Trying AirFit F20 ffm

[Beej]

Be cautious about increasing pressure; if too high for you, it may result in more CA events.

[Sleeprider]

Roy, your problem is almost classic, and it's probably not related to pressure. This pattern is typical of someone that sleeps in a way that the chin tucks toward the chest, or the head and neck are in a poor alignment causing the airway to be obstructed. The best solutions are a pillow that support the neck, or a soft foam cervical collar. We have see a number of people with events just like your, immediately "cured" when they try to resolve this through positional therapy. Hopefully Melman will be along soon. His chart looked just like yours until he got a buckwheat husk pillow. He later moved to a soft cervical collar.

It is possible this apnea has a cause other than your airway closing from your head and neck position, but I strongly suspect it. It can be very inexpensive to try a soft cervical collar, available at drug stores, Walmart and Amazon. Give it a try, and if you don't see an immediate difference, we can focus on other possibilities.

[Melman]

[quote='Sleeprider' pid='200386' dateline='1492140480']
Roy, your problem is almost classic, and it's probably not related to pressure.  This pattern is typical of someone that sleeps in a way that the chin tucks toward the chest, or the head and neck are in a poor alignment causing the airway to be obstructed.  The best solutions are a pillow that support the neck, or a soft foam cervical collar.  We have see a number of people with events just like your, immediately "cured" when they try to resolve this through positional therapy.  Hopefully Melman will be along soon. His chart looked just like yours until he got a buckwheat husk pillow. He later moved to a soft cervical collar.

It is possible this apnea has a cause other than your airway closing from your head and neck position, but I strongly suspect it.  It can be very inexpensive to try a soft cervical collar, available at drug stores, Walmart and Amazon.  Give it a try, and if you don't see an immediate difference, we can focus on other possibilities.
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/quote]

Please see the next post

[Melman]

As Sleeprider points out, I was one of those who saw immediate improvement by preventing chin tucks. What worked for me was a buckwheat chaff pillow from amazon. Search for CPAPfit pillow. It cost $49 and was well worth it. It can be configured to stabilize your head in a side sleeping position and also to provide support for your neck. It sounded kind of strange but has turned out to be the most comfortable pillow I have ever used. There is a good review video on Amazon and it comes with pretty good instructions. I also tried a cervical collar for when I roll onto my back but it didn't improve my flow limits. That doesn't mean it wouldn't work for you.  A soft cervical collar is only $10 from amazon so it may be worth trying as well. There's a lot on the internet about buckwheat chaff pillows if you google. My AHIs for the week before I used the pillow were as high as 7 and 15. Since using the pillow they have usually been less that 1, usually don't exceed 2, and only exceeded 5 once in over a month.

[Roy289]

Sleeprider & Melman

Thanks for update. I watched the review of the buckwheat pillow on Amazon and it might be the solution for my repetitive OA clusters. Last night went back to my original F&P 405 nasal mask and had only one OA but about 23CA with AHI 3.44. Had essentially decided the F20 wasn't good fit for me.

I plan to check for cervical collars first and give the F20 another try. Update to follow.

Thanks for your suggestions