CPAPtalk.com

A total newbie to CPAP here, so very thankful for all the information and help available here. I started CPAP treatment in Dec '22 with a Resmed FFM offered by my sleep doc, but after trying 3 FFM's they all leaked massively (25-60% LL) and woke me up. Then I read user posts here and the Mask Primer, and switched to Dreamwear nasal pillows as of 1/25/23. Much better, and I've been able to keep it on 6+ hours every night for a week. (Maybe it's also due to Dreamwear having mask frames in large)
My question is now, how much LL is too much? Since nasal pillows the LL% has been 0-7% (OSCAR snapshot below). I know I do open my mouth at times when asleep, especially in the first 2 hours. I suspect that is leading to the LL's. I'm decently good at putting my tongue on the mouth roof, but not 100% when asleep. I bought a Respironics chin strap but I feel it's bulky and rather not use it. I've ordered some Somnifix tape but yet to put it on. In summary, would any of that be necessary at this point, or should I be complacent with current results? Thank you very much in advance!

My personal line in the sand for large leaks (no matter the reason) is I don't get all excited until I spend at least 10 to 20 % of the night ABOVE the leak line of 30 to 35 L/min on the detailed report.

If the above report was mine....I would shrug my shoulders and move on. I have had much worse reports and shrugged them off.

Actually a decent report considering so new to this therapy.

BTW I know I also mouth breathe at time. Rarely very prolonged and rarely does it send me deep into large leak territory and even more important....it doesn't wake me up.

When evaluating leaks I always look to see how deep into large leak territory I went along with how long I stayed deep in large leak territory and for me "deep" is over 40 L/min.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 02, 2023 10:29 am

My personal line in the sand for large leaks (no matter the reason) is I don't get all excited until I spend at least 10 to 20 % of the night ABOVE the leak line of 30 to 35 L/min on the detailed report.

If the above report was mine....I would shrug my shoulders and move on. I have had much worse reports and shrugged them off.

Actually a decent report considering so new to this therapy.

BTW I know I also mouth breathe at time. Rarely very prolonged and rarely does it send me deep into large leak territory and even more important....it doesn't wake me up.

When evaluating leaks I always look to see how deep into large leak territory I went along with how long I stayed deep in large leak territory and for me "deep" is over 40 L/min.

Ok, understood. That's very helpful. I will hold off on the tape for a bit and may experiment with it in the future. Thank you so much @Pugsy!