getting the right mask

[trish6hundred]

Hi catrina105, WELCOME! to the forum.! Best of luck to you with your CPAP therapy.

[Moriarty]

I have been using my cpap machine for three weeks. I have tried the repironics amara (leaked like crazy once the pressure started to go up), quattro fx full face and regular quatro full face mask. I am a side sleeper and haven't found the right mask yet. I end up waking two to three times a night to adjust the mask. I am getting so frustrated. Are there some full face masks that are best for side sleepers?

Hi Roxy

I have been on CPAP for about 3 months now.

I am a side sleeper and was a mouth breather (for 50 odd years). I could not get a seal with the full face Quatros - they always leaked at the top of my nose and made me feel uncomfortable. I went to a Mirage Liberty which has a mouth mask plus nasal pillows (a hybrid like PaulaO2 didn't like ) and got good results but found the weight and bulk a bit annoying. I found side sleeping with the Liberty possible but had to be careful with the type and arrangement of my pillow. I always used to use two pillows (a soft one on top of a firm one) but found that I haved less mask trouble when I used just the firm one.

For me the CPAP has had the effect of opening up my airways and I found that I was actually nose breathing a fair bit with the Liberty. I started practicing nose breathing and now I find I am spending most of my waking day not breathing through my mouth.

I am now able to sleep using a Nasal Pillows kit without a chinstrap. I have been trialing the Fisher and Pakel Pilairo and the ResMed Swift FX for the last 3 weeks on a week about basis and, although I love the look and feel of the Pilairo I am getting better results with the Swift FX.

The other things I have found helpful have been increased humidity and a heated hose. I also found that an AFlex setting of 1 (EPR) although it made the AHI worse at first, actually improved my AHI after a week of getting used to it.

The thing is of course everybody is different and has to find their own answer - if there was a one size that fitted all there would not be such a wide range of masks available.

All the best in your quest...

Cheers

David

[PaulaO2]

Oh yeah, I hated that mask. You know how sky divers look as the are falling? Cheeks flapping, mouth open? That was me. My face was a mess in the morning. I was actually wind burned even though I had only used it for an hour or two.