[Equipment] I have to CRANK down my full face mask to prevent leaking. What am I doing wrong?

[Old Steve]

Sometimes when you over tighten a full face mask you can actually cause more leaks. When you sleep the lower part of you mask can pull your jaw back and can cause leaks around your mouth and chin.  If I use a full face mask I have to wear a mouth guard, that way the mask doesn't pull my jaw back.

[DancesWithCats]

I'd say the mask you have is not the mask for you. Wrong size, wrong type, wrong shape. Faces are different. No one mask shape or type works for everyone.

First mask I got (supposedly the right size, etc. - measured by DME) hurt my face and I could not sleep with the thing.

After a week of not sleeping for 4 hours while wearing the thing in agony, to be "compliant" - my DME finally admitted that we could try a different mask, of a different type, and that made a huge difference for me.

[srwilsn3]

Thanks all. I am in the process of getting a different FFM that fits my face better.

In the meantime, I wanted to post some of my CPAP data per staceyburke's suggestion. Apologies for not using OSCAR. OSCAR is not compatible with my Resvent. However, I have made sure to include the recommended data.

Additional background. 5'10, 160 lbs man. After complaining to my pulmonologist I was so tired, he changed my prescription from 4-20 to 16-20. I was having so much aerophagia I had to reduce it to min 12. My AHI is usually between 3-10 with the CPAP. I was diagnosed in a lab sleep study with an AHI of 5. He says my therapy is a success and if I'm still tired all he can do is prescribe me stimulants.

I wear a 3.5" soft cervical collar. I have one flat pillow. I try to sleep on my side, but I usually wake up on my back once or twice a night. I think these wakings are tied to positional apneas based on what I've learned on these boards. I also wake once or twice a night with my mask "burping" and "billowing" on my cheek near my nose. I feel like I'm having a lot of flow limits.

This is my 2nd year on CPAP. My first year my AHI was 0.1-2 and I was: sleeping with 2-3 pillows under my head and shoulders, no collar, a mix of side/back sleeping, and a pressure setting of 4-20.

4-5 days a week I wake up fatigued, dry eyes, and with a headache. 2-3 days a week I do not. I have no clue what the difference between these nights is.

[Gideon]

You still have a lot of positional there.

[srwilsn3]

You still have a lot of positional there.

Given what I'm already doing, do you have any recommendations?

As of a few nights ago I started sleeping with a full backpack on to stop me from rolling onto my back. I have also ordered a larger soft cervical collar to see if that will help any tucking that might still be happening with my current 3.5" one.

[srwilsn3]

Just attaching last night's data.

This is me with:

1. One flat pillow.
2. A 3.5" soft cervical collar.
3. A full backpack to prevent back sleeping. (Despite this, I still woke up once on my back last night.)
4. A FFM.

Feel fatigued and tired today. It was just a marathon of flow limits last night, which I still don't really understand the meaning of.

[UnicornRider]

Have you reviewed "The Guide" it will help answer many of your questions.

https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph..._The_Guide

I recently purchased a new Soft Cervical Collar(Velpeau, Enhanced), my old SCC (Caldera)was was still good, just slightly dirty, stained, worn and soft. I was amazed with the documented OSCAR Report and my Wellue Checkme O2 Max pulse/Oximeter/Motion recorder results with the new SCC, I did not expect a performance improvement. Is it possible your SCC is not sized optimally for your needs?

Your backpack, is it a normal backpack? Or is it specifically designed for CPAP use? I have seen the Sleep Noodle and Woody Knows backpack on the internet. I have no experience with any of these devices.

The clustering of OA, H & FL is still indicative of positional apneas, and possibly the need for increased therapy pressure to support the airway.

You have been on therapy long enough that you should be able to turn off the ramp function. Ramp provides no therapy.

What is the pressure Min, Max and relief that you have set at this time?

Therapy pressure will naturally increase as we experience allergies, respiratory illness and other illness or age. So change is to be expected.

Hang in there, we are still working to assist you.

[srwilsn3]

Have you reviewed "The Guide" it will help answer many of your questions.

https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph..._The_Guide

I will review this! I worry that since I can't use OSCAR with my crappy Resvent some of the meaning between softwares will be different.

I recently purchased a new Soft Cervical Collar(Velpeau, Enhanced), my old SCC (Caldera)was was still good, just slightly dirty, stained, worn and soft. I was amazed with the documented OSCAR Report and my Wellue Checkme O2 Max pulse/Oximeter/Motion recorder results with the new SCC, I did not expect a performance improvement. Is it possible your SCC is not sized optimally for your needs?

I have purchased a new collar (slightly taller) that I am hopeful will work better. En route now.

Your backpack, is it a normal backpack? Or is it specifically designed for CPAP use? I have seen the Sleep Noodle and Woody Knows backpack on the internet. I have no experience with any of these devices.

It's literally just a backpack with a foam roller in it. It's basically identical in form to the Woody Knows pack. I'm trying it because the "tennis ball pinned to your shirt" method just results in me sleeping on my back, but more uncomfortable. I have also tried every version of pillow support to keep me from rolling, but in my sleep I'm usually just pushing those away.

The clustering of OA, H & FL is still indicative of positional apneas, and possibly the need for increased therapy pressure to support the airway.

You have been on therapy long enough that you should be able to turn off the ramp function. Ramp provides no therapy.

Ok.

What is the pressure Min, Max and relief that you have set at this time?

12 min, 20 max, and EPR 3. It's funny my apneas are so bad at this pressure because last year, when my minimum was set at 6 and my median pressure was 8 I was < 1 AHI for about ~8 months straight. Now 2 is a good night and the typical night is 5.

Therapy pressure will naturally increase as we experience allergies, respiratory illness and other illness or age. So change is to be expected.

Hang in there, we are still working to assist you.

Thank you so much. I feel like this is going to kill me some days. If not through a heart attack through a car crash.