Mask gone bad over time? Or Difference in Resmed Masks Airtouch vs Airfit?

[mogulman]

I've been on CPAP/APAP for a long time.  Using a Resmed Airsense 10 (10-12 flow).

Over the last few months I've had trouble sleeping consistently.   Congestion, trouble breathing, and waking up in the middle of the night.   I've been on a few road trips in hotels and noticed that I slept better.  I assumed maybe it was the bed or the temperature (I keep it pretty cold in a hotel).  Maybe the altitude.  I live in Colorado (6200 ft).

I went to Vegas last week and again noticed that I was breathing and sleeping better.  I came home and put on my cpap and right away felt worse, harder to breath.   So it got me thinking that maybe it is something with my setup when I travel vs when I'm at home.  I have 2 setups (machine, mask, etc) for home and travel.   I tried a bunch of combinations to determine what was causing the lower breathing.  Swap machines, tubes, masks, nasal pillows, etc.

What I determined is that my Airtouch n30i (which I got about 6 months ago), Mask (not pillows) was restricting my flow in some way.   I even tried it with my travel nasal pillows from an Airfit n30i.  Still restriction.  Airfit N30i setup works great.

I feel so much better using the Airfit N30i with my home setup.  Glad I figured it out, but it was definitely weird.

The question is, can a mask headset go bad like this?  In this case the Airtouch n30i?   or is it possible that it was just more restrictive for me from the start and I never put it together?  I seems like the headset is pretty much exactly the same as the Airfit n30i.

[charlie*M]

How old is the foam in your airtouch?  Perhaps the memory foam has picked up some allergens.  Recommended replacement interval is 30 days, I believe.  (Same as the AirFit, but IMHO it's more important with the foam since you cannot wash it).  Glad you figured it out.  My wife used a mask with memory foam briefly but was much happier with the flexible silicone.

[mogulman]

How old is the foam in your airtouch?  Perhaps the memory foam has picked up some allergens.  Recommended replacement interval is 30 days, I believe.  (Same as the AirFit, but IMHO it's more important with the foam since you cannot wash it).  Glad you figured it out.  My wife used a mask with memory foam briefly but was much happier with the flexible silicone.

I could see that happening, but I was using the airfit silicone nasal pillow with the airtouch mask.   So the only thing I could think is if the diameter of the tubes is smaller in the airtouch or maybe the silicone contracted or something?