How to sleep on side without leak?
Hi everyone. Newbie here again. I started with a ResMed AirFit N30i Nasal Cradle, but I have a deviated septum and couldn’t seem to get enough air, so I bought a Dreamwear version and it’s working much better. The resmed has two holes, one per nostril, while the Dreamwear has one long hole. That seems to make a big difference in my air flow.
Anyway, now that I feel like I can breath in the mask, I’m on to the next challenge! I’m a side sleeper by preference. My sleep study for example showed me spending 75% of the time on my sides. But with either mask I can’t seem to find any position on my side where it doesn’t cause the mask to lose some of the seal and start leaking and blowing around the mask. I’ve tried different pillows and hand positions etc. do I just need to crank up the tightness of the mask or is there some other trick? I don’t have any facial hair etc.
Thanks for any advice!
RE: How to sleep on side without leak?
I tried for weeks to stop the leaks with a cradle type mask and never could. I witched to a pillows mask and never had another mask leak. The pillows cushion fists the frame and are interchangeable- Amazon has them at a low cost with no RX needed.
RE: How to sleep on side without leak?
I'm a hardcore side sleeper. Can't sleep on my back to save my life. I'm using a Resmed F30 AirFit. I'm also a mouth-breather.
The F30 works very well for me, as does the F20 AirFit. I alternate between the two from time to time. The first several hours of use, the F30 is great. But, as the night wears on, the silicon heats up and becomes pliable and flimsy. That's when it starts to leak if it's going to do it at all.
By then, I've had at least 4-6 hours of use, and if it leaks too badly, I just call it quits for the night and take it off. Other times, I'll place one of my wrists in front of my face putting slight pressure on the mask. That usually does the trick.
I'm not promoting taking your mask off if it leaks. Do what you need to get all the therapy you can. But in my case, I'm not convinced that CPAP Therapy is doing all that much good for me. As long as I meet minimal use, I'm happy.
RE: How to sleep on side without leak?
I leave my face hanging off the pillow. It's a downfilled pillow, so very flexible. When I get into position I then tilt my head a smidgen to move mask toward face. It's hard to describe ....
RE: How to sleep on side without leak?
Look at the Mirage Activa Nasal mask. It's a bit bigger than most nasal masks but it is designed for an 'active' sleeper. The seal actually floats on your face and the mask can be moved around significantly without leaks.
RE: How to sleep on side without leak?
(04-05-2021, 08:21 AM)staceyburke Wrote: I tried for weeks to stop the leaks with a cradle type mask and never could. I witched to a pillows mask and never had another mask leak. The pillows cushion fists the frame and are interchangeable- Amazon has them at a low cost with no RX needed.
Good idea. I’ll give that a try as well.
To other posts, I have another mask on order as well..... I figure at this pace I’ll end up trying all of the different types before I find the right combination.....
RE: How to sleep on side without leak?
I'll also add in: I had a deviated septum and went through 2 separate septoplasty procedures to fix it (all before I started CPAP). This made wearing nasal pillows unbearable for me after about an hour (anything that put any amount of pressure on my septum).
I've ended up with just a nasal mask at this point which has worked well.
RE: How to sleep on side without leak?
One thing that is helping me (also a side-sleepiing newbie) to prevent any significant leaks with the Dreamwear nasal cushion is to make sure the frame is a small enough size to keep the cushion pulled right up against the bottom of my nose without any slack. In fact, I'm going to make a fleece vecroed pad to really snug it up against the top of my head. I'm determined to make it work since the Dreamwear unit with the nasal cushions and soft silicone frame with the hose coming out the top is the most non-invasive and comfortable mask I've tried. (I also liked the Dreamwear FFM and had less leakage with it, but seem to have "cured" my mouth breathing so want to stay with the less bulky dimensions.) Oh - and I think the edge of the pillow or a CPAP pillow is also a good tip.
RE: How to sleep on side without leak?
Have you looked at the Core Products Double Edge CPAP Pillow? Available at Amazon. It allows me to sleep on my side and hang my face off the edge of the pillow.
Sleepster
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