Dreamwear and Brevida masks, leaks, deviated septum

[jaswilliams]

Central Apnoea does not cause pressure increases. Pressure increases are caused by Obstructive Apnoea, Snores and Flow Limitations only. Your pressure increases are caused by flow limitations that more pressure does not clear, in that instance all we can do is limit the machine max pressure

Can significant leaks cause pressure increases? Last night (the night after the one discussed above), I had a long stretch early in the night where there were zero apnea events of any kind, but the machine still brought pressure up a moderate amount. The only thing I could see going on during that time period was that I was having an ongoing leak with my Dreamwear cushion mask.

in that case case the pressure rises due to Flow limitations.

Leaks do not cause pressure rises.. in fact very large leaks can cause the pressure to fall as the machine try’s to solve the leaks by dropping pressure

[Dyssomniac]

If your nose is usually clear enough not to use a full-face mask, and considering the bent nostril, it sounds like maybe you should be trying nasal masks rather than the nasal-pillows type?  (Why torture yourself?)  The N30i, which is one candidate, looks a lot like the Dreamwear, but Resmed put it in its "N" series rather than "P", so apparently it's not supposed to be considered a nas-pil mask.  Cushion, I guess.  Anyway, what I was thinking is that beyond that, there are several masks of the more traditional Nasal type that cover the nose and are completely non-invasive, like the N20, Wisp, Pico, and Eson 2.

For reference:

N30i reviews: http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...irFit-N30i

N30i discussion: http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...esmed-N30i

N30i product page (with links to PDFs): https://pages.resmed.com/CA-N30i-P.html

Resmed nasal masks: https://www.resmed.com/us/en/consumer/pr...asal-masks

Philips nasal masks: https://www.sleepapnea.com/products/masks/wisp
and https://www.sleepapnea.com/products/masks/pico

F&P nasal mask: https://www.fphcare.com/us/homecare/slee...ks/eson-2/

P.S.:  Test-driving masks and rejecting most of the ones that you try can be a big hassle, but it's all part of the beginning-CPAP experience, unfortunately.  Once you're through that phase, in some number of weeks, you can put it behind you and just use your favorite from then on.

A follow-up question:

Another peculiar issue for me is that I have significant tinnitus (ringing in the ears). It is unrelated to sleep apnea, but has a strong relationship to sleeping position. In order to have relative hearing sanity on any given day, I need to sleep switching off throughout the night between sleeping on each side, left and right. Sleeping on my back tends to be equally bad for both ears. I've been to see a number of excellent ENTs, and the mechanism behind this issue is poorly understood; no one has a better suggestion for managing it.

With that in mind, would any of the above masks tend to be better or worse for side-sleeping?

[Fats Drywaller]

There have been some discussions about best masks for side-sleepers, and it's probably useful to read those first, in case what you want is in there.  Here are google search terms, finding five AB threads:

site:apneaboard.com intitle:mask OR intitle:masks intitle:side

As you'd expect, there are even more opinions & reviews available from a web search not limited to AB:

allintitle: mask OR masks "side sleeper" OR "side sleepers" OR "side sleeping"

Also and more generally, have you read the Mask Primer on the AB wiki?  It's a good starting point for a lot of things, although I don't see anything there about side-sleeping specifically.

Personally, I like the Brevida and don't like the Dreamwear nasal-cushion for side-sleeping.  The Dreamwear nasal-pillows nosepiece is OK, less leaky, and that seems to be a common experience among folks who have tried both of those DW variants. The P10's minimal headgear (backstrap) is similar to the Brevida's except that the length is not adjustable.

However, I don't think it's realistic to expect no leaks at all from any mask, unless the headgear is so all-encompassing and restrictive (clamping mask against nostrils) that the whole thing is uncomfortable to begin with.  There's probably a trade-off between comfort and leak rate.  I just resign myself to occasionally having to re-position the nosepiece during the night, as I assume most of us do.