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New member from Oz
#1
New member from Oz
Hi Everyone,

Firstly thanks for this board.. So far it's been my first stop for advice to start figuring this out.

Years ago i was diagnosed with mild OSA.. But really bad snoring (So I'm told.. I've really never noticed it). I attempted to treat the problem by paying a fortune for an orthodontist to make me a mouthguard to pull my bottom jaw forward... And it didn't work..

Recently I have been noticing I was more and more tired.. So I saw an ENT who got a scan and told me I had a deviated septum (resultant from a real friendly character who broke my nose for me years ago).. He advised surgery would not be a guarantee and shipped me off to a titration study.

Now I'm the proud owner of a BMC Luna Cpap machine (Yes I like trying to save money).. I'm struggling with the masks though.. The BMC Ivolve masks just love leaking into my eyes.. The medium mask has an average leak of about 36lpm in a night and the large mask has leak of 29lpm.. The medium mask leaves me with a sore and red nose.. While the large mask just continuously squirts air into my eye which means I don't get any sleep or the mask doesn't stay on long enough to give me a sore nose.

Any advice on fitting the masks is welcome.. Or whether anyone has tried the custom made seals for masks?

Cheers,

Q
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#2
RE: New member from Oz
Welcome Q!

Yeah, mask fit is the number one issue that almost everyone has. It might just be that your mask just not fit your face. Is there any way that you can trial some other ones? If you are not a mouth breather, a nasal mask or nasal pillows are worth trying.

I am not familiar with that mask, but sometimes looser works better than tighter, contrary to what you might expect. Also placing a strip of T-shirt material or similar over the bridge of your nose might help. It won't stop the leaks but it might diffuse them enough that it won't bother your eyes and let you get some sleep. Air blowing into your eyes long term is not good for them, nor for getting much needed sleep.

I've not tried a custom seal, but I have tried a very sticky, squishy silicone seal and it did not work well for me. It poked me in the eye, slipped, and leaked anyway.

Chuck aka chill
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#3
RE: New member from Oz
Hi Qasaya,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
The mask is the hardest part of this therapy. Some people have to try quite a few 'till they find one that works well.
I wish you good luck on your CPAP journey.
trish6hundred
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#4
RE: New member from Oz
Are you certain you need a full face mask? A lot of us with a deviated septum do well on nasal pillows, and I've never had one blow air in my eyes. Lots smaller, easier to seal. If you can try some out, do it.
Sleeprider
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#5
RE: New member from Oz
Hello Qasaya, welcome to the forum.
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Advisory Members serve as an "Advisory Committee" to help shape Apnea Board's rules & policies. Membership in the Advisory Members group does not imply medical expertise or qualification for advising Sleep Apnea patients concerning their treatment.
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#6
RE: New member from Oz
Welcome to the page Q... yet another fellow Orztraylian here, we will take over soon. Grin

I am quite happy with my Fisher & Paykal Eson nose mask, I couldn't handle using nose pillows personally.
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#7
RE: New member from Oz
Im a chronic mouth opener when im sleeping.. tend to get a very congested nose which results in mouth breathing.

Ive adopted the looser straps is better approach. And with the larger ivolve mask i can stop it leaking into my eyes. I reduced the exhale relief completely though so the seal never really deflates. Also disabled ramp so it goes straight to treatment pressure.
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#8
RE: New member from Oz
So.. Better late than never.. But i absolutely hate it when people on forums don't follow up with how they are going.

SO:

I went through a pretty rough patch with the CPAP. Not sealing.. Blowing air into eyes.. So I would pretty much tear it off and stomp out to the couch to get a sleep. This was annoying because the mask would operate perfectly while I was trialling straps etc, but as soon as I went to bed to actually sleep it would leak non stop.

Never to be beaten and always looking for a way to make it work I realised that the only difference between going to sleep and trialling the mask was I always shower immediately before bed. My skin is quite dry after using soap on it and the silicon seal was just slipping out around my nose. The solution was to put a bit of sorbolene cream (I think it's a moisturiser.. Use it on the baby sometimes) to create a bit of an oily skin feel. Leave that for about 15 minute and the masked was sealing great. Also when trialling the mask I would have 2 pillows.. But I only sleep on 1. Realising that changing my head position was resulting in mask leak from my chin, I invested in a $2 retro style female headband from Coles. I put this over the centre of the mask and behind my neck. It's quite comfortable and just provides a little bit extra support to stop the mask slipping when I'm turning or rolling over at night.

The result is bringing my leak down from 36-45lpm to 14-24lpm. Treatment pressure is maintained all night and the apnea index is cruising at <1..

Wife still doesn't like the noise that comes from the vent holes on the mask.. They can be quite whistley I am told.. Tempted to try drilling them slightly bigger.. But I'm sure there is more science behind them instead of me just drilling them bigger.. lol.
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#9
RE: New member from Oz
Congrats on some successful steps forward. I am not sure exactly what the effect would be of drilling them larger. My feeling is that it would increase the leak rate. Yours is still border line OK and it might push it over.

Are they getting wet? If I have my humidity up too high, moisture will collect on mine and start a shrill whistle. Wife does NOT appreciate! Rubbing my fingers over the outside usually cures that. Both the mask and wife become quiet. Grin
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#10
RE: New member from Oz
Drilling the vent holes larger would reduce the pressure in the mask.
                                                                                                                          
Note: I'm an epidemiologist, not a medical provider. 
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