03-22-2021, 02:37 PM
Full Face Mask for petite face/ Air in Mouth
I'm new and clueless at this stuff, so please bear with me. Found out randomly I have mild apnea a few weeks ago. I didn't have a full sleep study done, but did the at-home study and it showed 11 AHI. Doc prescribed a Dreamstation Auto with humidifier. Started a week and a half ago with nasal pillows P30i, size small (I have a small, almost child sized face).
The first few nights were great and I felt so relieved to have the CPAP, and the pillows worked fine, except my husband said now I'm snoring/making noises through my mouth so I was keeping him awake. I've never snored at all previously.
The nasal pillows started leaving blisters/sores along my nostrils and on the skin just under my nose, so I used neosporin and they've gotten better, but not completely gone. Biggest problem now, is I'm getting huge air bubbles in my mouth, which blow up my cheeks like a chipmunk, and even though I taped my mouth shut last night, it was worse because it made me panic and wake up every time my mouth filled, as it felt like I was going to suffocate. When this would happen, my ears would plug and I'd get a headache.
After a couple hours of repeatedly waking and panicking, the tape finally blew. Also, my mouth dried out from collecting the air in there, and for the first time last night, my nose dried out painfully as well. Needless to say, taping is not an option. How high can I turn up the humidity level? It's at 4, but we are at a higher elevation.
I'm supposed to pick up a chin strap tomorrow to attempt to stop the mouth snoring, and a different nasal pillow which I was told just sits under the nose and doesn't go in it, hoping this would alleviate the sores. However, after having tried the tape last night, I don't believe the chin strap is going to work - as the pressure ramps up, it just somehow gathers all the air in my mouth and the chin strap is not going to keep that from happening. Yes, I've tried putting my tongue on the roof of my mouth, but as soon as I fall into a deep sleep, it falls.
All of that said, if I switch to a full face mask, what is the recommendation for very petite faces?
Also, my Dreamstation doesn't appear to have a place for an SD card, unless I'm missing it. I've checked several times, as I want to download OSCAR and see what's happening. It has a built in bluetooth chip. DreamMapper says 90% pressure (what does this mean?) is 11.9, average is 9.4, min is 4 and max is 15. Ramp is on. It says mask fit is 100% but there is absolutely no way - I had air coming out from around one or the other of my nostrils all night!
Advice? Thank you.
The first few nights were great and I felt so relieved to have the CPAP, and the pillows worked fine, except my husband said now I'm snoring/making noises through my mouth so I was keeping him awake. I've never snored at all previously.
The nasal pillows started leaving blisters/sores along my nostrils and on the skin just under my nose, so I used neosporin and they've gotten better, but not completely gone. Biggest problem now, is I'm getting huge air bubbles in my mouth, which blow up my cheeks like a chipmunk, and even though I taped my mouth shut last night, it was worse because it made me panic and wake up every time my mouth filled, as it felt like I was going to suffocate. When this would happen, my ears would plug and I'd get a headache.
After a couple hours of repeatedly waking and panicking, the tape finally blew. Also, my mouth dried out from collecting the air in there, and for the first time last night, my nose dried out painfully as well. Needless to say, taping is not an option. How high can I turn up the humidity level? It's at 4, but we are at a higher elevation.
I'm supposed to pick up a chin strap tomorrow to attempt to stop the mouth snoring, and a different nasal pillow which I was told just sits under the nose and doesn't go in it, hoping this would alleviate the sores. However, after having tried the tape last night, I don't believe the chin strap is going to work - as the pressure ramps up, it just somehow gathers all the air in my mouth and the chin strap is not going to keep that from happening. Yes, I've tried putting my tongue on the roof of my mouth, but as soon as I fall into a deep sleep, it falls.
All of that said, if I switch to a full face mask, what is the recommendation for very petite faces?
Also, my Dreamstation doesn't appear to have a place for an SD card, unless I'm missing it. I've checked several times, as I want to download OSCAR and see what's happening. It has a built in bluetooth chip. DreamMapper says 90% pressure (what does this mean?) is 11.9, average is 9.4, min is 4 and max is 15. Ramp is on. It says mask fit is 100% but there is absolutely no way - I had air coming out from around one or the other of my nostrils all night!
Advice? Thank you.
