Finding the Correct Mask

[snpperhd]

Newly diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea (AHI 17.5).  Received an Airsense 11 AutoSet and having issues finding the best mask.  

I have tried three ResMed masks (N20, N30i & P30i) and an F&P Evora Full Face.  And while I could actually live with any of them fitment wise, the issue I am having with all of them is that after 3-5 hours I find it harder and harder to breath (inhale & exhale).  Feels like the masks are tighter around the nose area with no air flowing.  Of course every time I lift the mask up a to check the flow is fine.  

Could it be the temp of the air, it always seems a little warmer maybe giving me the effect of no air.

Anyway, I have finally installed an SD card and was able to pull all nights of numbers (Mar 26-Apr 11) and the last two nights of graphs.  Not sure how to neatly include those graphs just yet.

Thanks for any ideas.

-snpperhd

[PeaceLoveAndPizza]

Difficulty breathing is typically from not enough pressure, but we need to see OSCAR charts to properly diagnose. 

Read the link in my signature for “Organise your OSCAR Charts”. Lots of good and helpful information there that allows even a Luddite like myself to post properly formatting charts.

[HalfAsleep]

It’s not a mask issue: it’s a pressure issue. I feel like I can’t exhale if the pressure is too low.

You won’t be able to completely assess mask workability until you get the pressure dialed in. Masks can get leaky, uncomfortable, or keep you awake, depending on the pressure.

[snpperhd]

Thanks for the link  PeaceLoveAndPizza.  

Here are my two nights of graph data.

[jcp519]

Your data actually looks pretty good so far. If you're having trouble breathing or any sort of air hunger, you could try upping your min pressure by 1 from 7 to 8. You could also bring down your max pressure to 13 or even 12. It looks like you never get close to hitting your max.

For me personally when I was on CPAP, I needed a min pressure of 8 to feel like I could breath enough. Hopefully once you get this problem solved you can get your total hours used up to 7-8 hours.

[MaskedOne]

I concur with jcp519.  My hybrid mask was stuffy at times in the night until I raised the minimum pressure past 8.  I went to a nasal pillow recently and it again feels stuffy at times.  My PAP therapy numbers look great but I've been thinking about raising the minimum pressure a little bit more to fine tune comfort.
In my opinion, your charts look very good.

[snpperhd]

Thanks, I appreciate all of your feedback.  I'm gonna go a few nights using my preferred mask (N30i) and see how the numbers go.  I'll post those numbers soon.

-snpperhd