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The last few weeks I have been having bad leaks. I haven't noticed any major air escaping and/but I have had a pretty bad cold and cough. I have been using nasal masks or pillows but have even gone back and tried my full face mask and or mouth tape and it has decreased the leaks some but not much.
Maybe the slit in the mouth tape is too big???
Maybe my illness is causing me to mouth breath???
Maybe my air outlet on my Airsense 10 is deformed and leaking???
sometimes just not having the high pressure can help a lot. You have a min that is higher. I would try to move it down to around Min 8 and see if that helps...
Thanks Stacy. I have tried a lower min. pressure in the past, but my AHI goes up and I feel like I am not getting enough air. I have severe sleep apnea, 33/hour if I remember correctly. I don't recall ever starting that low but it's worth a try.
01-09-2024, 05:14 PM (This post was last modified: 01-09-2024, 05:24 PM by Deborah K..)
RE: Help with bad leaks
The slit you make in the tape is probably causing the leaks. I have to use 2-inch wide tape cut almost 6 inches long. I could NEVER get by with a slit in the tape.
Also, I would not set your lower pressure limit even lower. I think you would feel air-starved. I suggest you raise your upper pressure limit to 18 or 19, as you are bumping up against the 17 you have set.
I am presently using Hypafix tape, but I plan to use Cover Roll tape next because it is stretchy. I started with Medvance silicone tape which I loved, but I had too much leaking with it.
Last night leaks are still pretty bad. I used a longer tape with just a small slit, and it helped a little, but leak report is still really bad. Usually when I mouth breath I wake up and noticed that I am, but I haven't been??? The new tape I ordered will be here tomorrow so we will see if that helps.
I am starting to wonder if my machine may be the issue. My machine reports a good mask seal but major leak.
Does anybody know what to look for if my Airsense 10 is the cause. I have cleaned and inspected the outlet elbow on the machine and the humidifier gasket and didn't see anything obvious and haven't heard any excessive noise when it's on. I also, checked the hose and haven't heard any major leaking from the mask???
I noticed that you minimum leak (floor) throughout the night appears to be around 13 l/min. So, it would appear that you are consistently leaking.
Although 13 is not "bad", it is halfway to the unacceptable range. So your gut reaction to look for non-mask leaks is a first good step.
After assuring yourself that there is nothing in the machine, connections, hose that is leaking.
The next thing I'd experiment with is run a 10-15 minute test while you are awake and aware of any mouth breathing. If you can maintain your lips closed (that is, no air escaping through your mouth at all). Then you may be forced to conclude that the mask seal is leaking.
Thank you Dataq1. I wish I could rule out the machine, but I can only rule out what's visible or what I hear. I will run a test as you suggested but I am often awake during the night and have not noticed my mouth opened or waking up gasping, lately. I have in the past.
