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Permalink Reply by Eric Thayer on July 25, 2009 at 5:46pm

Above all, I'd suggest *not* giving up yet. Tell your sleep specialist about what's happening and get them to listen. Here's some of my experience for what it's worth.

Does your CPAP machine have a feature called "ramp"? My first night I was getting leaks like crazy, my pressure setting is 15.

My machine had a "ramp" setting of 20 minutes. What "ramp" does is use a lower pressure at first and then "ramp"s up the pressure to full over 20 minutes. When i went to bed, I adjusted the mask to be comfortable and not leak, but when the full pressure kicked in, it was leaking a lot. The next night, I changed the ramp setting to OFF and started the machine at full blast :-). The annoying leaks started right away and I readjusted the mask to stop them. I put the ramp setting back to 20 minutes after adjusting the mask and started the machine. Much better sleep.

You may be able to get your CPAP machine to display the amount of mask leakage during the night to see if your changes are making things better. Look in the manual or ask your doctor or equipment provider if you can get leak data from your machine.

I wouldn't give up CPAP without a "fight" though. Surgery can be successful, but it can be painful as hell and sometimes you still end up needing CPAP.

Thanks for your service as a detective, BTW!

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Permalink Reply by Dan Lyons on July 25, 2009 at 7:38pm

Ok Don, chill. Let's investigate the situation.

Details. We need details. What is the machine type, settings, mask type (brand), What seems to be the sleep position where the problems are occurring? Tossing and turning tends to move the mask around on you face thereby creating leaks.

"Sleeping great w/o the mask! Tired!" You are not sleeping great.

The folks here will offer some very constructive information and suggestions. Let's get you acclimated.

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Permalink Reply by susan mccord on August 10, 2009 at 12:31pm

Don, I just picked up this thread. I've been dealing with this for about 6 weeks now. Not an easy adjustment at ALL.

Honestly, I hope you stick with SleepGuide. Everyone on here is either very knowledgeable or very supportive or some combination of both. There's ALWAYS someone you can contact. It's been a lifesaver for me.

DON'T GIVE UP!! Your life is worth the effort. Listen to anyone on here who makes sense to you and really listens to your concerns. This site is awesome, from one OSA to another!!

Susan McCord :-)

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Permalink Reply by Saz RPSGT on August 10, 2009 at 8:39pm

Hello Don,

Many sleep centers and DMEs (place you got your equipment from) offer mask fittings to make sure that the mask fits well and that you're well versed in putting it on leak free.

If the mask is poor fitting it would be caught. In my area physician's write prescriptions for whatever the night technician used. There are TONS of masks out there. Two good brands of Full Face Masks are the ResMed Quattro and the Respironics Comfortfull.

Also, are you positive you need a full face mask? Many night technicians plop a FFM on you because it's one less thing that they have to worry about and fix during the night. With a nasal only mask you can minimize mouthleaking by using heated humidity and possibly an over the counter nasal spray like saline, or a steroidal nasal spray from your physician if appropriate just prior to bed.

Also, what were the statistics from your night study at 16cmH20? It's possible that it's the best pressure sampled, but not the optimal pressure. Report your frustrations with your sleep specialist and you might find that an AutoTitrating Home unit to fine tune your pressure would be beneficial.

Can you fix tickets in California? :^)

Jason

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Permalink Reply by Judy on August 11, 2009 at 7:52am

Another thing you might try is hanging your hose above your head so there is less "hose tugging" when you change positions. You can rig something up on your own or you can even buy "professional" hose hangers. There are lots of tips for hanging your hose above your head somewhere at cpaptalk.com

The suggestion of a loaner APAP or better yet being able to exchange your current CPAP for a fully data capable APAP is a good one. At the very least, you should have a fully data capable CPAP. If your current CPAP is not fully data capable I would lay it on my sleep doctor and DME supplier just how important effective CPAP therapy is to you in your capacity as a policeman.

Look at the top of your CPAP or better yet at the cover of the Users Manual for your CPAP and tell us what brand and model CPAP you have. That is especially important so that we know if it is fully data capable or not. If it is but you haven't been told how to access the data we can tell you how to do so. The data is important as it can provide important clues as to not only what difficulties you may be encountering w/your therapy but also important clues as to what can be done to improve the efficacy of your therapy.

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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on August 11, 2009 at 8:28am

Do you have you diagnosis and titration reports? It would help if you could post them.

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Permalink Reply by wallace j smith jr on August 11, 2009 at 3:32pm

you have some great advice here , see about an apap with smart card will tell the sleep tech all he needs to know cuz sounds like pressure may be too high!! and i coudnt tolerate the face masks either i ended up with the "breeze" two nasal pillows and a chin strap works great for me..but PLEASE DONT GIVE UP it does take time to adjust to the mask or even the settings! and the ramp feature advice is also great check yours.. me i couldnt use the face masks because no mater what i had leaks on the bridge of my nose blew my eyelids open..but anyways keep trying the alternative isnt a good idea!

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