2 Months Mask Observations

The reason I quit CPAPing years ago is my dry mouth. Leather dry. In Dec '22 I decided to try CPAP'ing again. I have my reasons. LOL

I finally figured out as an acrobatic sleeper that the F30 and the Dreamwear headgear work best for me. I have them both. Now I have a few leftovers to sell.

Anyways, I got them both in the full face models figuring that would seal up my dry mouth. NEGATIVE! I would use a whole tray of water in 8 hours of usage and when I woke up
I could barely open my leather mouth and tongue. I made humidity adjustments up to rain out but nothing stopped my dry mouth, stopped up nose, swollen eyes and face, strap marks, etc.

Well, I decided to use nasal cushions with both headgears but I had to keep my mouth closed. I got a cheap chin strap and we have much better success. Don't let people tell
you poo poo on a chin strap. It completely solved my dry mouth issues. My wife still said my face and eyes are swollen upon wake up. Hmmm...

Well, well, I have now progressed and found even better success. Last week I got the pillows for the Dreamwear and the P30. Now I am trying the pillow versions of each headgear.

My pressure with the pillows has come down from 11 to 8. My leak has come down from 20 to 8 (with the p30) and 0 (with the Dreamwear Gel Pillows). I can see why many of you
like the GEL cushions from Dreamwear ($34 yikes). And I am only using about 1/2 tank of water per night. Where the nasal masks still made it a little hard to breathe, the pillow
masks are wide open. Seems more natural to breathe. Of course changing my max pressure from 13 down to 10 has gotta help the exhale when I subtract the 3 from my EPR settings.

And to top it off, I have only gotten up once the last 2 nights and only twice the previous 3 nights. What the HECK? Sleeping almost all night is awesome!!!!

Apparently, once I got the better seal and kept my mouth shut I got a much better night's sleep.

My point is for some of you that just don't think you can take CPAP'ing, please don't give up. All total I have spent probably $1000 on masks but I have finally found what works for me.
Get your machine set right.....YouTube has some great info.

It's great to hear that your mask quest had such a happy ending! Would you consider copying and pasting your post into the success stories thread (see above)? I think it could be very helpful to people who are just starting out.

You seem happy about being able to reduce the pressure...that's fine...but the objective is to reduce your AHI. What is yours???

LSAT wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 20, 2023 1:31 pm

You seem happy about being able to reduce the pressure...that's fine...but the objective is to reduce your AHI. What is yours???

.1-.4