nasal vs full face mask

[staceyburke]

I don't mean to be pushy but how was last night?

[cpapnovice]

thank you for asking. i forgot to put sd card back in machine, but slept for 6 hours according to myair with 85 point score 1.8 events for hour.  did not start to feel sleepy until  6 pm compared with my usual 4 pm. 


i see second slot in machine for memory stick. will it work with oscar?
should i try mouth tape to put my "sleeping with mouth open" dilema to rest? If yes what supplier number do you recommend?

[staceyburke]

Let’s wait and see how you did tomorrow. Look like you did better, great

[Sleepster]

i posted number of images in previous thread i started regarding high leaks with my resmed f30i full face mask.  Someone here recomended using nasal mask. so i switched to resmed n30i mask. so looking at attached images, is it mission accomplished?

No, not in my opinion.

i do not know if i sleep with mouth open. but with nasal mask he told me if i wake up with dry mouth it means i sleep with mouth open.

All you have to do is look at your leak rate graph to make that determination. See those extended stretches of time where your leak rate is higher than it is the rest of the time? That's an indication of mouth-leaking. Even if the leak rate doesn't go above 24 L/min it can still disturb your sleep. I recommend a chin strap or a soft cervical collar. If that doesn't work, or if you don't want to try them, then you can try a different full face mask. It usually takes several tries to find one that works well for any given individual. We all have different shaped faces.

with nasal mask i would wake up with mouth dry most of the times. this is the reason i went to f30i which gave me huge number of leaks. today i did not wake up with dry mouth but most of water in humidifie was still there. so i am confused about my results last night

The amount of water left in the tank depends on the ambient humidity, too, so that's not a reliable indicator. Looking at the leak rate graph is the best way to make that determination, in my opinion.

[cpapnovice]

not much progress last night

[staceyburke]

Your EPR is set at 3. Let’s try 2  min at 9.6

You had some large leaks but it did not lead to any obstruction so you do need to work on it and if tomorrow we could try to tape but I don’t want to make to many changes - we won’t know which helped.

[cpapnovice]

i was not able to change EPR to greater than 3. Do i have to ask doctor to change to 9?  Or my machine does not allow it? 
Attached is last night. Looks like fewer leaks over threshold.

[staceyburke]

Sorry I guess I was not able to explain well enough. 

You EPR is set at (your machine has the settings 1, 2, 3)

Yours is set at 3. Set it to 2. EPR=2

Your min pressure is set at 9   Set it to 9.6

That should further reduce centrals and help with flow limits.

[staceyburke]

I guess I should have asked if you know how to get to the clinician menu?  If not it is easy. 

1. Turn on the machine by pressing the round button. 
2. Hold down the round and the home button for about 10 seconds
3. You are in the clinician menu where you can change the pressures
4. Use the round file to move down to the setting you want to change. 
5. Press the round button and then turn it to get the number you want
6. Press the round button to save the number to the machine
7. After you have made all the new settings, press the home button

You have made changes and ready for the night

If you knew all that sorry but I did not want to wait until you responded I plan to be out for the day.

[cpapnovice]

thank you. i know how to get to clinical menu but unfortunately only DME can change pressure. And DME can do this under direction of doctor.  I fired my doctor and now waiting for new appointment in few weeks.  In 5 months i will be done with DME and sleep doctors.  I am assuming at some point in next few months i will get rid of leaks and will not need any changes to pressure. But if i do and not under care or doctor or DME, how do i change pressure if needed?