the journey so far

[miles2go]

hello all!

as you no doubt can tell, i'm new here. but i've been reading here for some time now. i've picked up a lot of handy tips along the way. my thanks to you all.
so i've got something to ask, but first, the obligatory background. i'm a 61 year old male, retired, diagnosed with mild to moderate sleep apnea. for this, i'm grateful. why? because i've read the horror stories from those who have heavy sleep apnea and i'm glad i don't have to adjust to those pressures.
i started this cpap journey back in may of this year. i wasn't one of those who adapted straight away.but i stuck with it and eventually reaped some benefits. for one, no more multiple trips to the bathroom each night.(i didn't even know this was an apnea related thing!) no more waking up at 3 am and laying there and laying there AND LAYING THERE. back to sleep is ever so much easier. and finally, while i didn't have constant headaches at waking up, i used to get them now and then. now, almost never.
of course, life in slumber land isn't perfect, or i wouldn't be here now, would i?
i started out my journey using nasal pillows. i had thought this would be the easier route, particularly given my beard. and i really did give it a try. but no matter how i adjusted smartflex or how i changed my pressure, i would just hit a wall of too much air going into me and inflating me like a balloon. i stuck with that for ALMOST 6 months, then decided to try the FFM i'm wearing now.
what a difference! at once, i was able to tolerate higher pressures with no feeling of blasting air into me. AND my AHI got down to around 3! happy days indeed.
so if the AHI number is looking good, why aren't i sleeping "better"? i still wake multiple times in the night. i know there is the term awakening and the term arousal. i mean the one where i am aware of being awake. and i don't wake up refreshed in the morning.
as soon as i can, i will post sleepyhead graphs. i am not knowledgeable about how to interpret the data, so i'll be depending on you folks.
in the meantime, are there suggestions you can make? are there questions i can answer?
i appreciate it!

[cate1898]

Welcome to ApneaBoard miles2go!

How is your leak rate on your FFM?

[miles2go]

Welcome to ApneaBoard miles2go!

How is your leak rate on your FFM?

thanks for the welcome! a quick look shows leak rate of around 3 and has been as high as 7 over the last few days. total leaks are-
min 37
med 40
95% 44
max 45
for last night. and they generally stay around there except for when i hit the 7. these numbers may be somewhat skewed. had a stuffy nose and took benedryl for two nights. my AHI was fantastic (1.07 and .097) but i've read enough to know i want to stay away from that stuff!

[DumfriesDik]

Another beard here! Welcome!!

Sorry your mask is not working for you. I could not get on with an FFM, shows how different we all are.

[cate1898]

I'm even newer at this than you miles2go, however it looks to me as your leaks are still too high. 24 is the top of what is considered to be acceptable. The numbers you show go above.

If you're liking the FFM what about a mask liner? I think they're called Remzzz.

Also if you have somewhere you can buy with a 30 day money back guarantee, have a look at the PR DreamWear mask. Might be worth trying, or not. You'll have to decide. But using it I've cut my leaks down to almost nil.

[trish6hundred]

Hi miles2go,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for more responses to your post and much success to you as you continue your CPAP therapy.
P.S. The mask is the hardest part of the therapy, so if you are having trouble with the one you are using now, don’t be shy about asking to try different ones ‘till you find the one that works well for you.

[PaytonA]

Cate1898,

Miles2go reported total leak which I take to mean that it is like the PR machines. The 24 l/min leak rate target is for only the unintentional portion of the total leak rate, which is what the Resmed machines report. Assuming that my assumption is correct, miles2go's leak rate is very nice. If you assume 30 l/min vent rate then miles2go's leak rate numbers are between 7 and 15 l/min. Nice job miles2go.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

[miles2go]

Another beard here! Welcome!!

Sorry your mask is not working for you. I could not get on with an FFM, shows how different we all are.

yes, we are,indeed,all special snowflakes. i'm surprised that this therapy works as well as it does, considering those differences. i had looked carefully among the websites and it seemed nasal pillows were the way to go. but it didn't do the full job.
but i was ready to try something ready to try something new. i think this will work out once i get it tweaked.
i know some who have shaved their beards for cpap. i don't think i'm ready to do THAT!

[miles2go]

I'm even newer at this than you miles2go, however it looks to me as your leaks are still too high. 24 is the top of what is considered to be acceptable. The numbers you show go above.

If you're liking the FFM what about a mask liner? I think they're called Remzzz.

Also if you have somewhere you can buy with a 30 day money back guarantee, have a look at the PR DreamWear mask. Might be worth trying, or not. You'll have to decide. But using it I've cut my leaks down to almost nil.

actually, i AM using a mask liner. but i've never bothered to trim in out so it has a bit of overhang. maybe that's the problem?
at any rate, i hadn't even thought of looking at my leak numbers. and i don't know what to do to improve them. i don't really feel like i'm getting a lot of leaks with it.
i don't like the idea of trading out masks. i can't seem to make up my mind, even with 30 days to do so.

---

Hi miles2go,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for more responses to your post and much success to you as you continue your CPAP therapy.
P.S. The mask is the hardest part of the therapy, so if you are having trouble with the one you are using now, don’t be shy about asking to try different ones ‘till you find the one that works well for you.

thanks, trish. see my reply above. i don't feel like 30 days is giving me enough time to decide. fortunately, i'm in a position where i can afford to buy a new one.

[miles2go]

Cate1898,

Miles2go reported total leak which I take to mean that it is like the PR machines. The 24 l/min leak rate target is for only the unintentional portion of the total leak rate, which is what the Resmed machines report. Assuming that my assumption is correct, miles2go's leak rate is very nice. If you assume 30 l/min vent rate then miles2go's leak rate numbers are between 7 and 15 l/min. Nice job miles2go.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

OH! i have something that shows up as "Minute Vent." if i assume that what you are assuming in your assumption(!), that this is what you are talking about, how does this sound?
Min 4
Med 6
95% 8
Max 10
that's just a random pull out of data, but it stays around that neighborhood. is this good?
at any rate, is leak the only thing that will help me with my original problem?
to repeat, i'm waking up multiple times during the night and would much prefer sleeping solidly.