[Equipment] Any tips on how to get better airflow in under nose masks/hybrid full face masks?

[jake79]

I really want these masks to work but I always wake up feeling like I’m not getting enough air and have to switch back to full face over the nose to sleep through the night. Any suggestions are appreciated!

[Sleeprider]

Sometimes that change from nasal to full-face requires an increase in pressure and/or EPR. Since your post says nothing about what masks you have used, or your settings, or a chart, there is really limited information here to work from.

[G. Szabo]

Air delivered from some under-the-nose masks is restricted when the headgear is too small, or the straps are too tight.

[jake79]

G. Szabo - thanks I'll work on the straps a bit.

Sleeprider - sorry, it was more of a general question.  I don't have any data on nasal masks because I can't fall asleep with one on yet.  I'll try again and see what I can come up with.  I am using an AirFit F20 and have tried N30, F30 and F40.  All seem to want to collapse on my nostrils when I sleep on my side (the nostril closest to my pillow of course).  Maybe I should give pillows a trial.  Settings are 9-12, EPR 3.  I just joined yesterday and assumed this information was already in my post from my bio, my apologies!

[jake79]

I'm not sure if this matters to this question at all but here is my chart from last night with the AirFit F20 all night.

[Sleeprider]

Most things look good from the Oscar chart, and pressure is not changing a lot. The F40 has gotten pretty good reviews here, the N30i and P30i are the same mask with a different interface. I fount the N30i nose pieces slip out of place as you describe, and I always use the nasal pillows cushions that stay in place and seem to provide better pressure. The nasal pillows also seem to resist crushing into the pillow. Your leaks with the F20 look very good. You have marginally high flow limits with EPR at 3 which is as much as your machine can deliver. While you don't need higher pressure for your low event rate, it would not hurt to increase the minimum pressure by 1-cm increments and see if that resolves some of the air shortage. The objective is comfort, so it sometimes helps to keep notes or a journal.

[jake79]

Thanks so much for your feedback.  I will give the pillows a shot then.  This chart is actually the result of looking at my data for the first time yesterday and seeing fairly high flow limits (I've been feeling sluggish despite the low AHI), so I decided to increase my min pressure from 9 to 10 and changed my custom setting from Standard to Soft and things really seemed to smooth out.  I had a sub-par night of sleep though do to a sick kid so jury still out if it makes me feel better but I'm hopeful.  I was really surprised to see my max pressure drop about .75-cm compared to all of the other nights where I maxed out at my 12 setting for almost an hour each night.  I am guessing this will all result in a less aroused/deeper sleep!

[jcp519]

I'd try to stay away from soft response. It makes the machine algorithm less responsive to flow limitation and thus can make you more likely to have an event. That's probably why the max pressure ended up dropping.

[BoxcarPete]

Yes, the reduction in max pressure was probably due to the change to soft response more than anything else because the machine slows down how much pressure change it can do per minute if flow limits or events are happening.

Try the pillows and report back, but things don't look too bad with the FFM.

[jake79]

Ok thanks.  I was encouraged with the soft response though due to the AHI being .6 and flow limits being the lowest I've recorded, so probably safe to stick with it for now?