Acceptable leakage amount

[ghce]

I find that the leaks are more likely sleeping on my side (99% of the time I sleep on my side) and seem to be caused by pillow (not the mask pillow )pressure deforming my cheek and hence changing my nose profile.

[Hojo]

You may also want to consider a CPAP pillow, which is 'cut' out on the sides so that when you go to the side, the mask won't hit the pillow and move.  I have one and have found it helps but since I move around, I will occasionally hit the edge of the pillow, but for me, it is better than a standard pillow.

[DeepBreathing]

Resmed regard 24 L/min as a large leak. Above that the machine can't provide sufficient airflow to maintain a stable pressure. In addition it has trouble diagnosing and treating events which occur during a large leak. It seems all your leaks are below 24, so that's OK as far as it goes...

...however even low leaks can disrupt your sleep if they disturb you. Eg air blowing into your eyes, or the mask losing contact with your skin and causing "face farts". Also, as mentioned above, my experience is that AHI does go up on nights when I have extensive leaks (even if they are under the red line). So while your DME person is technically correct, it is wise to keep your leak rate as low as possible.

[sleepytimegal]

Deep Breather, I like your advice. It seems to me the lower the leaks the better. I have given up sleeping on my side - it doesn't seem to work for me. I like the side, but I seem to be OK on my back too, so I'll just go that route. It's not the first 'accommodation' I had to make because of having sleep apnea. (No one ever said it would be fun.)