Scott,
Several comments about the ideas to try a FFM, switch to APAP, and increase pressures:
1) A FFM may or may not fix your leaks, which are actually acceptable with your collar+nasal mask set up.
2) A FFM may or may not be more comfortable than your current collar+nasal mask set up.
3) If you want to try a FFM, then don't change anything else at the same time that you start the FFM trial. In other words, if you want to increase the pressure AND try a FFM, decide which thing to do FIRST and stick with that
one change for 4 days or so before making the second change. You want to be able tease apart what changes are from an increased pressure and what changes are from switching to a FFM.
4) You've tried APAP in the past. From what you've written, it seems to me that you do worse on APAP than on fixed pressure. Correct me if I'm wrong about that. But from what I've seen in your previous posts, I don't see any advantage in switching back to APAP again. However,
if you do want to try APAP yet again, make that as a
single change. In other words, if you want to try both a FFM and APAP, decide which thing to do FIRST and stick with that
one change for 4 days or so before making the second change. You want to be able tease apart what changes are from switching to APAP and what changes are from switching to a FFM.
In other words, I think it's a mistake to go from
- Fixed pressure at 11cm with nasal mask+collar
to
- APAP with a range of 10-15 (or 10-20) with a FFM
all on the same night.