Just started 6 days ago!

[benjaminjaquith]

Also I'm not sure what's going on with my breathing data, it just disappears sometimes but the rest of the data is there. I don't know if this is a machine problem, typically with data corruption from an SD card it would just be unreadable.

[benjaminjaquith]

Hi! Just wanted to check in to see how everything is going.

Been a few weeks now and its been pretty good. Last few nights have been getting progressively worse though. Not sure why. My AHI numbers are slowly climbing and my  sleep is definitely suffering. I'm noticing leaks in the morning when I wake up so I think I might have to shave or find a different mask. I think my face oils are making things slide around as I sleep. I wash my face before I sleep and clean my mask every morning. My seal is great when I go to bed. I check it with the machine laying down and moving around and it reports a good seal. As well, I dont hear or feel any leaks when I do the leak test.  Here is the data link for the last week or so I think ( I dont have a premium account so I think it only saves a week or so.)


https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_l...476970cbb1

Thanks again!

[coutherino]

Hi. I missed your last response, sorry about that. I looked at your last few nights and yea, definitely doesn't look great. Leak was pretty bad every night I looked at. Plus it seems like you're staying on your back a lot more than you were. Some nights it almost looks like you're spending the majority of the time on your back. That itself isn't good for leak because if you're gasping for air over and over again that's gonna move the mask, causing it to leak more, making it even worse. Also, you mentioned shaving. I'd definitely recommend doing that, especially if you're stuck on using a full face. I don't know how much facial hair you have, but any amount is going to cause leaks. If you have a lot, shaving will definitely make a big difference. Full face masks are just inevitably going to be more finicky, another thing that might be causing leaks is jaw drop. When you sleep your jaw relaxes back and creates a dead space where your chin used to be which can break the seal near the bottom. A chin strap could prevent, but that's just another thing you have to wear.

It really might be time to consider moving to a nasal mask with tape. I remember you saying tape would make you really uncomfortable, but if you're able to get past that CPAP would be so much easier. I also remember you saying you have pretty bad nasal congestion, so if you think that's something that genuinely prevents you from breathing out of your nose during the night a nasal mask might not be an option. Nasal breathing is definitely the goal though.

The screenshot below I took from two nights ago. This is pretty brutal to be honest, just back to back hypopneas. You were definitely on your back during this time. Plus there was a lot of leak so you're not getting the pressure you need even if you weren't on your back, but combined it leads to something like this. If you're involuntarily switching to your back during the night, meaning you don't even remember it, you're probably going to have to up your pressure. Consider trying 15 tonight. That (might) be able to compensate for switching to your back, but it's possible you'll need a bit more. Hopefully that won't be too much to the point it's uncomfortable, but I don't know if I've seen a single night where you haven't switched to your back at least once so it might be necessary.

   

Also, I see you turned on ramp since the last time I looked at your data. 10 minutes should be fine but I wouldn't recommend going any higher than that.

[benjaminjaquith]

Yeah it's been pretty rough. I shaved yesterday and ahi went to 2.4 so it improved. I also need a new mask. While doing a mask fit one of the one way flaps in the mask is leaking so I have another on order. 

I will try setting my pressures higher and see if that helps after I get the leaks in order. I know higher pressures will exacerbate leaks. 

If all else fails I will be going full nasal mask. I have one with me I just haven't tried it because my therapy was working well. I know I will need to tape though and that's my only hesitation. 

Thank you for your detailed responses and for your help with this.