r/CPAPSupport

I’ve been using a ResMed CPAP for a decade. Was using AirFit P10 nasal pillows (medium) for most of that time, but it started irritating my nose a lot so I switched to the AirFit N30 in the last year which I like a lot. My current machine that I’ve been using for 5+ years is the Airsense 10 AutoPAP with pressure set between 7-15.

I’m a new father with a 6 month old son, and recently I’ve often been waking up with very dry mouth and not feeling rested. My wife says she needs to close my mouth in the night because air is rushing out. I’ve tried chin straps, mouth tape, and neck collars but none work well enough or are realistic long term options (mouth tape seems to work ok, but it’s wasteful and I can’t drink water in the night if I need to).

My doctor suggested I switch to a full face mask. When I was first getting fitted for my CPAP mask years ago, I tried an “over the nose” mask, kind of like an AirFit N20. I couldn’t tolerate it because I could feel air swishing around my nose and skin which kept me awake. When I moved to the nasal pillows that was all resolved because the air is going directly into my nose.

Does anyone have experience moving from nasal pillows to a full face mask and have any recommendations for someone with my preferences? I think I need a full face mask but I want to set myself up for success because sleep is precious right now with baby boy in the picture lol. I saw the AirFit F30 “hybrid” full face mask and that looks interesting, but reviews seem to be mixed.

Any and all advice is welcome, TIA!

Is there anywhere I can buy a flashed Bipap? I don't feel like paying the inflated price for an official one.

Hey all!

Last night was my 8th night since getting my CPAP machine. On night 5 I couldn't fall asleep and had a panic attack feeling very claustrophobic. I got some advice and adjusted some settings. I slept fine night 7, but last night I apparently ripped the mask off my face, removed the tube, and stayed asleep/was barely awake because I dont remember a thing.

I only had the mask on for about an hour according to my app. The tube was out of the mask so I am assuming I pulled the tube till it came off and ripped the mask off my face.

Has anyone else done this before?

Also random but has anyone been successful in losing weight to get rid of the mask? This feels so embarrassing. My snoring has made me so embarrassed for my whole life but was too tired and depressed to do anything about it. I am ready to do something and would love to hear others experiences in fighting that battle. My dad and grandfather are bother overweight and have sleep apnea. (I am 24 F, 5'4 and 240lbs)

Edit: I specifically changed the setting to turn off the ramping up of the pressure which did help my claustrophobia. This was the advice of my doctor.

Hi everyone, I’m currently using a BMC F5A full-face CPAP mask. It works quite well for me, but I’m getting noticeable red marks on my skin along the sides of my nose where the mask/silicone contacts my face.

Does anyone else use the F5A and have tips for reducing these marks? I’m particularly interested in advice on mask adjustment, strap tension, liners, or anything else that has worked without causing leaks.

The marks are mainly redness/pressure marks rather than open sores.

Thanks!

hi everyone, using airsense 10 for 60 days now. good results for apnea, but some leaks with my n20 nasal mask, i'm investigating possible causes for this.

i guess i need to replace the memory foam, but i cant find a good video/proper advice on how to do it. otherwise, i think of buying a new nose adapter

any tips?

Hi all I have been trying to get used to using my BIPAP for a while now and I keep failing. I tend to rip it off in the middle of the night. I really want to be successful with it, and I’m feeling pretty discouraged. Below are the things I think are relevant, but let me know if I missed something. TIA!

- About 50 AHI on my side and 150 AHI on my back

- my nose is very inefficient so I breath through my mouth (already saw an ENT, they said my deviation and slightly large turbines are making everything narrow but didn’t feel super confident surgery would make a huge improvement)

- I tend to toss and turn a lot before I find a comfy position, so I am struggling to find a way to prevent myself from rolling onto my back while asleep

- my mouth gets REALLY dry. I don’t have a heated tube and I’m not sure what settings I should be doing for humidifier

- current mask is a f30i, I prefer to not have too much mask on my Face if I can help it but open to other masks if they might be a better fit.

I have been using cpap since 1 week

Following are my test result

My AHI during test was 15 with longest event lasting for 54 seconds
Min Spo2 was 88
Leg flickered 36 times in hour

Using CPAP since 6 night but still have head tightness , mild body pain, mild feverish symptoms, tachycardia .

Feel very sleepy in morning but have to get up for office

How long will it take to recover from my symptoms and which symptoms will be the last to go ?

Please I need some advice from anyone is using or did use a chin strap. I can't use full mask and for now I am using resmed p10 and I am very happy with it but I can't keep my mouth closed all night long. I bought biron Philips Respironics Premium Chinstrap. But this mask isn't what is supposed to do. So please I would appreciate some guidance.

