I've only been using CPAP since last winter. I used a nasal mask for the first four months, though. When it would leak, it was generally at the area that touched the bridge of my nose. At first, I would find that the sound of air hissing would wake me up. I'm pretty sure I started adjusting the mask in my sleep after a few weeks.
One thing I would see with the nasal mask was that, for me, a nasal cushion was only good for about six weeks. After that, it would start leaking enough to wake me up frequently. So you might want to keep an eye on the leak values to see if they increase with time. How long a nasal cushion lasts seems to vary greatly from person to person.
The other thing that you don't want, of course, is to lose your "tongue seal" and let pressurized air start escaping from your mouth. That may be happening during the short periods of time that are being recorded as "Large Leak".
Another thing that can happen is what people on the Apnea Board Forum usually call "lip leaking". This is when puffs of air escape from your lips. If it happens while you're awake, it will feel really weird. It's like fish lips. Lip leaking happens when you lose the "tongue seal" partially.
I don't know if any of this info. is at all helpful to you. If you are feeling better from using your CPAP machine, and you're not waking up with a very dry mouth, and the % of time in large leak stays low, you can just not worry about it.
Or you can try a chin strap or a full face mask. (The other way to go would be to try nasal pillows - those don't leak much at the interface with the nose. If leaks show up with them, you can be pretty sure they're coming from the mouth.)
(08-06-2016, 08:19 PM)Lanco Wrote: Below is what my respiratory therapist said when I questioned all the leaks. Average being around 50 l/m Highest Leak being 74 and Lowest Leak being 7:
"If your total AHI is 2.23 then that is acceptable. I wouldn't overthink this too much. Regardless of the leak, if your AHI is that low, then you are good. Textbook normal is less than 5."
I am only a bit insecure about this because the original data I sent him showed a low AHI like around 1.75 at that time but leak rate similar to what I have listed here. Following that he is telling me to get a chin strap and then maybe a full face mask.
Then he told me that all was ok after resubmitting the newer info. I assume he missed the AHI number in the first correspondence and then corrected, but not sure and am a bit insecure because of how this played out.
Comments?