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Chart Envy
#21
RE: Chart Envy
Thanks for the reply Jas,

I tried the Philips Amara View minimal contact size medium FFM last night, pressures 8.5 - 13 and it just blew off at anything above 12 so back to DME to try a different one - will ask to try the Resmed F20, I will say it was a lot more comfortable without chinstrap and tape malarkey.

My Brevide was sm/xs nose piece for future ref - I'm using this thread to track what I'm trying along the way.

Also I tried a 'Best in Rest' Memory Foam CPAP pillow for the first time and its just great for a front/side sleeper like me allowing you to have the mask protruding off the end meaning you don't knock the mask sideways with the pillow, so thats a bit of a result. My hose caddy also appeared and tried that too, having the hose dangling rather than getting caught seems to prevent me waking up needing to pull the hose. I previously had a rolled up t shirt jammed between mattress and frame to prevent the hose snagging on the bed but this definitely seems better.

So pillow a win, hose caddy from amazon a win too, it was only about $25 so great value and folds up for travel.

Will try the F20 and report back - heres last nights trend.

Other FFM ideas appreciated for a front/side sleeper please ? I know its a game of kissing frogs but I'd rather kiss less frogs.......

Rob
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#22
RE: Chart Envy
Keep us posted on your sleep study results. I think an ASV is in your future.
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#23
RE: Chart Envy
(08-10-2018, 09:03 AM)Technopauper Wrote: Thanks for the reply Jas,

I tried the Philips Amara View minimal contact size medium FFM last night, pressures 8.5 - 13 and it just blew off at anything above 12 so back to DME to try a different one - will ask to try the Resmed F20, I will say it was a lot more comfortable without chinstrap and tape malarkey.

My Brevide was sm/xs nose piece for future ref - I'm using this thread to track what I'm trying along the way.

Also I tried a 'Best in Rest' Memory Foam CPAP pillow for the first time and its just great for a front/side sleeper like me allowing you to have the mask protruding off the end meaning you don't knock the mask sideways with the pillow, so thats a bit of a result. My hose caddy also appeared and tried that too, having the hose dangling rather than getting caught seems to prevent me waking up needing to pull the hose. I previously had a rolled up t shirt jammed between mattress and frame to prevent the hose snagging on the bed but this definitely seems better.

So pillow a win, hose caddy from amazon a win too, it was only about $25 so great value and folds up for travel.

Will try the F20 and report back - heres last nights trend.

Other FFM ideas appreciated for a front/side sleeper please ? I know its a game of kissing frogs but I'd rather kiss less frogs.......

Rob

Resmed mirage quattro is my choice for full face, and a memory foam pillow, cpap machine on table level with head, heated hose just hangs free has never snagged and i'm a side sleeper, and i have my mask adjusted so if i go chin down it starts to leak, and i now sleep on my side with my head back enough to help keep airway open and i'm leak free. Took me 3 months to get body used to it now i can't sleep any other way, AHI was in the high 90's when I started 4 years ago, now averages 0.5 or less (always a nice feeling waking up to a big 0 events per hr on the display most mornings) i do have bad nights where i might hit 5 but they are usually if i'm being stupid, or have done something silly during the day.

I'll quite often take the hose from the machine, tuck it under the end of the pillow and leave a loop from the pillow to the mask, and if i roll over during the night, the hose follows me and pulls out from under the pillow if it needs to. Only issue with the Quattro is the vent is on the bridge of the nose so if the hose is "vertical" the air from the vent hits it and its loud.
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#24
RE: Chart Envy
All,

I was about to agree with you then this happened, got a new Airfit F20 gel mask and tested it in the place up to 17 with no leaks, even speaking to the tech as he was upping pressures so took it home.

Last night I struggled with the mask initially as nose was a bit blocked up because of the forest fire smoke here but then was able to turn much more freely without leak with the hose caddie and got a decent night's sleep.

From the trend attached, miraculously no centrals at all and a very low (lowest ever) AHI for me - how is this possible with the change from a nasal mask to full face ? Previously with nasal I was using a tight chinstrap and fully taping my mouth closed so not sure mechanically how could my mouth have been causing or erroneously showing up centrals ?

