Nasel vs Full Mask

[aherman18]

So,

I've been on the CPAP thing for about 6 weeks. For the first couple of weeks I was using a dreamwear nasal cushion. It was fine for a week or so, then I had severe congestion and switched to a dreamwear fullface. During this entire time AHI was between 10 and 15. I upped the pressure, especially the starting pressure and I did have some OK nights.

Well, I woke up fighting the full mask last night and for some reason I pulled out the nasal cushion. Even with some congestion, AHI dropped to 7 or so. Still high but much better.

Any clues why that might be?

I think the CA at the end were me waking up and not wanting to get out of bed.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

screenshot-20180507-181638.png (118.68 KiB) Viewed 1052 times

[Okie bipap]

My wife and I both see clusters of CAs just before getting out of bed. It is typical sleep/wake junk (SWJ). I would recommend raising your minimum pressure to at least 10 or 11.

[LSAT]

When you were using the Nasal mask you were most likely losing your therapy out your mouth.

[aherman18]

When you were using the Nasal mask you were most likely losing your therapy out your mouth.

I started with the full face, then later switched to the nasal.

Better AHI with nasal - do you think I was losing therapy but my AHI was decreasing?

Thanks for the input.

I will also raise the min to 10 and see what happens.

Thanks

[chunkyfrog]

A HIGH LEAK RATE will help indicate mouth leakage.
I have lower leak rates and lower AHI with a nasal mask (or pillows) than full face,
simply because full face masks do not fit as well, and tend to be more disturbing.
[[[YMMV]]]

[mesenteria]

I know it is obvious (or, it is to me), but would you not/should you not return to the nasal mask ASAP? I understand why you felt you needed a break from it. But, unless you have chronic congestion or are still sick, I would think you should get back to what was working best. I was warned off the full facial mask the second day when I declared that I wanted one. My first night was terrible with mouth leaks; I had selected the N20 mask. My therapist asked me to tough it out another few days because the full masks are historically more problematic for a wider range of users.

[BTS]

Unless I am sick and absolutely can not breathe through my nose FFMs have been the worst for leaks and experience for me .. I am on the P10 pillows and have no issues at all, IMO the best mask out there ...

[palerider]

So,

I've been on the CPAP thing for about 6 weeks. For the first couple of weeks I was using a dreamwear nasal cushion. It was fine for a week or so, then I had severe congestion and switched to a dreamwear fullface. During this entire time AHI was between 10 and 15. I upped the pressure, especially the starting pressure and I did have some OK nights.

Well, I woke up fighting the full mask last night and for some reason I pulled out the nasal cushion. Even with some congestion, AHI dropped to 7 or so. Still high but much better.

Any clues why that might be?

I think the CA at the end were me waking up and not wanting to get out of bed.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Your chart hides so much important information, please review the examples in my sig, and redo your chart, get rid of the useless AHI chart and the redundant mask pressure. we want to see flags, flow, pressure, leak, snore and flow limitations.

transitional apneas near the beginning and end are something to usually be ignored.

I'd raise the max to 20, and lower the EPR

[palerider]

When you were using the Nasal mask you were most likely losing your therapy out your mouth.

I started with the full face, then later switched to the nasal.

Better AHI with nasal - do you think I was losing therapy but my AHI was decreasing?

For some people, a FFM pushes their jaw back, narrowing their airway, and causing their AHI to be higher, or needing more pressure. Since the nasal masks don't push back on the jaw, they may result in a more open airway.

[aherman18]

Thanks all, I have a lot to learn.

I've always had congestion issues at night. When I wake up, with the nasal mask, nostrils are extremely dry.

Heading to doc in am for a checkup. Will see how that goes.