting only about 4 total hours of sleep so by 2PM I was dragging. I finally was able to take a nap on Saturday with the nasal mask and it was wonderful to actually get an hour's nap in for the first time in 6 months.
  
  With nose pillows, not being able to nap is not a "these are uncomfortable" type of thing because I can fall asleep with the nose pillows when it's bed time. I don't know what it is about why I can't nap with them.
  
  With nose pillows - regardless of the style of headgear - I wake up 2 hours early with a sore lower back, and feel kind of gassy and miserable for at least an hour after I wake up.
  
  When I wake up at this point I cannot go back to sleep because I am too uncomfortable with the back pain and have to get up and move around for it to subside. And now I'm awake with 2 hours less sleep in me.
  
  I've gone days in a row before changing any settings on the CPAP so I am not chasing the changes by only giving it a single night's try with them.
  
  It is not pillow related, it is not bed related as I've now had the same experience in 4 different beds with 4 different pillows.
  
  I'm constantly trying to dial in the heat and humidity settings. "Auto" is by far the worse no matter what mask I use. Auto always just ends up dumping condensation everywhere. I am finding I have to use different settings for each mask as well, so now I'm keeping a damn notebook by my bed.
  
  I've tried cushions and pads on the hoses, a device to elevate the hose over my head, cushions on the face straps, putting the device in different places in the bedroom, etc.
  
  According to all the SleepHQ videos and posts on this forum, I've got my pressure settings well within the ranges that should work. So it's not like it's non stop blasting 20 cm H2O for 8 hours a night.
  
  The pimple on my nose is a result of having the humidity way too high for the one night I wore the nasal mask, as I said I haven't had a pimple on my nose in 15 years except I get one the day after I'm practically swimming in my nasal mask. Which means if the nasal mask ends up working for me better than the nose pillows, I may have acne issues to worry about now. The marks under my nose are also from the mask and that is just plain uncomfortbale.

Again I just cannot figure out how other people just plug their device in and have adjusted to it without constantly screwing around with it. My friend, my brother, my sister, my coworker, all of them are just like, you just hook it up and fall asleep, none of them have been on this forum or had regular setting adjustments from their sleep doctor. My sister I don't even think has replaced any of her gear in years!

All of them also are very nonchalant in their usage of their machines! My brother tells me "yeah I use it most nights" and my sister tells me "Yeah I don't sleep good without it". Both of those statements are now impossible for me to understand! I simply CANNOT sleep AT ALL without it anymore, and even when I do sleep with it, I definitely not waking up feeling amazing.

Anyway it is just discouraging. Every night I start to "dread" going to sleep because I know it's just going to be another process, another series of variables in a mental exercise to see if "tonight is better". I was really looking forward to getting better sleep on CPAP but instead it's really just the same sleep. After 6 months I'm just not in any groove yet, every night seems to be a different experience and I don't feel like I sleep through the night peacefully, it feels like I'm "surviving another night with CPAP".

Timewise I have been at this between five and six months so I am around the same timing as you. I started messing with the settings to try to optimize and realize I might just have to settle for getting what I get, most days. Like you I try to optimize and have left it in place for long stretches when I make changes.

But I think many of my struggles come from something other than papping. Some of it is stress. Some of it is pain, like you. Some is just general discomfort. I feel your frustration. I had a period now and again where I might have a week with AHI under 1. Then i broke a tooth and the TMJ pain of getting a root canal, a crown the next week, and a regular cleaning two weeks after that and it just feels like I can't catch a break with the inconsistancy.

HOPEFULLY you will get a bit of callus built up under the nose with this different mask style. I probably had a pimple there once under the nose at some point (not the middle but the edge) and went with a different style of mask. I feel lucky that I have access to multiple masks and am grateful.

That said, hopefully you have a short lived blemish and can start back up and hopefully the mask will work for you, maybe improving some or all of the other issues you were having.

Heres to hoping and good luck!

FWIW most here don't use the ramp unless their min. is very high and they're sensitive to the initial air blasting.

Until I found the p10, I switched back and forth between two masks that both hurt-
-but in different places.
It's not always easy; but I endorse working on it.