Hoping something miraculous has happened here mask related and things are in fact simpler than we all thought and that I was somehow making an almighty bollocks of using the nasal mask previously but just not sure how ? Regulars please wade in with any theories you might have or could one night simply be a fluke ?

Rob
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#25
RE: Chart Envy
mathewb,

I'm also wondering how much the change of pillow may have affected an improvement as a front sleeper - my head is more 'in line' with my body now and the hose caddie seems to make a massive difference, think I managed to change 'face side' a few times without actually waking up which is a first since starting CPAP. I think I managed to have the right amount of hose dangling on the head side of the fulcrum for it just to be hanging freely and therefore pull easier when I move.

This stuff seems to play a bigger role in decent sleep than I first thought as the last few nights of adjustment seems to have helped sleep ahead of the actual numbers improving.

The F20 also seems generally tighter on my face than any other has to date, the seal just seems more robust than other masks I've tried.

Rob
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#26
RE: Chart Envy
A good head supporting pillow makes a lot of difference, Masks will also make a massive difference, I can't get the F20 to fit my face shape at all, if i use it AHI goes stratospheric. If you have found a FFM that has helped and works better than nasal pillows, welcome to my world.
Now i have a mask that works for me, I find pillow choice is not as difficult, but i like my memory foam one for overall comfort and support. I doubt i'd go back to a "soft down style" pillow now.

Some people need a full face mask to get proper treatment(I sure do) and if its working for you, don't change a thing. You will know whats happening, give it a week or 2 and see what the charts are doing, then look at tweaking settings if you need to. You may find a lot of what you have found now goes out the window now you're breathing better at night due to the mask change.
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#27
RE: Chart Envy
and we're back to sh**ty therapy..............

Before going to sleep I loosened off the bottom straps a bit to make the mask more comfy and as a result had a bad night off mouth breathing and dry mouth as a result - its truly amazing to me the difference mouth breathing makes to both AHI and actual sleep quality - this is a new learning for me and should be understood by anyone learning as I am, i thought the result of mouth breathing was simply discomfort !

Is this really the possible / probably cause of such a massive difference (4-34) ?

My mouth was seeming to get stuck halfway out the bottom of the mask so I needed to push it back in, tried tightening later in the night when I figured out what was happening.

Mouth breathing in my case seems to lead to really bad therapy results, up to this point I thought it only resulted in discomfort, for some reason I wasn't making the link to poor therapy.........maybe I'm a little tired and dopey :-)

For tonight I will re-tighten it to where the Tech fitted it and if it happens again then its back to chinstrap for me - think I need to maybe try the cervical beck brace, had been putting this off because of it being summer and worrying about seating too much.

Thoughts on chinstrap versus neck brace, and which neck brace appreciated ?

Onwards...........

Rob
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#28
RE: Chart Envy
Sorry a quick question before bedtime if there are any regulars around ?

For me to have dry mouth this morning I must have been mouth breathing outside the confines of the full face mask correct ? If I had been mouth breathing within its containment then there wouldn't be any adverse effects correct ?

Rob
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#29
RE: Chart Envy
Just a chance of a sore throat. Get a glass of water with a straw that you can slip under your mask when thirty. Aso try and pickup xylimelts on the internet. They help keep your mouth moist at night.
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#30
RE: Chart Envy
Last night was a trial with fairly amazing results, the first half of the night I was FFM only (Small Airfit F20) tightened up a bit but without securing my chin and then I woke up at 0415 (due to mouth breathing I think) and put my chinstrap on as well.

I think the difference in events between the two halves of the night's sleep is simply astounding and I feel great this morning - I am truly blown away by the difference that reducing and containing my mouth breathing within my mask makes to my overall therapy and I want to shout this revelation from the mountain tops........ but one swallow does not make the summer so will maybe just monitor for a few days :-)

I really don't understand how mouth breathing can cause events and would really appreciate an explanation from learned members ?

Anyway happy to have figured something out, because the only constant thus far has been lack of repeatability of results so I'm quietly confident or at least mildly optimistic that I've made a breakthrough of sorts........

Thanks to all here for the help, advice and morale support as I've started to learn about treatment, now really hoping its simple apnea after all but will know the Titration Sleep Study results in a week too and will post those.
 

Rob
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