night air hunger

[Gideon]

good luck candigrl63

hope you get some help soon.

I had a good laugh when I went to my DME to pick up a mask.  They showed me many, but said they had one even for someone that is claustrophobic, and showed me this one:


Now, I am told they were serious.  It apparently is easier to live in a bubble without having pressure of nose or mouth, so it does not feed the scared subconscious.

You might find something like this that will help.

QAL

 The “Total” Face Mask. This mask covers the entire face including the eyes and is occasionally used when other choices are not working.

[Gideon]

Read my Mask Primer.
One reason for "air hunger" would be too low of a pressure. We frequently see this (low pressure) on new users.

[PsychoMike]

good luck candigrl63

hope you get some help soon.

I had a good laugh when I went to my DME to pick up a mask.  They showed me many, but said they had one even for someone that is claustrophobic, and showed me this one:


Now, I am told they were serious.  It apparently is easier to live in a bubble without having pressure of nose or mouth, so it does not feed the scared subconscious.

You might find something like this that will help.

QAL

rotflmao for now

i have to think that was a joke
no way to seal it under the chin as  per the picture

that volume of air in the mask would be hard for the machine to regulate properly for co2 removal imho 

now if this is real i would love an explanation from someone who has used it
but my engineering background makes the initial response to be very skeptical

Laugh all you want, but these masks do exists and do work. In fact, for some people, they are the preferred mask.

As for sealing, the Respironics AirFit (what I have) and the Total Face Mask (shown above) have huge seals to them...my FitLife has up to 2" wide seal areas and the Total has 3+" wide seals. Although it is hard to see in the photo, there is actually a huge flexible seal from the bottom edge of the mask to the chin of the person in the picture.

The total face style masks do have a higher intentional leak rate to deal with the higher dead air space (to help eliminate CO2 build up)....same principal as a Powered Air Purifying Respirator...constant flow so that no nasal cup required.

In what could be a negative, I've found they hold a bit more warmth and humidity....I kind of like that I can crank both back on my machine and be very comfortable with my FitLife...my humidifier water lasts forever with it (I get 8 hrs with my F20 and could probably go 16 hrs with the FitLife, but the longest I've ever done was an over-work induced 12 hr run where I still had 1/3 of my water left in the humidifier tank). I've also found that you don't get air blowing in your eyes from leaks...in fact you hardly feel the air movement in the mask at all.

Not for everyone, but they work.

[quiescence at last]

thanks Mike - I knew that there were at least a couple on the forum that had the Total.

I often thought that having the dead space might help those with a higher incidence of CA events not have so much washout. Maybe not, though, with the increased designed leakage.

QAL

[PsychoMike]

thanks Mike - I knew that there were at least a couple on the forum that had the Total.

I often thought that having the dead space might help those with a higher incidence of CA events not have so much washout.  Maybe not, though, with the increased designed leakage.

QAL

I'm using the Total's little brother, the FitLife, from time to time. It's still a total face mask (tfm), but it's not as big as the Total. I generally use a Resmed F20 (which is a very good mask for me), but I have yet to find any other mask that matches the numbers I get with the FitLife.

I was having a bugger of a time finding a "Goldilocks" mask as I've got a big nose...I can use a nasal mask, but finding one that fits is tough. Same for FFM's...some of the Quattro series Resmed designs were great, but the hard frames or tight bridge areas were murder. I can use pillows, but I needed an alternative for when I get a cold (I have a kid in school so I get all the colds and upper respiratory tract infections home to share). Tried the FitLife as I often wear a full face respirator at work and it wouldn't be too "different."

I tried the FitLife for a week from one of the local shops (they have a test fleet of masks....for a small rental fee to cover sanitizing, you can try something from pretty much whatever they stock). I though it should be fine, but I ended up getting my own as my leak numbers essentially vanished and I actually got my lowest average AHI ever with it. It has limitations (like not being the greatest for side sleepers and forget about being a tummy sleeper with it), but a week of zeros (both AHI and leaks) had me sold. I used one almost exclusively for a year until the F20 came out.

That said though, and to relate it back to the OP, when using a tfm I find you need to bump up the pressure just a hair bit more compared to a ffm as the additional dead space can lead to feelings of air hunger and you need to push through more air to help "climate control" them.

[Shastzi]

Been using the FitLife for a few years now.
It sometimes acts up and I have to seal it down now & then but
most of the time it works pretty well.  I call it my "Buck Rogers" mask! 
It does allow a bit more co2 to build up but I have had a lot few CA events with it
perhaps because of that.
I tend to run it at 12-16cm so it stays purged of radica CO2 buildup without getting
the smothering sensation.
Works great with colds too.
Last but not least, if you wake up with a lot of sinus / swollen eyes problems this
thing fixes that for good by maintaining equal air pressure on the outside of your eyeballs.
That issue used to drive me nuts. 

If you can get it to fit/seal properly it's worth a try.