Dogman11

I have been on CPAP for about 10 years and was unable to find a good full face mask until recently. My bad experiences include leaks, and raw nose bridge. I saw an ad for the new Resmed Airfit F20 and knew that I had to try it because the design is a big change from the run of the mill masks. I am saddened to hear that it did not work for you. I also had it slip up to my mouth but since I started washing my face before bedtime and wiping the mask every night that hasn't been a problem. I have never had any luck with chin straps. They all slip off during the night.

I think the Airfit F20 is wonderful. Others that I work with also report good results. After two months my nose has healed and my leakage is very low. I am using an ResMed S10 Autoset which is the latest and greatest from ResMed. This machine sends wireless reports to a site called MyAir that gives me a daily report. My scores have been 100 most of the time which makes me and my sleep doctor very happy. My previous machine was the ResMed S9 Auto set which was very good until it died after five years.

Because of my prior mask problems I did try the fireman type full mask. It leaked because it needs about twice the straps that it has to equal the Scott Airpac type of seal.

Early on I had a full face mask that worked like a charm. They quit making it so I had to move on the something else. I could never find a full face that did not leak and wake me up so I changed to a nasal mask. I tried every chin strap available to hold my mouth shut but they all slipped and I would end up with a very dry mouth and poor leakage readings. I even tried taping over my mouth. This actually worked quite well, but I didn't think of it as a long term solution. I think that the chin straps pull your lower jaw back which closes your throat making apnea worse. The nasal masks all have forehead rests and tore up the bridge of my nose. I haven't experienced myself or heard of anyone swallowing air while they slept. I do know that people can swallow air while they are eating. I was about your age when I began to have fall on your knees stomach cramps. Turns out that** I had become lactose intolerant*, it made me cry to have to stop drinking milk. I was very happy when Rice Milk became available and cereal was back on my breakfast list. **Just something to look into. * When I recently saw an add for the new** ResMed Airfit F20** I knew that I had to try it out. It does not cut the bridge of my nose and it seals very well. My numbers have never been this good before. I have always been very compliant and now my nightly score is usually 100. When I got my S9 it was the best machine on the market. It died after about five years. I now have the S10 Autoset and it is even better than the S9. ** The EPR is fantastic with no back pressure on exhale. That feature may reduce the air swallowing.** Don't give up on CPAP, it is a life saver.

LONG STORY, PLEASE READ IT. About ten years ago I was always fatigued so my Primary (PCP) sent me to see a Sleep Doctor. My sleep study showed that I had severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (50 events per hour). My Oxygen levels were low and at one point my saturation was in the seventies. This was enough to give me hope that CPAP would give me my life back. It hasn't. My Sleep Doctor also showed me the chart that indicated that I had almost no REM Sleep. My followup study a few years ago showed that I am still having almost no REM sleep, but my Saturation levels have been good so at least maybe I am not damaging any brain cells. We have no idea as to why or what can be done to fix my REM Sleep. For many years I have also been taking Provigil to get me thru the day/night (I work second shift). After about five years and some time spent in the hospital following surgery where they didn't seem to care one way or the other if I used my CPAP or not, I began to think that CPAP was a scam. So I quit for over a year. The result of this choice was a Major Depressive Episode (MDD) that came out of nowhere for no reason. I was hospitalized for three weeks and underwent a series of 25 ECT's. They got me back on my feet and after a very tough seven months I returned to work. Note: I would also recommend that ECT be avoided unless all of the doctors involved believe that nothing else is going to save your life.

My life was still not where I felt it should be so after a few years of therapy that did not get my head on straight I finally decided to find a new therapist and ended up at the VA Clinic near where I worked. The APRN that reviewd my psych medicines got me off of some, reduced the doses of others, and put me on something that I never heard of before. After being on this new medicine for over a year now, I am happy to say that without a doubt it has saved my life and it has given me most of my life back. For years all of my former hobbies were on the back burner and I had lost interest in life. Now, thanks to Lamotrigine I have returned to photography, woodworking, and Ham Radio. I would like to return to hiking in the White Mountains but an achilles tendon injury and advancing age (72) will force me to do my walking on fairly level ground.

I really am hoping that my REM Sleep is on the mend as well. *They say that it is necessary to have REM sleep in order to wake up refreshed. * I have noticed that I am beginning to remember having dreams now. That is something that I have not done in many, many years.

My friend at work has the same set up as I do except his Airfit F20 mask has the foam seal instead of the flex seal that I have. He showed me his leak rates this afternoon and most of them were a 1. So, I guess it is possible to have a nearly no leak mask. I don't think that I will change seal types. I do like the one that I have been using for the past month. Thanks for your inputs.

Sleeptech has good advice. I would never recommend any changes without the approval of your sleep doctor. I don't think my doctor would let a machine out the door unless the EPR was enabled. I feel that a good working EPR is one of the best features of the newest machines. While the machines should be noise free, I do believe that there is always going to be some sound as the air enters the mask. While I only tried nasal pillows for a very short time while my nose bridge was healing I remember them as being very quiet. I guess that I am lucky in that the CPAP works for me as well as a sound machine or nature CD as it lets me slip in to sleep without much effort on my part. My wife just loves it because I do not snore when I am using the CPAP.

I am very happy with the leak rate of around 11 as my readings have never been this good with other masks. I was just wondering why it wasn't lower if I didn't have any mask or mouth leaks. Thanks for your reply.

The great thing about the ResMed S10 Autoset machine is that a low and high limit can be set for auto titration. My doctor originally set limits at 10 and 12. When my machine kept ending up at the high limit he changed it to 12 to 14. Most recently it has been trending to 13.8. Some nights my Events are as low as 1 and some nights as high as 6. As of late, I was not happy with the nasal mask that I was using because it damaged the bridge of my nose and I would leak through my mouth. I could not find a chin strap that worked for me so I ended up taping my mouth shut. That worked but did not help my nose. When I saw the new ResMed Airfit F20 I knew that I had to try it. Since I was due for a new mask I changed to the Airfit F20 and have been loving it ever since then. No nose damage and no air leaks. Also, the EPR function works very well.

I am using a ResMed S10 Autoset with the new ResMed Airfit F20 full face mask. This mask is the best that I have ever used and I think that ResMed has hit a home run with this design. My wife and I both believe that this mask does not leak at all so I don't understand why I get a leak rate of around 11 liters per minute about every night. I read that ResMed subtracts the amount of air vented from the calculation so I don't understand why my reading is not ZERO. Anybody have any ideas about this?

My former machine an ResMed S9 Autoset was a very quiet machine that I used for 5 years until it failed. I consider my present ResMed S10 Autoset to be as quiet or quieter than the S9. About 10 years ago I had a machine that started making a fan noise after 5 years. It did not vibrate. Your machine cannot be old enough to have motor problems unless it fell off the nightstand. I just reread your post. If it is quiet when you inhale and noisy when you exhale perhaps your EPR is not enabled. This makes it so you don's have to push against any pressure when you exhale. The S10 has a superb EPR. Give it a try. Mine is set at a level of 3.

You need to have your Doctor or clinician check the setting in your machine. It can be set for a range of operation over which the S10 Autoset will change to the pressure you need. My S10 is set for a range of 12 to 14. It usually ends up at about 13.8 average for the night.