Side Sleepers?

I have a leak and I do not know where it is coming from! I started out using the mirage FF mask and it almost rubbed the bridge of my nose raw. I switched to the swift. With the FF my AHI averaged around 10 or 15. With the swift, my AHI has averaged approximately 5. My leak averages around .5, with the Swift. I use a chin strap and I have the leak alarm turned on. My wife hears it, but I do not. (I think I turn the alarm off in my sleep.) When I sleep on my side, the mask shifts sideways. Some mornings, however, I wake up with a dry mouth. I am not sure if the leak is coming from an open mouth or a leaky seal when I sleep on my side. I was considering trying the aura or the breeze but that will not help if my mouth is the problem. Any ideas? (Machine is set on CPAP with pressure of 17, hh on 4, and EPR on 3.)

Well, I'm so far from being an expert on this stuff, it is not even funny. But you say your AHI is 5 or so even with the leaks you are worried about? Then I would say don't worry about it. AHI of 5 is pretty good...in normal range definitely. I think some leakage is to be expected as well.....

That's my 2 cents worth. Now let's sit back and see if conventional wisdom thinks I'm right or not!

Jan in Colo.

Jimmy,

The Breeze nasal pillows system can handle pressures of up to 30. While it will not solve your mouth breathing problems, I found it much better than the swift for my way of side sleeping. The part carrying the nasal pillows is narrower than the Swifts's and so gets less shifted.

It also helped to have a tempurpedic pillow, others swear by a Target's Shapeable Pillow, or the Pappillow.

Rested Gal posted a collection of mouth taping discussions yesterday, in response to a question about chin straps. If you don't find it, look for it using the search button at the top of the screen.

O.

Jan, I do agree, who wouldn't, that 5 is fine as an AHI.

But if you want to find the source of a leak you know is happening, mine occurred where the heated humidifier attaches to the machine. If you put your hand near where it connects, you could actually feel the air coming out of mine. I used paper medical tape around the neck of it and onto the gasket, after changing gaskets and doing everything else to try to fix it to no avail. But then decided I didn't even like the hh, so I removed it entirely. But if you haven't checked that location yet, give it a look at and see if perhaps that's where your leak is.

Jimmy,

The posts above are all great advice!

How do you feel in the morning?... that is the best judge of what is working or not.

I use the aura... it would allow you to sleep on your side with less chance of leaks... if that is how your leaks occur.

If you are allowing air to escape from your mouth, I would suggest increasing the humidity, this works for me, or as a last resort try mouth taping.

I have found that when I have leaks I don't feel as good in the morning, no matter how low my AHI is. This leads me to conclude that the "leak" issue, whatever the cause, is an important one to solve.

Try a few things and post your results on this thread. Most everyone here is willing to keep brainstorming until you succeed.

wading thru the muck! wrote: I have found that when I have leaks I don't feel as good in the morning, no matter how low my AHI is.

This is probably due to the leak causing an arousal, which is never reflected in AHI. (unless you do a full PSG nightly) An arousal caused by a leak will cause fragmented sleep and fragmented sleep will not leave you feeling rested. So, the low AHI is correct as your apnea is being treated. Once the leak is eliminated, then your sleep will not be fragmented and you will "feel rested".