Face Mask increase pressure

My sleep Dr. suggested that I try a full face mask.
My leak rate on nasal was low but I spend the night concerned about keeping my mouth shut (yes I used a chin strap).
Now that I am using a full face mask with little difficulty, my S9 auto has increased from 7 to 10.
My leak rate last night on the full mask was 8.4. AHI 2.3 OA 1.5 CA 0.8.

Any idea why the change in pressures?

I did switch my machine to mask.
here are my info from last night

Duckie wrote:My sleep Dr. suggested that I try a full face mask.
My leak rate on nasal was low but I spend the night concerned about keeping my mouth shut (yes I used a chin strap).
Now that I am using a full face mask with little difficulty, my S9 auto has increased from 7 to 10.
My leak rate last night on the full mask was 8.4. AHI 2.3 OA 1.5 CA 0.8.

Any idea why the change in pressures?

I did switch my machine to mask.
here are my info from last night

The problem with trying to answer this type of question is that we have no history of what your charts looked like over the past weeks since you started. Some people claim that they seem to need more pressure with a full face mask as opposed to the direct nasal input through a pillows type of mask. It could also be that you've needed something closer to 10 cm. all along. Also, over time using with these machines, the person's pressure needs change......sometimes less is needed and sometimes more is needed.

If you REALLY want to find out what's going on by a process of elimination......switch your machine to CPAP mode and set it to a fixed pressure......something between 7 and 10. Then, leave the pressure as is for at least 3 nights to a week to see if it needs tweaking. You're NEVER going to figure it out with a range of pressures in APAP mode (yours is pretty wide).......it's like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall......it still keeps moving. And, the wider pressure a person uses, the worse it is. Plus, the changing pressures can really screw up the person's quality of sleep.


Den

Is thee a reason to stay on auto pap vs cpap? Could my body need a different pressure each night? My previous summary has a median pressure of 7.5. Now I have a median pressure of 10.1. Maybe my body doesn't know which pressure it likes!

Duckie wrote:Is thee a reason to stay on auto pap vs cpap? Could my body need a different pressure each night? My previous summary has a median pressure of 7.5. Now I have a median pressure of 10.1. Maybe my body doesn't know which pressure it likes!

Not as far as I'm concerned. The problem with using APAP is that there are so many things that can vary from night to night and the machine is going to be changing pressures......that's what APAPs do. They respond to "events". Most people can find a single pressure that is comfortable and takes care of almost all the events. Single pressure also allows for better sleeping. Many times, when people are entering deep sleep stages or REM, their breathing can/will change which may trigger the machine to raise pressures......which then disrupts the restorative sleep they desperately need.


Den

I disagree with wulfman .... you need different pressures on different nights, different positions, different stages of sleep so a single pressure machine has to be set at the highest pressure you need....

There are two possible reasons for you needing more pressure on a full face mask vs pillow type mask

1. nasal pillow type masks actually expand the nasal passages creating more flow at the same pressure, full face masks do not because the pressure is applied both inside and outside the nose..... thus, sometimes the difference in flow will result in more events and a higher pressure need.

2. also, since you were having trouble with your mouth opening, the auto may have been unable to detect some events and failed to increase the pressure

good luck