Very confused [problem: exhale with nasal pillows]

[mrb268]

Hi everyone. I'm having a problem with my nasal pillows. I use a resmed airsense 10 with a max pressure of 14. I've been using the pillows for about a year with no issues. Then all of a sudden, I started to feel like I couldn't exhale. I could breathe in fine. Just couldn't exhale very well. I did set the the pressure to drop when I exhale but it hasn't helped. Could this be something wrong with the pillows or the hose where the exhaust escapes from? The pillows and hose are about a year old. I have 4 pillows tyhat I rotate. Has anyone else ever experienced this? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. 
                                       Thanks,
                                        Mike

[Walla Walla]

You probably want to clean the vents on the mask with a small brush. A toothbrush works. Make sure you dry it well before using it. I'd also order a new mask.

[Gideon]

If those vents are wet air will not pass thru them.

[mrb268]

Thanks Walla Walla and bonjour. I have also been waking up because of condensation in the nasal pillows. I think I will get the new mask and maybe the hose wrap? To keep condensation from forming in the mask? Worth a try I suppose.

[Walla Walla]

Might want to buy a heated hose also.

[Sleep2Snore]

Vents with tiny holes are easy to block with water, there is a trend to fit a fine mesh to some masks not to make them quieter, but they are very easy to block, even with the moisture from you breath.  So clean all small hole and mesh vents and make sure they are dry at the start of the night and you might need to lower your humidity in cold weather.

[mrb268]

Thanks everybody. I will certainly take your advise and keep you posted. Thank you so much for the quick responses.

[dracus]

I can concur with the above.

I have experienced the exact issue you have.

What happens in my case is that i get condensation in the tiny vents when I get up and disconnect to use the restroom. I eventually learned to leave it attached.

I do have the heated hose set on auto and it still happens but it started only recently so I suspect it's massive temperature changes.

[mrb268]

Update: I cleaned the mask with a tooth brush and that fixed my problem. I could exhale much easier. Thank you to everyone who responded with their advise. Much appreciated

[trish6hundred]

Hi mrb268,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
It's great you were able to get your mask working.
Good luck with CPAP therapy.