I have the AirFitF20 full face mask. I feel like it costantly slides up my face. Is there anything i can use to hold it in place better

Well, who knew about this! Very handy.

https://sleephq.com/public/reports/67cd337c-958c-42c4-b766-b88990ac9555

So I've been posting alot this week as I just started ASV (airbreak plus on a Resmed airsense 10). I'm finding I need to lower my settings alot more than on Bipap to keep myself from getting aerophagia. I am also tossing and turning alot closer to the morning when I should be in REM. This didn't happen when I was on bipap so I was wondering if anyone has a clue what's going on based on my charts? Also I have classic UARs. Athletic build, not fat. High RDI (22/hr in Polysomnography)

An overall view of last night's data

Zoomed in picture of a cluster with alot of flow limitations closer to the morning time (when I should be getting deep REM)

A closer look at the waveform at that time. It's looking rough lol

I think ASV has its merits but the waveforms have been worse on ASV vs Bipap (S mode).

My waveform when I'm on Bipap and around the same time (closer to morning)

Hello Everyone, I'm putting up a fresh megathread for everyone new coming into the sub, or anyone who's been at this awhile and is still trying to figure out what the hell is going on with their therapy, mine went sideways this week.

If your CPAP/APAP/bilevel/ASV isn't working the way you hoped, your mask is driving you nuts, you're waking up all night, swallowing air, getting leaks, seeing centrals, fighting flow limits, or your machine says your AHI is "great" but you still feel like garbage, post here. That's what this place is for.

Give us whatever you've got please. Machine, settings, mask, sleep study info if you have it, how long you've been using PAP, and what you're actually dealing with. Please don't worry about making it perfect or knowing all the terminology. Just tell us what's happening. If you have OSCAR screenshots or a SleepHQ link, throw those in too. The more of the actual data we can see, the easier it is fous us to figure out what may be going on.

One thing I keep saying around here is please do not get hung up on AHI alone. I've seen plenty of nights with an AHI under 1 that I wouldn't call good sleep at all. If you're waking up constantly, fighting the machine, having leaks, flow limitation, pressure swings, centrals, aerophagia or just badly fragmented sleep, the little smiley face on the machine doesn't mean much.

This same thing goes for pressure. More pressure isn't automatically better, and lower pressure isn't automatically better either. We have to look at what the breathing is actually doing. Sometimes a small change fixes things, sometimes EPR/Flex/Softpap helps, sometimes it makes things worse. Everybody is a little different, which is why blindly chasing numbers usually doesn't get you very far.

Masks are the same deal. There isn't one "best mask." What works perfectly for one person can be miserable for the next. Nasal, pillows, full face, mouth leaks, tape, chin straps, beards/mustaches, weird fit issues, whatever you're fighting with, post it please.

And if you're completely new and don't know what EPAP, IPAP, PS, EPR, RERA, CA, OA or flow limitation even means yet, don't worry about it, just ask please.

I also want to keep this place friendly. A lot of people end up here because they're already exhausted, frustrated and getting nowhere with their DME or sleep clinic. Nobody needs to get talked down to or told they don't know what they are doing, on top of that. If you can help somebody, help them. If you're not sure, that's okay too.

This is peer support and discussion, not emergency medical care, but there's a lot we can learn by actually looking at the data and listening to how somebody is sleeping instead of just saying "your AHI is under 5, you're fine."

So if you're new here, welcome. Post what you've got, tell us what's going on, and somebody here will take a look.

RL

I just started CPAP therapy and have been using it for 3 nights in a row, and I'm getting used to it faster than I thought. I'm only averaging about 2 events per hour, and have been keeping the mask on all night, at least 7 hours without too much trouble. It's a nasal mask because I did not want the claustrophobic feeling of a full mask.

However, Ive been doing what I call "cheat sleep" in the early morning when I take off my mask, I'll go back to sleep for another hour or so without it on. Is this undoing the benefits of the CPAP therapy?

Hey does anyone start to itch when the mask hits your face my face itches all night any solutions anybody?

I've been on CPAP for a little over 2 years now, using a full-face mask. Overall it's going really well, my AHI is down, and most of the time the myAir app reports no leak.

Even with this data, my partner often says that my mask is noisy and sounds like blowing raspberries, and it wakes her up (much more rarely wakes me up). It seems to me like a leak, but why would the machine not sense it as such then? And does anyone have suggestions on how to fix it?!

Got my CPAP about 2 weeks ago ..I was told I have to use it 4 hours a night for 90 days or insurance will take it away. It's been a struggle. The nasal mask I was given makes me feel like I'm drowning . I can't get to sleep. Then I had bad allergies recently so I couldn't even use the machine lately. I really want to get on board with this ..but it's hard. I asked them to send me a full face mask and they gave me options. Any recommendations on full face mask options so I can get compliance with the unit?