Prescription for specific mask types?

[Slycer]

My prescription specifies a full face mask. Do I need to get a new prescription in order to get a different type of mask like a nasal one?

[HalfAsleep]

You could contact your doc and find out the reason s/he recommended full-face. You could say what you'd really prefer, and ask if s/he would mind amending the prescription. If it were me, I'd try this first.

If you had an institutional sleep study (as opposed to a home one), the full face might have been ordered to ameliorate something that occurred during the study.

Failing that, you might be required to report back in with the doc within a certain amount of time (e.g. if you're on medicare). And you could report at that time that you found the mask uncomfortable, leaky, have trouble sleeping, etc., and could you please have a different model?

Finally, though this might be more difficult, you could ask your DME to do a swap within the first month or so.

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But, how have you determined a P10 (the spec in your post before editing) is the best choice for you, out of all the options? IMO it would be difficult for a newbie to make this call, especially since the choices are not just nasal vs. full face, but nasal pillows vs. nasal nostrils vs. nasal old-fashioned. And then there are multiple of each type.

All kinds of issues might be in the mix. For instance, I started out with a P10, but I then discovered I had only one working nostril. P10 turned out to be a bad idea. The P10 also kept slipping off my head. I tried Dreamwear full-face hybrid, and it sliced into my lower lip, so I had to abandon that one. My favorite was a Resmed F10 for Her, and all was well until the wretched nurse who ran the sleep center yanked on the ends of the headgear like you yank a toddler into a snow suit. Super tight. Grrrrr: it never fit again. I tried many others, and sent them back. I recall one sat too high on my nose and irritated my tear ducts (Simplus: I didn't even bother attaching it to the machine). One (F20) had memory foam that made me itch.

If you go to the DME, try to try on a bunch IMO, while you have a chance. Mask choice and adjustments are FIDDLY! You could even call the doc while you're at the DME and ask permission to choose, telling him/her which worked best.

The goal of a sleep physician is to have you compliant. I speculate they will let you go with a different mask if that will make you more compliant.

However, I would take whatever opportunity you can to try different masks and different mask types, and not get fixated on a particular model until you have more experience under your belt. Recognize you're new to this, and arm yourself with first-hand knowledge.

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I am not a newbie.

FWIW I recently had a new sleep study on-site, which was very well conducted, judging from prior experience. At the beginning of the night, they helped me choose a mask to put on later, at the beginning of the titration portion. They had hybrid full-face, Dreamwear nasal cushion, and an all-nose model (I'm not familiar with those). 3 choices. Since I just had nose surgery, and I might need my mouth to breathe or exhale, I went with the hybrid full-face. They issued this mask to me to take home.

This was definitely a different way to do things, but I'm thinking it was practical. Giving a first-timer (most sleep patients) multiple choices ahead of a sleep study would be like, too many decisions about something s/he knows nothing about. It would be like choosing running shoes without trying them on; different companies have different styles, different drops, different treads, different arches, widely varying sizes.... You get a clue by running in them.

I'm also thinking a sleep study gives a bench mark on AHI, with mask leakage data, and the docs will be comparing apples to apples when they get the overnight reports with the same mask. By Medicare rules, I will meet with the doc again in 4 weeks or so, and it will be obvious if I have issues with that mask.

So, I'm inviting you to be patient with the mask thing. There's a substantial learning period. Be open to trying many possibilities while you settle into therapy.

[Slycer]

I was able to purchase a P10 even though my prescription said full face.

I have a high deductible so everything is out of pocket for me. I tried the P10 as my first mask because it looked like the least intrusive. It is also very popular.

So far after my first night the P10 works okay.