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Permalink Reply by Judy on July 3, 2009 at 1:52pm

He, Teresa, welcome to the forum. There's nothing to be afraid of. You will get the hang of this CPAP therapy in due time. And you will find THE right mask to be the most challenging aspect of CPAP therapy. Some of us have gone thru as many as 10-12 masks before we found THE right one for us. We are all so individualistic that my perfect mask could be your most painful, leaky mask and an absolute disaster for you. Or vice versa.

1] But lets start w/just exactly which mask you are using. Do you still have the literature that came with it? In what way is your nose sore?? Bruised feeling at the bridge of the nose? Sore, cut feeling at the bridge of the nose? That is the most common area to have problems w/a full face mask and even a nasal cushion mask. If we know where and in what way your nose is sore we can help you overcome it - or find a different mask.

2] What brand and model CPAP are you using?

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Permalink Reply by Mike on July 4, 2009 at 12:03pm

from Teresa : " thanks for the quick answer.
my cpap is respironics , remstar pro m series... hope that helps . the bridge of my nose is really sore.. and cant hardly wear my glasses after i get up in the mornings,it is a full mask
thanks teresa"

Judy said:

He, Teresa, welcome to the forum. There's nothing to be afraid of. You will get the hang of this CPAP therapy in due time. And you will find THE right mask to be the most challenging aspect of CPAP therapy. Some of us have gone thru as many as 10-12 masks before we found THE right one for us. We are all so individualistic that my perfect mask could be your most painful, leaky mask and an absolute disaster for you. Or vice versa.

1] But lets start w/just exactly which mask you are using. Do you still have the literature that came with it? In what way is your nose sore?? Bruised feeling at the bridge of the nose? Sore, cut feeling at the bridge of the nose? That is the most common area to have problems w/a full face mask and even a nasal cushion mask. If we know where and in what way your nose is sore we can help you overcome it - or find a different mask.

2] What brand and model CPAP are you using?

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Permalink Reply by Judy on July 4, 2009 at 1:50pm

Hokay. You have the Respironics REMstar M Series Pro w/C-Flex. That's good. It is a fully data capable CPAP, that's even "gooder". You are lucky there, there aren't too many new to CPAP whose local DME supplier routinely provides a fully data capable CPAP. And, yes, knowing that will help us help you. Leak rate is very important when first acclimating to CPAP and mask and the Leak rate is part of that data the Pro makes available to you. I'm not real strong on the Respironics or the M Series so we'll rely on someone else here in the forum to tell you how to try accessing your data via the LCD screen. If that access hasn't been turned on for you one of our members will PM you how to make access to that data available via the LCD screen.

Which takes us to the mask. W/o knowing which one you have its gonna be difficult especially not knowing if it is a bruised, sore feeling or if it is the mask cutting in to the skin at the bridge of the nose??

You know what, Mike? We need a "sticky" on PROPER mask fitting. How about some of our professionals writing up their mask fitting protocols and we users can add any tricks we've learned or found? What w/visiting 4 different apnea support forums I'm getting burned out typing out the fitting tips I've read or learned.

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Permalink Reply by teresa g sullivan on July 4, 2009 at 4:00pm

my mask is respironics comfort gel full

Judy said:

Hokay. You have the Respironics REMstar M Series Pro w/C-Flex. That's good. It is a fully data capable CPAP, that's even "gooder". You are lucky there, there aren't too many new to CPAP whose local DME supplier routinely provides a fully data capable CPAP. And, yes, knowing that will help us help you. Leak rate is very important when first acclimating to CPAP and mask and the Leak rate is part of that data the Pro makes available to you. I'm not real strong on the Respironics or the M Series so we'll rely on someone else here in the forum to tell you how to try accessing your data via the LCD screen. If that access hasn't been turned on for you one of our members will PM you how to make access to that data available via the LCD screen.

Which takes us to the mask. W/o knowing which one you have its gonna be difficult especially not knowing if it is a bruised, sore feeling or if it is the mask cutting in to the skin at the bridge of the nose??

You know what, Mike? We need a "sticky" on PROPER mask fitting. How about some of our professionals writing up their mask fitting protocols and we users can add any tricks we've learned or found? What w/visiting 4 different apnea support forums I'm getting burned out typing out the fitting tips I've read or learned.

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Permalink Reply by Skip LEONARDELLI on July 5, 2009 at 4:20am

Hi Teresa. I use a covidian type mask after trying the full face/gel type and not having much luck. It is very comfortable and surprisingly not in the way when I sleep! sometimes my nostrils are sore in the morning but not most of the time. I hope this helps.
Skip

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