H E L P . . . the honeymoon's over!!!!!

Hello All;

I need some advice. I've heard that some couples go through "post-marital depression" immediately after the honeymoon is over and real life begins. I think Pappy and I are going through that now.

Just so you don't think I'm confused and mistakingly signed on to the wrong forum, "Pappy" is my BiPAP. I'm approaching one week on therapy. The first two nights were pretty good, I didn't sleep throughout the night, but I kept the mask on and only woke up once each night to go to the bathroom. I didn't particularly feel great, but I stayed a wake during the sermon in church and made it through the day without my usual (substantial) nap.

It has been more difficult each night since then. I haven't been able to determine what's wrong, but I realized last night that while I seem to be handling the high pressure prescription okay, my mask is not. When I first felt the prescribed pressure at the DME (17/13) I didn't think I'd be able to handle it. But the ramping works great and I find that I'm asleep well before the Px hits. Unfortunately, the when I reach the Px pressure, the mask leaks no matter what position I'm in (back or either side). While ramping, it's fine, but inevitably when the Px is reached it starts whistling and leaking The mask is comfortable otherwise. If I keep ramping I'm not sleeping, with the leaking, I'm not sleeping and without it, sleep is killing me.

Any ideas . . . any at all . . . is it too tight?, I keep it clean everyday although I'm approaching the end of my first week so I haven't done the vinegar soak thing yet. I'm using an Ultra Mirage FF mask with a Respironics BiPAP Pro II ( I think that's it). I'm determined to stick with this therapy, but this is really frustrating. Last night by the time I woke up enough to sit up and see what was wrong, air had been blowing in my eyes, the whistling had driven me crazy and my mouth was like cotton. I dozed off before I could reset everything and ended up sleeping a couple of hours without the mask and this morning I feel like death warmed over.

Please . . . any insight you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Puhleeeeeeeze!!!!!!

divajojo: I'm sorry I don't have any solution for you except to say that I experience the same problem with my Ultra Mirage FF mask. No matter how tight, once my ResMed VPAP III reaches the hurricane force of my prescribed 18, nothing stops the leaks. In fact, what wakes me up is the mask making burping sounds (in reality, they sound like something else but, Hey! this is a family show) once I'm asleep and the tropical disturbance has become a category 5 hurricane. I'll assume you've tried nasal masks? Me too with no success - until last night. I used my ResMed Mirage Activa for the first time - barely snug straps and NO leaks - and, no burps. We'll see how my subsequent nights with this mask are. Good luck.

Hi, I am on Cpap, and even with a low pressure of 9, I had whistling as well. It was bad at first, but I called the company, Resmed, and they replaced the mask for me. No whistling now, but occasionally burps if I don't have it glued to my face tight enough. Like Jerry said, if you can tolerate it, try the Activa - the straps barely need to be tightened and with the inflation of the mask creates a great seal. I have trouble with mouth breathing, and I use a chin strap. I was also using tape on my mout - but last night I tried without tape and actually did OK. No mouth leaks. I stil use my Ultra Mirage - but only when I am congested - my nose is funny and I have to strap it down so tight, I wake up with a big indentation on it in the AM.

So, basically what I am trying to tell you:
Try the Activa - very comfortable
Get a chin strap if you have mouth leak issues
And, tape your mouth closed if you need to!

Hope this helps - it works for me.

That was me, sorry, forgot to sign in. Jen

Unfortunately High Pressure and Full Face masks are a problem. I ran into the same at 14.5 One suggestion, try fitting the mask without the ramp feature, as quite often it will not leak at the lower pressure, but will start to leak at the higher pressure. Also, if the mask came with a cd, watch the video on fitting the mask...

Thanks for the advice everyone. Mikesus, I'm going to do as you suggest and fit the mask while it's on. I have been fitting the mask before turning on the BiPAP thinking if I get a good seal then, it will remain once inflated . . apparently not.

JerryR & Jen, thanks for your feedback too. I am a mouthbreather and I did NOT handle the chin strap well at the sleep center (but that's because my bull-in-china-shop tech (no offense meant) was strapping it so tight it was unbearable. If fitting the mask while the machine is on doesn't do it, I'm going to give the nose mask a whirl. Hopefully I won't have much difficulty getting it since the DME is down the street from my workplace. I've considered the nose plugs type ones to.

Has anyone had success (or failure) going from FF to nasal (plug type) interface? I'll ask this in a separate thread too.

I started on the FF, but got the Aura and used it the first night I received it in the mail. I really like it, however, I tend to get sore nostrils after using it for a night or two, so I go back and forth to the Activa Nasal mask and the FF mask. Even with the nasal prongs, you need to use a chin strap/tape if you are a mouth breather. I did anyway.