(02-24-2014, 11:45 PM)retired_guy Wrote: ...My machine has been running at max 15 since I started cpap. When your asleep, and your mask is working properly, you have no real sense of anything going on. It's only when you open your mouth, or a leak happens or whatever. Then you think you just got sucked up in some vortex or something. That's what has been going on with my nifty new full face mask I'm trying to master. Actually, it reminds me of when you first bring a nice healthy tuna on board. It looks sound, it seems sound, but it sure flops around a lot.
Tonight I'm going to drop the pressure to 12 and see if the mask behaves better. I'm hoping it does, because currently my body is enjoying a bit of a cold, and my nose isn't really working. So the ffm would be a good thing.
Now that makes more sense -- sure, if you open your mouth on a "nasal only" mask then the air will howl in through your nose and out your mouth.
Leaks can work the same way, especially if aimed at your EYES which are very sensitive to wind and the dirt or dust it usually carries.
So the obvious solution is, "Fix the Leaks" and "Don't open your Mouth"
I am NOT being completely facetious here but my guess is you have tried those solutions.
You might however focus on those PROBLEMS rather than the pressure.
There are probably people who have dealt with your specific kind of mask and/or leaks.
There are solutions for keeping your mouth close or other types of masks.
Some people have explained ways to train yourself to open your mouth while shutting off access to your nose to lung air passage.
I can do this one by raising my tongue a bit in the back and dropping it back towards my throat.
Some can do the opposite -- close off the nose while breathing through the mouth.
Makes sense as we ALL (probably) can suck a REALLY THICK milkshake through a straw withing snorting through our nose.
Most people have used suction to fill a pipette or to start a syphone (gasoline/petrol or water).
Blowing up a balloon is similar -- almost no one pinches their nostrils to do that.
These are all conscious activities so they might be more trouble to ensure while sleeping.
(02-24-2014, 11:45 PM)retired_guy Wrote: If the mask will hold at 12, then I'll keep an eye on the AHA! score for a few days and see if anything untoward happens.
If the mask will hold at 12, then likely you are only fighting LEAKS of the MASK.
I can't tell the difference between 8 and 14 (except that 14 feels a little more comfortable) but then I have no appreciable leaks.
Leaks are usually not that big a deal for THERAPY per se, but if they annoy you or otherwise ruin your sleep and therapy they MUST BE FIXED.
The mouth leak has to be fixed too, even if it means a different type of mask than the one your prefer now.
I have high opens for the "Hybrid Mask" (and it might arrive today) as a back up for when congestion prevents me from using a nasal only mask (pillows.)
So far, despite my severe, chronic congestion, my CPAP has worked every day (just 24 so far, so I am still a newbie) with the nasal pillow mask.
(But besides being a newbie I am a speed reader and my job involves assimilating high volumes of both technical information and subject [reviews] accounts.)