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Yesterday, I ended up using the Nasal Pilllow P30i instead of the recommended N30i as it fit better and didnt fail the leak test.
Although I want to check a few things:
Is it normal for the connection point above the mask to have air come out throughout the night, and how can I ensure the best fit on the nose for that mask to minimise leakage?
The mask fit test said it was a good fit unless i accidentally was breathing from my mouth when testing yesterday. I'd assume that it's all good? It didn't feel like there's was too strong of a airflow coming into my nose throughout the night but there was this constant soft flow coming through if I was breathing consistently
Hi, jnathanc I'd need to see the OSCAR charts, too, but at first glance it looks like you did well on your first night but need to sort out the leaks. It sounds like you're comfortable with the machine, which is a big plus. Let me know if you need the steps for turning on EPR.
There are two places where air is supposed to come out of the mask: 1. the elbow that clips onto the mask frame at the top of your head has a set of small holes where air comes out constantly. 2. the silicone nose piece has a small oval clear hard plastic insert referred to I think as the QuietAir Vent. Some air comes out of that, too, mainly when you exhale. These are intended to prevent excess CO2 from accumulating in the mask.
You don't want any air coming out where the elbow fits into the tube or where the tube connects to the machine. You also want to be sure the humidifier tub is all the way into the machine so that nothing is coming out there.
You want to be sure you have the correct sized pillows for your face. My first mask came in a Standard Starter Pack with the frame (the silicone part that fits around your head), the blue strap that fastens the frame behind your head with velcro, and pillows in the three main sizes -- small, medium, and large. Were you able to try all three sizes?
It doesn't need to be too tight.
If you sleep on your side, you might be displacing the mask aside at some point causing leaks. You may need to adjust your sleeping positions and arrangement of pillows to best advantage. Or you might be opening your mouth sometimes.
Sorry, I missed the post with the OSCAR chart. Sleeprider will be able to give you great advice on that. Good work getting all this together so quickly!
I do seem to be going alright with the machines. Just need to figure out the leak on the connection piece at the top, you mentioned that it's not meant to leak where it connects, but moreso where there's vent holes so I'll check that tonight, I think I felt air coming from where the elbow meets or fits with the climate line tube. I did make sure that it was set down as tight as possible.
That makes sense, so anything coming out from places that aren't vent holes ain't it. Got it
With EPR I do see the setting within the menus so I'll set that to 3 tonight and see how I go
I don't think I got extra pillow sizes, ie medium or large. I am supposed to get a call from a ResMed sleep coach soon so I'll mention that, but I will check again when I get home.
So comfortable is key, got it. As far as I know I do sleep in my side aswell, I'm not sure if I open my mouth or atleast not a lot, should be very as I'm more of a nasal breather, but I guess we'll know if we can't get the leaks down and everything else is addressed
Here in oz we have "universal" basic health cover (medicare) provided by the Federal government. it provides a very basic level of health cover to see your local doctor ( GP General practitioner). Thru our public hospitals it is possible to see medical specialist for free but the wait times are off the planet ( years in some cases).
If you want to see a private medical specialist (plastic surgeon, pulmonologist, orthopedics etc etc) the government will pay for 75% of the standard fee, sounds good until you realize that NONE of them charge the standard fee and out of pocket expenses can be anywhere from $40 up to hundreds but at least you can normally get in to see them in a week or two.
If you want to avoid the long wait times for surgery/medical procedures in the public system you can choose to go to a private hospital and to cover the cost of this you need to join a private health fund. BUPA and Medibank private are 2 such funds. for a monthly fee you can choose the level of cover (coverage) you require, it may be full cover with no out of pocket expenses, or varying types of partial cover where you choose to pay the first 1 or 2 hundred dollars per hospital admission or surgical procedure, yourself this reduces the cost of the private health cover. I pay about $4500 per year for 100 percent cover for a single person (family cover is dearer) and when I needed an in hospital sleep study done my pulmonologist arranged for me to go to a private hospital and got it done within a week rather than 6+ months in the public health system, didn't cost me a cent.
Because the universal basic health cover does not cover dental work, optical (glasses/contact lens etc), physiotherapy, medical appliances (cpap, wheelchairs, blood pressure machines etc) the private health funds offer "Extras" to help with the cost of theses things. Extra cover normally comes in gold/silver/basic varieties and are costed accordingly. I have a basic level of cover which pays 60% of most dental work annually, $500 towards the cost of a cpap machine every 2 years, 2 free pairs of glasses every year , 60% of physiotherapy/podiatry/chiropractor and other things.
Unfortunately quite a few of the private health funds (organizations) are offline this weekend undergoing security upgrades as we have had some serious hacking and data breaches occurring over the last few months so i cannot advise how much my extras cover cost and what other services it covers.
Please see my results for Night 2 -10 December 2022.
Note:
I have been trying to get the best fit by adjusting the nasal part of my mask every so often. Woke up at 5am then put it back on and turned it off at 8am AEST.
I did have a blocked left nose which made it a little more uncomfortable, but if the mask was adjusted to be less tight, it was pretty good.
AHI seems to be a bit higher than the previous two nights:
But everything else looks a little better?
I feel pretty good, though I have a few observations:
1. There is a constant flow of air from the machine, however, is it normal to not feel the air pressure through the nose piece consistently? (Unless I pull the nosepiece slightly away from my face/nose and re-adjust to get the rush of air. - I am using the P30i nasal pillow) - because it's so quiet unless I pull away, nose also feels like it's blocked if you will, maybe because it's dry. (may need future explaining)
2. I believe I most likely would do better with a product like the Philips dream wisp nasal [DME Link Removed]Search cpap sepcialist in Australia for "Philips dream wisp nasal"
3. The inside of my nose gets very dry throughout the night and once I wake up, which isnt too much of an issue, just a point
If I have anything else, I will bring it up.
Device data has also had a fresh erase.
Thank you
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Hi, jnathanc I haven't tried the Whisp mask myself, but it has many fans. It's definitely worth trying different masks to find the ones that work best for you.
I'm not sure about your question on feeling the airflow. You have it on APAP, so the pressure is varying, and getting a lot lower at some points than others. Perhaps the minimum needs to be set a bit higher, but others could advise you better on that.
I'm very used to my current pressure, so it doesn't feel like much. Sometimes, after I attach the hose, I reach up to the elbow that connects to the top of the mask to verify that there's normal airflow coming out of those little perforations.
Maybe you could look at the touch screen to see what the pressure is when it doesn't feel like there's pressure?
It's great that you're able to sleep so many hours with the machine after only three days. It also looks like you leaks and flow limits have gone down, so that's good.
