Some nights.....

[DaveL]

So interesting news.
Visited my DME. Showed them that the fit-gauge shows I am a medium. I have a loaner mask (medium frame/medium mask insert ) If it works they shall exchange my new/just purchased medium frame/large mask insert mask for a new medium/medium.
Wonderful people.
My explanation...my medium/Large was because I had a growth on my nostril that looked about like a pea cut in half...and they gave me sufficient room with the Medium/Large.

Now that it has been surgically removed and healed I shall try the medium frame/medium insert loaner for a week.

News from here...I bit the bullet and downloaded OSCAR. It was easy, even for a computer illiterate like myself.

AHI for last night was 0.15 on my Sleepyhead this morning; reloaded the data. OSCAR calls it 0.30. Oscar also states: more leakage than average...

Thats a lot easier to live with than the warning on the Sleepyhead screen.

[DaveL]

Plan:

Tonight I shall use my loaner mask. N20 medium frame; medium mask insert.
I shall use the *wedge* under my chin. I don't like it; when I wake up I feel like I have razor burn.
Let's see how it goes....

I'll check the snap-in short tube for leaks.

Thanks for all your help.
Still kickin'

[DaveL]

Summary

OSCAR amazing

Mask (loaner) perfect medium frame/medium insert (was Medium/Large for last year; same mask type)

Wedge perfect

Score 0.0
Time 7 hours

Thanks everyone
Thanks particularly to the people who worked on OSCAR to provide such a brilliant tool. Thanks to those who worked on Sleepyhead too.

[DaveL]

This is an amazing turn around from my brand new N20 medium frame/large insert just purchased. Horrible leakage.

Difference is the medium nose piece in the loaner mask.
DME is excellent.
First comment was that I could return the mask that leaked for me. (This was an exact replacement of a mask I used for almost a year. That mask was sized properly for the time--I had a bump on my nostril that was cut off about 5 months ago. I needed the large mask because of the bump.)
I pointed out that I had used the fit gauge, and it showed I was a medium fit.
Clearly the medium nose piece is the way to go.

[Dormeo]

Dave,I’ve been following your thread and just wanted to say it’s great things are going your way!

[DaveL]

Thanks Dormeo.

Owe it to this forum.

For many many years I had sleep docs from hell. Prove I had the machine on, running. Enough hours for compliance. That's all. No suggestions for improvements. No concern about sleep quality.Worst case I would realize I felt like ----. I'd make an appointment. 2 months...see the sleep doc. He would check my hours. then boost my pressure. He might ask to see my mask. That's all. Read Dr Inyoue 's reports on ratemydoc. It's amazing that he was allowed to do business.
If I kept feeling poorly, it got even worse. Talk of "compliant or pull your license."

They had 3 machines. Expensive. More Expensive. Most Expensive. One mask fits all. No substitutions. That's the clinic that the hospital owned 1/2 of.

This forum and it's responders make all the difference.
I didn't check my sleepyhead for 186 days. I felt ok.
Started to feel worse; realized my mask was approaching a year old.

Bought the same mask again. Checked it; leakage.

Loaner mask insert is a smaller size.

I'm starting to manage my treatment. I'm getting results and feeling better.

[DaveL]

Wrap up.

My 30+ years' experience says.
If I feel bad, then look at the way I'm treating OSA
It's probably my mask!

In this case it was my mask. It no longer fit well after a bump on my nostril was surgically removed. Shape of my nose had changed. It's normal now!

As a baby engineer I learned to ask questions.

1. Did it ever work?
2. If it used to work, what has changed?

These questions have guided me all my working life.