Higher Pressure needed with full face mask?

Hi all,

I've been using my cpap for about a month. I started out with nasal pillows, and last week, due to some stuffiness and mouth breathing decided to try out a full-face to use as a backup when needed (I don't always make it all night with my pillows). I got the mirrage quattro.

The first night I managed to keep it on for about 4 hours, same for the second night though for that night switched back to my pillows. I used Encoreviewer to review my data and it showed a HUGE difference between the two -- my AHI with the pillows is almost always less than 1. With the FF mask, it was over 20!

My pressure is currently set to 7. Has anyone had to increase their pressure when moving from the nasal pillows to a FF? I would still like to have the FF as a backup, but right now definitely do not want to use it as it is obviously not working very effectively.

Thanks,

CC

As long as both masks are fitted properly and don't have major leakage, the pressure setting should be the same for both.

Your machine will compensate for the differing vent rates to deliver the same pressure to the enclosed area of the mask, regardless of type or model.

Not sure why the difference in AHI...you may be getting massive leakage with the Quattro??

Did you take a look at your leaks with the software?

FF masks tend to be much more difficult to seal than nasal pillows, and often AHI goes up with a FF mask simply because of leakage. It makes no sense to increase pressure if you are leaking--it will only get worse, not better. So make sure you take a good look at the leak data when you were wearing the Quattro before deciding you need more pressure in that mask (AND afterwards if you do increase the pressure)!

Could it also be the other way around? If you mouth-breathe a lot with nasal pillows, could the machine report fewer apneas than actually occur?

Definitely possible, because the reported events are simply NOT reliable if there's leakage. But I suspect it's more common the other way.

personally, i slowly upped the pressure when i moved to full face. it took me a week or two of rotating between the Swift LT and the Ultra FF (using 1/2 night with one and then switching). eventually i got the leaks fixed on the full face, but i felt short of breath and my AHI was 3ish. so i increased the pressure slowly (about .5 per month, from 9 to 10.5). The AHIs dropped, and i feel comfortable at 10.5 and my AHI averages 0.8 with virtually no leaks.
(thanks to cpaptalk.com, i had only the doctor visits needed to get the sleep study and then the prescription. since then, i managed the therapy myself).