photogal wrote:Gosh, fellow hoseheads, I'm discouraged. I've looked forward to getting my BiPAP eagerly. The first night was bad, but the few hours sleep I got seemed somewhat restful in spite of waking up every 30 minutes. Or less.
Last night was even worse. Every 10-20 minutes I was awake. The mask leaked terrible. Felt huge, hard to lay on my side. I would make adjustments to the straps, to that other thingy at the top which changes the angle, and reposition it on my face, but nothing helped. The leaks are beside the chin/cheek area, and they are huge. I carefully washed the mask yesterday, and went to bed with a scrubbed face, so it wasn't that.
This is the deal. I had read on this forum about the Ultra
Mirage FF mask making a whistle, and what you guys had to say about it.
The woman who fitted me came in with a medium. It seemed to fit just fine, but when she turned the air on, it whistled. I told her some folks on this forum had said it was a somewhat common problem, and told her that washing the plastic sometimes seemed to help. She left and washed it, and did some things with the
hose connection and said it wasn't coming from the
hose, she thought it was at the edges of the mask where it met my face. I don't think so. It didn't sound to me that's where the noise originated. She made a call to someone before giving that statement.
I told her she needed to order a new one in a medium, because maybe it wouldn't whistle. She totally ignored me. Instead, she borrowed another medium from the lab and it whistled, too.
So she brought in a large, and put that on me. It did not whistle, although to me it felt too big. She adjusted it, and for the minute the air was on it seemed OK, didn't whistle, so I came home with it. Of course the tilt of my head while lying in her recliner was NOT the tilt of my head in my own bed.
Now, fellow PAPers, this is what I need to know. Just where is the bottom of a full face mask supposed to fit? Mine fits on my chin projection. I would have thought it should fit between the bottom lip and chin, in that depression. The forehead rest is lying right on the edge of my hairline. So I have mask from hair to the middle of my actual chin. With it fitting so high on my forehead, I can't really move the mask up any further for the bottom to set in the depression above my chin. The air is coming out big-time right beside that chin depression/cheek area.
Everyone says the ResMed Ultra
Mirage FF is the best. I like the way the connectors come apart easily.
Is it too big?
Now I'm starting to think NOSE MASK!! Or even pillows. I'm thinking about what MartiniLover told me about ordering a really good chin strap. Then, I remember some posts about taping the mouth shut with some special kind of tape. I don't remember what it was, don't know where to buy it.
My 2nd sleep study (this one was my 3rd) is the only other
titration I had, and it was with a nose mask. Of course it didn't work because I was a mouth breather, but that aside, I had no trouble falling asleep with it on and the only reason I woke up is because the tech WOKE me up griping about my mouth being open.
I have either 30 or 60 days to exchange masks with no extra charge, and I'm wondering if I should go the nose mask or pillow route.
ALL SUGGESTIONS welcome, and educate me to the best of the nose masks, and the best of the pillows. I think I read on here there is a new pillow that doesn't go as far into the nose and doesn't hurt as much, right??
I can order the chin strap MartiniLover told me about...tell me what tape and where I might find that particular kind. Or should I forget it? I don't feel I'll get any satisfaction with taking this mask back for another just like it in a medium. I don't think the
DME lady will cooperate.
I'm desperate.