RE: Understanding leaks P30i
I'm thinking that rounded leak pattern will be more of a mouth leak. Are you sure the tape isn't porous or breathable material? I'd also think a Max of 10.x leak rate would be OK for therapy.
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RE: Understanding leaks P30i
There is a dotted line on the leak graph and all of yours are only half way up. That dotted line is where there is a large leak and yours are not significant and I would not worry about them.
RE: Understanding leaks P30i
Could it just be slight movement of the mask pillow as you turn over or otherwise shift in your sleep, allowing for small leaks? (I've also recently been able to - finally! - switch from FFM to nasal pillow or under-nose cushion, and usually have similar small leaks that I assumed were okay; worth it for me to get rid of the FFM anyway...)
RE: Understanding leaks P30i
I find i get leaks on the p30i when i adjust to side sleeping.. sometimes the side of head on the pillow pushes the mask enough to cause a bit of leakage. a little wiggle usually fixes it. but as someone else said, the leak volume isn't that high, so probably nothing to worry about.
RE: Understanding leaks P30i
Your post and drive to attain best numbers brings to mind my wife's complaint I reduce all I can to numbers. An exaggeration, of course, but she has me pegged fairly well. *
In my case it took position curves from an in-sagittal-plane accelerometer (in 2017 or 2018?), on my forehead and then at lumbar 4 to break me of denial about my supine sleep and then correct it until March 2021. At that point, I found I could rely on the cervical collar alone (and a mouth seal) to continue restful sleep, supine or lateral.
My point is that I still live in some denial about leaks, as I'd guess you are doing. I use a very effective mouth seal, but its sealing can vary. The seal (e.g., with unusual drooling or sweating, etc.) can slip down allowing lip leaks for smaller leaks (producing an E-hooked FR curve a bit like one for palatal prolapse. Shifts of position cause most of my larger leaks, as the accelerometer convinced me. The larger point has been made by others here. It's OK to have some leaks (as I'm sure you do know, despite the now-novel numbers ).
But more germane to your topic and need to rest easy: At or near March 15, 2021, I quit wearing a comfortable device that absolutely prevented sleep any closer than about 35 degrees off-supine for more than a year. Gradually, with new freedom to sleep supine, I did so more and more. Leaks reduced some and FL rose some. I haven't noticed any change in restfulness of sleep.
The graphic shows my active profile summary of leak and max FL for 2021 to date.
My OSCAR, SpO2, accelerometer and Dreem 2 are presenting boring data and its information. To find good illustrations of SDB, it is necessary, thankfully, to reach far back. I will be updating and reviewing the sleep charts less frequently and will be skipping more and more days between reviews while sticking to use of the oximeter and VAuto.
*Once I solved my leak problem sufficiently so as to sleep well and receive good therapy, it was time to turn to other matters. Presently it's a longstanding preoccupation with trying to understand UARS, reductions of tidal volume, deformation of inspiratory curves and how the latter are reflected in the Resmed Autoset and VAuto's data.
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I have no particular qualifications or expertise with respect to the apnea/cpap/sleep related content of my posts beyond my own user experiences and what I've learned from others on this site. Each of us bears the burden of evaluating the validity and applicability of what we read here before acting on it.
Of my 3 once-needed, helpful, and adjunctive devices I have listed, only the accelerometer remains operative (but now idle). My second CMS50I died, too, of old age and the so-so Dreem 2 needs head-positioning band repair--if, indeed, Dreem even supports use of it now.
