From a Full Face Mask to Nasal Pillows

[hcubed]

After being on a CPAP machine for about 5 months, I have successfully made the transition from a full face mask to nasal pillows. Originally I was a mouth breather but wanted to try out the nasal pillows because it seemed less intrusive. It didn't work out so well. I had air leaks off the charts and kept waking up to the noise because I was breathing through my mouth. So I switched to a full face mask and the air leaks went away and I slept very well. During this time period I was consciously trying to breath through my nose during my everyday activities. Whenever I'm working out, running, or just sitting at my desk, I would force and think to myself and breathe through my nose. I would also use a neti pot every night just to clear out my sinuses. A couple of weeks ago, I switched to the nasal pillows and an amazing thing happened... very little air leaks. It was averaging 2l/m and I didn't even wake up once. My AHI is even lower now, .3. Before, it was around .8.

[trish6hundred]

Hi hcubed,
It's good to hear that your change back to nasal pillows is going well.
Keep up the good work.

[snowdrop]

Good for you!

(I would love to switch, but suspect I'll need surgery to fix my deviated septum first)

[trailrider]

WOW! 0.8 and 0.3 on a regular basis! That is excellent! Congratulations on your therapy!
(nah, that's not too many exclamation marks for this!)

[truetopath]

Awesome! Congrats on the great progress!

[woozie38]

After being on a CPAP machine for about 5 months, I have successfully made the transition from a full face mask to nasal pillows. Originally I was a mouth breather but wanted to try out the nasal pillows because it seemed less intrusive. It didn't work out so well. I had air leaks off the charts and kept waking up to the noise because I was breathing through my mouth. So I switched to a full face mask and the air leaks went away and I slept very well. During this time period I was consciously trying to breath through my nose during my everyday activities. Whenever I'm working out, running, or just sitting at my desk, I would force and think to myself and breathe through my nose. I would also use a neti pot every night just to clear out my sinuses. A couple of weeks ago, I switched to the nasal pillows and an amazing thing happened... very little air leaks. It was averaging 2l/m and I didn't even wake up once. My AHI is even lower now, .3. Before, it was around .8.

Many PAP people have noted - we have 365 sleeps per year - not a year of 365 sleeps. In other words nothing is going to remain the same for you after your switch. You will need to watch for increased leaks showing in Sleepyhead because of what is erroneously called mouth breathing. (actually therapy air escaping via your mouth) This is uncomfortable, unhealthy & bad for your teeth. I have yet to see a chin strap that causes the lower jaw to protrude forward. Most have the opposite effect. The "Parallel law of vectors" shows us that such an effect is impossible. Congratulation on your super low AHI. I hope it stays low and your SDB remains controlled. Good luck!

[macbob]

Good for you!

(I would love to switch, but suspect I'll need surgery to fix my deviated septum first)

SD-You might want to look at the Nuance pillows mask. I have a severely deviated septum, but I've found I get a good seal with this mask. There is very little of the pillows that enter the nostrils, the seal is formed by the gel shell on the outside of the nostrils.

I don't like how high the straps ride on my face (too close to my eyes), but I am able to get a good seal with what I consider to be very loose straps. Key for me was not to have them tight enough to pull the gel shells into my nostrils.

[Moriarty]

After being on a CPAP machine for about 5 months, I have successfully made the transition from a full face mask to nasal pillows. .....

Congratulations...

My story is almost the same as yours - for those of us where mouth breathing is more of a bad habit than out of necessity the effort to retrain is well worth while.

The thing I had not really noticed until I stopped using the Hybrid mask that I started with was the effect the mask had on my bite. It was pushing my lower jaw out of position - and the mask wasn't even very tight.