help needed

[teamarliss]

            I've noticed large leaks lately with my sleep therapy. This has coincided with weight gain. My wife says my machine beeps with a leak alert, and once I move it stops. I've attached some recent oscar data. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[Sleeprider]

You have high leaks most of the time. New or different size cushion, new headgear different mask. Lots of ways to do this. See the mask primer wiki.

[Dormeo]

The change in your weight may have changed the contours of your face, so it's time to redo some mask-fitting. Use an online video for your mask to optimize your strap adjustments, and then use the mask-fit setting on your machine to fine-tune. Do this lying down in your usual sleep positions, and check what happens when you move from one position to another. I hope this will help.

One other thought: is it time for a new mask?

I see you are still having clusters of events. Did you ever try a soft cervical collar?

I also see that you have multiple breaks in therapy each night. Are those bathroom breaks? Mask-adjustment breaks? Or ... ?

[teamarliss]

I'm a mouth breather so a cervical collar won't work. The breaks in therapy are me going to the bathroom.  While I'm awake, there is virtually no leakage, but when I go into deep sleep that's when the leaks start

[Dormeo]

Your face may change shape a little when you're asleep. You can try relaxing your facial muscles when you do your mask fitting to mimic that change.

You should be able to use a cervical collar and still breathe through your mouth. It would be great if you could give it a try.

About the bathroom breaks: do you restrict liquids in the 3 to 4 hours before bedtime? And have you had your prostate checked? For what it's worth, my husband had excellent results using a medication his doctor prescribed to cut down on night-time bathroom breaks.

[teamarliss]

I drink liquids within 2 hours before going to bed, I can't help it, I work late and when I come home I eat

[Dormeo]

There are always trade-offs, aren't there! Maybe you could drink your liquids earlier and then with dinner have less to drink, or even nothing. Not desirable, I know, but the possible pay-off would be more restful sleep. Worth pondering? Only you can weigh the potential benefits and deficits, of course.

[robbob2112]

Leak rate.. that is your first thing to fix and most other things will follow.