Ultra Mirage II v ResMed Air Fit

[Mountainsleeper]

Hello,

I have been using the Ultra Mirage II for 10 plus year with great success, however my glasses have recently cut the skin on the side of my nose and it's been unable to heal for over 4 months due to my mask rubbing the area at night. Have tried band aids etc to no avail and decided to try a different mask.

The ResMed Air Fit seems to fit ok and solves the problem with not touching the infected area however the sensation I feel with this new mask is that I'm getting too much pressure and and my heart rate increases and I find it difficult to fall asleep and then after a few hours I wake up and end up switching masks.

Has anyone had this experience and can offer any advice, I actually like this new ResMed mask and would like to make it work.

One other thing I should mention is that over the past 3 years I've lost a lot of weight and got into much better physical shape. Over the course of a few weeks early this year I lowered my Cpap pressure from around 15 to 6 and am still getting a great nights sleep. I'm not sure I can go any lower with the base pressure at 4.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
M

[Julie]

Hi, Download (free) Oscar from the top of the page, follow info re which graphs to post (and which not to), leave off the calendar and pie chart and post here according to directions so we can see what's going on... plse stay in this thread. Also, are you using a plain cpap or auto (again, confusing). You can't go lower than 4, the machine's default, but that may not be the problem. PS, I also find the UMFF can get a bit scratchy, so have half inch x 1" memory foam square under the 'bad' part. What machine are you using and at what pressure(s)?

[Mountainsleeper]

Thanks Julie, let me get working on that today, should be able to post results later if I can figure it all out.
I'm using the ResMed Airsense 10 autoset. I now have the machine set to 4 on the low and 6 on the top if that makes sense.
Let me know if you need anything else and I'll try and figure out the Oscar app.
Thank you!

[Mountainsleeper]

Forgot to ask, when you say you have foam under mask is that in the spot where it's rubbing? Doesn't that break the seal?

[Pugsy]

Exactly which AirFit model mask did you get?

[khauser]

Thanks Julie, let me get working on that today, should be able to post results later if I can figure it all out.
I'm using the ResMed Airsense 10 autoset. I now have the machine set to 4 on the low and 6 on the top if that makes sense.
Let me know if you need anything else and I'll try and figure out the Oscar app.
Thank you!

There's almost NO benefit to reducing the max pressure on an APAP. The min setting is where the machine starts, and the max setting is only limiting how high it can go. So you haven't necessarily been reducing your pressure (no way to know without data), but you have been limiting your machine from possibly reaching the pressure it thinks it needs.

The only reason I know of to reduce the max is the pressure is leading to CAs.

Now, I think you said you were happy with your sleep ... so this may not be an issue for you, but I think you should reconsider what you've done...

[Mountainsleeper]

AirFit™ P10 Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask

[Pugsy]

AirFit™ P10 Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask

Ahhh....nice mask...I used it for many years myself. The pressure is definitely going to "feel" different with it when compared to the more diffused delivery of the Ultra Mirage II. It can feel like it is a lot of pressure compared to what you have been used to all these years.

What size nasal pillow are you using? If you can move up a size that might help it be less annoying to you.

You don't want to be lowering the pressure just because it "feels" different without also monitoring the results in terms of how the lower pressure effects the treatment of your OSA. Now maybe with the weight loss you can get by with less pressure but that's not always guaranteed.

You can't go lower than 4 cm...and you might not want to anyway if the lower pressure allows too many apnea events to slip past the defenses.
Try adding in EPR if you aren't using it already and see if that helps how it feels....
Note you won't feel EPR's benefit if you start at 4 cm....the machine can't drop. I would suggest maybe 6 or 7 minimum and 3 EPR...then you get 4 on exhale and 6 or 7 on inhale while awake and see if that is more comfortable for you....along with larger nasal pillow if you can go up in size. Set the maximum quite a bit higher to give the machine room to go up if it needs to....it won't go up without a good reason.

See how that feels as well as how those settings end up dealing with your apneas by reviewing the software reports.

Also ...you can use the mask and machine while watching TV or reading to get yourself more used to how it feels so that it will be less annoying. You used a different mask for many years and your body just got used to how it felt...now a different mask feels different but eventually the body will get used to it....just takes time.
You still have to deal with the apneas too though.

[jimbud]

The only reason I know of to reduce the max is the pressure is leading to CAs.

Aerophagia.

JPB

[khauser]

Oh, yeah ... good point!

[Mountainsleeper]

I'm replying to all of your posts but nothing seems to be posting online, I'm not ignoring any of you just super frustrating why this isn't showing up... any advice although this probably won't show up either

[Mountainsleeper]

Oscar software won't install on my Mac, keep getting error message saying it's from unknown developer so won't install.

[Mountainsleeper]

Thanks khauser, that makes sense. This winter I started to feel like I was waking up with massive amounts of air being pushed into my lungs and a sensation that I was getting way too much pressure. I'll hopefully be able to upload the data shortly but I started to think it might make sense to reduce the high end pressure so that in the case of an event I wouldn't or maybe didn't need as much pressure to open my airway as I used to based on my new weight loss and fitness level.

So I started to reduce the high end by a level or so once a week until I got all the way down to six. I've been on Cpap for 20 years or so and typically I judge it's effectiveness by how I feel in the morning or if I wake up at night etc. For the past 3 years unless I've eaten badly or been drinking I typically feel great in the mornings and have energy to workout and ride and ski. So my thinking was if the machine was too low and the pressure wasn't sufficient to open my airway in the case of an event I'd wake not feeling well and we all know what that's like but I haven't felt that at all, quite the opposite actually, I feel much better and my lungs feel better from the lower pressure.

I'm going to download the software and see if I can upload this data so you can take a look at what might be happening and offer advice.
Thanks so much.

[khauser]

Oscar software won't install on my Mac, keep getting error message saying it's from unknown developer so won't install.

Have a look at http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... _Apple_Mac ... in particular:

To launch OSCAR for the first time, you will need to grant it permission, otherwise you will receive an error that it "can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer." To grant OSCAR permission to run:

[jimbud]

I'm replying to all of your posts but nothing seems to be posting online, I'm not ignoring any of you just super frustrating why this isn't showing up... any advice although this probably won't show up either

Sometimes one will hit the preview button instead of the submit button by mistake and not notice.

I have been guilty of that myself.

JPB