My first night with FullLife

BleepingBeauty wrote:P.S. I love the new avatar - very handsome cat.

Thank you... she's my pride and joy. I rescued her after she was thrown out of a moving truck, and she's been my lil shadow ever since.

Cygnusia wrote:Other than that, and a bout of rainout (really cold bedroom last night) .

C, it has been fun to watch your progress.
Thanks for sharing.
I suggest you look into a Ozzy heated hose.
http://www.sleepzone.com.au/showitems.a ... PAP%20Tube'

Not only will it fix your rainout problem,
it heats the air and makes it so much more comfortable.
As the weather here has turned colder, I got mine out a few
nights ago. WOW....I love it.

Cygnusia wrote:Thank you... she's my pride and joy. I rescued her after she was thrown out of a moving truck, and she's been my lil shadow ever since.

She looks like a great companion.
It is amazing how the most wonderful things come into our lives.

With me being unemployed right now, my wife would probably kill me if I bought that. Finances are tight as it is... maybe some day, but definitely not right now...

I had the humidifier up to 3 last night, to see if it would make things more comfortable. I'll just turn it back to 1 or 2 tonight and I should be fine. Last night was the only time I've had a rainout happen.

I have a FullLife and can't get it to quit leaking without the straps being cranked ,not all of them mind you just the neck and the chin ,I called my DME and told them to send me a medium cushion because I think I picked out the wrong size (they sent me the fit guide off the package and I picked out the size myself) I got a large and I think it's a little too big . I got this mask for when the allergies hit hard and need to breath thru my mouth ,I'm used to the head gear because it identical to the head gear on my Optilife which I love . I hope I can get this to work for me because even though I haven't had it on too long I do like it ,I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Cygnusia wrote:With me being unemployed right now, my wife would probably kill me if I bought that. Finances are tight as it is... maybe some day, but definitely not right now...

I had the humidifier up to 3 last night, to see if it would make things more comfortable. I'll just turn it back to 1 or 2 tonight and I should be fine. Last night was the only time I've had a rainout happen.

Yes, the heated hose is expensive. Here's a much cheaper "Lab Rat" alternative, which you can just file away for future reference: viewtopic.php?p=237606#p237606

Cygnusia wrote:

BleepingBeauty wrote:P.S. I love the new avatar - very handsome cat.

Thank you... she's my pride and joy. I rescued her after she was thrown out of a moving truck, and she's been my lil shadow ever since.

What a terrible start for her. Thanks for giving her a good life.

GO, you!

Now, there's an idea! I'm using a 10 ft hose, and I'm sure a reptile heater cable would tie in perfectly for my DIY mentality... after all, the hose cover I made is from an old body hug pillow that's been cut down the sides, tri-folded, and sewed up to make a nice cozy tube.

Night #3:

Not my best night. but mainly due to a lot of things going on right now, and not necessarily mask-related. I have a lot on my mind between unemployment, my wife being pregnant, and financial hardship due to the snowball effect of having two car accidents in the span of a month and a half around July/August.

There's still a lot of mask fiddling going on... I haven't quite got that sweet spot just yet, but when I get it settled in, I'm pretty much leak-free for the night. The bridge of my nose is still tender (almost feels bruised), but the moleskin does seem to be helping with the actual contact points. I haven't quite gotten a good stomach-laying position yet, because the lower strap feels like it's cutting into my neck when I get in my usual comfortable position. If I make it looser, then I start getting leaks around my mouth and chin. However, I am getting more used to falling asleep on my side.

vipertec wrote:...Optilife which I love...

Several of us here who liked the OptiLife also like the RespCare Hybrid mask which covers the mouth and has nasal pillows, AND doesn't cover the nose or touch the forehead. Just a thought for another mask option.

Tonight will be my first night on the FullLife, and my first night on a FFM period. I am anxious to see how it works for me - I hope a lot better than the Hybrid did!

WIsh me luck!

Night #4:

I tried using waterproof tape on my nose last night. I neglected to weaken the adhesive first... did NOT feel good pulling that stuff off this morning! That being said, the bridge of my nose actually feels a little better this morning. Still a little tender, but I guess it's starting to toughen up a bit.

I've started resetting the averages on my machine so I can get my (much more useful) nightly numbers. It'll have to do until I can afford to buy a card reader.

Last night's data:
Usage: 7:18
Leak: 34.6
AHI: 1.2

The leakage does seem a bit high, even though I'm getting a good seal (I think.) Does anyone know the intentional leak rate of the FullLife? The chart in the manual seems to be around 25, but I wish there was a spreadsheet out there that could give me something more accurate.

All in all, I think this might just be the mask for me. I'm sleeping comfortably, and it's not taking too long for me to drift off (especially since I started covering up those blasted blue lights at night.) My nose is getting hammered a bit, but I would have to deal with that problem with any full face mask right now since I'm not used to it.

Cygnusia wrote:My nose is getting hammered a bit, but I would have to deal with that problem with any full face mask right now since I'm not used to it.

Not true. Fit life doesn't even touch the nasal bridge. I'm have chin irritation problems with Fit Life, but nose is not even touched. Also Hybrid FF don't have the nose bridge problem. There are other options out there to try if you require a FF mask.

Ok, some FFM's, not "any". Still, I'm adjusting to having something sitting there for hours at a time and it has to toughen up a bit.

Cygnusia wrote: Still a little tender, but I guess it's starting to toughen up a bit.

VSS-Virgin Skin Syndrome

That skin is not used to supporting anything.
Just as a callus builds up on your hands from repetitive hard use,
that skin has to toughen up.

Another Rite of Passage into the FFM realm.

Some have to pay in blood to pass over.
You seem to be making the passage very well.

There may be bloodshed yet...

My wife is getting sick of hearing me talking about CPAP stuff all the time. With pregnancy hormones at full force, I'm surprised she hasn't tried to choke me with the mask harness yet.

Night #5:

My first bad night. I just couldn't get the blasted thing to seal. I finally gave up and settled for some leakage. I'm wearing some stubble right now, so that's probably why... must shave today!!!

I am finding out that it seems a lot of my leaks are coming from the corners of my mouth. I'm using a small, but if I use medium it's too big vertically... I'm going to try taping each side of my mouth tonight and see if that helps me get a better seal.

Last night's data:
Usage: 5:18
Leak: 46.4
AHI: 1.1

On a good note, even though I was leaky, my AHI is stable!