Welcome to Apnea Board !
As a guest, you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use.
To post a message, you must create a free account using a valid email address.
Login or Create an Account
I'm having some trouble choosing the settings for mask type on my machine and your help would be much appreciated.
I was previously using a Respironics DreamWear nasal mask and I was sleeping well but the mask was a little uncomfortable. So I switched to a Respironics Dreamwear full face cushion (nose pillow plus mouth) and it's more comfortable and my AHIs are still low but I'm not sleeping as well and I can't figure out why that is. I did notice that I hadn't switched my mask settings from "nose" to "full face" so maybe that has something to do with it, but can you please help me understand what that setting does? Thank you!
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
(09-17-2021, 08:21 AM)Sleepster Wrote: All that setting does is alter the pressure a small amount (less than 1 cm).
I was originally instructed by my sleep tech that the mask settings had little or nothing to do with pressure but were algorithmic computation changes to compensate for the generic vent rate that gets subtracted prior to the machine reporting a leak. Made sense at the time.
This raises the question, does the pressure increase with the leak rate? And, is there a correlation observable between the pressure and the leak rate in Oscar?
Bueller? Bueller?
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius
Well yes, I would imagine so. The pressure is meant to be kept constant as though in a *mostly* closed system. Any leaks above what the machine expects can throw off the calculations. And while the Resmed 10 is pretty good at handling leaks *apparently it can compensate up to around 50l/s even though it redlines at 24l/min over venting level, then if the mask is venting more or less than it expects, then that could skew the pressure settings. And that might be a small enough miscalculation to make little or no difference to your actual therapy and results, but we've also seen some people who are sensitive to very small changes too.
I don't think, alone, that the setting would have necessarily made your sleep less restful (but I would switch it to the correct setting now), but you do seem to be getting a lot of leaks, and those can wake you (or at least, disturb you enough to feel less than rested). It may also simply be you're adjusting to the different style of mask, too. How long ago did you switch masks?
I wish the Dreamware had pillows and not the silicone with a hole part here and I'd get it. I tried the F30 with a similar design but I just cannot get it to stay in place and more often than not, it shifts enough to block one or both nostrils, and that's enough to wake me up. I know Resmed used to make a hybrid mask that was pillows and an oral mask, but it doesn't seem to be manufactured anymore in the UK, at least.
