Sierra

Welcome to the club... Some suggestions:

If you have any choice in the matter, I would recommend the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet For Her machine. In my opinion, that is the best APAP available, and they are all priced pretty much the same. Getting a mask that works and you can live with is often the hardest part. The ResMed AirFit P10 mask is probably a good first one to try. It comes with a very light and flexible hose extension that gives quite a bit without dislodging the mask from your nose. If there is any opportunity to try different masks during the evaluation period, I would take advantage of that. As for the dental appliance option, it is typically not used when you are in the severe apnea category, but you could ask your dentist or doctor about it. Dentist fitted ones, can be more expensive than a CPAP though. And with a dental device you are kind of flying blind. With a machine you get a sleep study done every night, and it updates you on how well you are doing.

It sounds like you have had asthma for two years. Have you been diagnosed with sleep apnea as well? I'm not sure what you are asking about. Are you considering CPAP for asthma only? Or Asthma and sleep apnea?

I can't help you as I do not use a smart phone and I have not registered to use My Air. If you have the AirSense 10 you can get some more detailed data right on the machine, if it is set up to do so. In the Clinician Menu you set Essentials to Plus, and the more detailed sleep report will display. That said, I have used SleepyHead for years and find that much more useful in determining what "goes bump in the night".

If you are in a province that pays for the CPAP and masks you are very lucky. I am in Alberta and the government health care plan only pays for the sleep study, and a two week trial period. At the end of the trial period, you either have to have private insurance or pay out of your pocket to keep the machine and mask. The sleep clinic price for the CPAP kit is outrageous - $2400. So what many do is just return the trial machine setup, and buy the same thing at an on line store for about $900 or so depending on what is in the package deal. If you get into having to pay for a mask at your cost, you may want to check out the Canadian on line stores, like cpapoutlet.ca, and others.

I agree. Regular cleaning is the secret. If you use distilled water or demineralized water the risk of contamination is probably even higher. While these products are likely sterile when you buy them, as soon as you open the lid, you are susceptible to contamination. These products are very pure, and usually do not contain chlorine, chloramine, or ozone to prevent growth if contaminated. Similar issue with filtered water from Brita machines. The activated carbon in the filter takes out the chlorine and/or chloramine.

Perhaps you could give a bit more detail on what brand and model your original machine was, and the one you have now. Also which mask are you using? The number of 400 for pressure does not make sense. The standard unit of measure for CPAP pressure is centimeters of water, and often is just referred to as cm. It is metric measure, and I believe used pretty much around the world. A standard CPAP machine will deliver from 4 to 20 cm of water pressure. A BiPAP will typically go a little higher to 25 cm. If you post the make and model of your machine perhaps someone here can help you get the actual pressure settings from it. That would be very helpful.

I have attempted to fix my wife's Mirage FX mask which broke at the strap attachment clip. I first tried silicone as I thought that would be flexible and not break. However, it was not strong enough, and did break almost immediately. Also it takes a long time to set up. Then I tried Gorilla crazy glue, and it was relatively successful. She wore it for a while, and now keeps it as a spare.

You might want to consider buying some F20 parts yourself to keep as emergency spares and not tell them about it. While it seems in the US you need a prescription to get a full mask, you are able to buy parts without one. Some apparently just buy all the parts and put them together themselves to get a complete mask. There are many places to go, but here is a link to CPAP.com. The silicone mask cushion is $54, while the complete mask assembly without headgear, is $118. If you added the headgear it would be another $31, and you would have a complete mask. However it sounds like all you really need is the cushion...

AirFit F20 Assembly Kit

One more thought. The F20 comes in two versions. The AirFit version uses a silicone cushion. The same mask frame can be used with the memory foam cushion, and then I believe it is called the AirTouch. Some like the memory foam, and some do not. Many report it is not durable and easily tears. If you have the memory foam type, you may want to go with the silicone cushion for better durability.

The manufacturer recommends against using stuff like Vaseline on the mask, and claim it causes the cushion to deteriorate. I just keep mine clean. I have the F20 with silicone, but was not able to get it to stop leaking, so I am afraid I am not a good one to give advice on that aspect...

Some sleep with a soft cervical collar to keep their neck aligned. Futuro is one brand available here at places like Walmart.

Chris, that is a very inspirational post. Welcome to the site.

I can't figure out how to post my own SleepyHead images at this site, or I would show you a graphics screen from SleepyHead that shows what air loss from an open mouth looks like. I use the same mask as you, and do have mouth leaks. I did a quick search in Google for images that might be representative of a mouth leak. What I found is a SleepyHead daily report screenshot that shows what major leaks look like (gray highlighted areas). These leaks are really bad, and the mask may even be coming right off. That said mouth leaks look similar but lower in magnitude in my experience. They have flat tops and max out in the 30-35 L/min range, not 95 like in this example. What SleepyHead does is show you what happens all night from second to second. It is much more revealing than a single set of summary data, showing the average leakage rate. Summary data is good to flag that there is a problem, but not so good in diagnosing what the root cause is.

SleepyHead Example of Excessive Leakage

If you want to confirm for sure that the issue is mouth leaks, I would suggest using the chin strap, and also taping your mouth shut. Sounds awful, but I do it every night using 3M millipore paper tape. Some will say it is a risky thing to do. What happens if your throw up in the night? My answer is what happens if you throw up in the night when wearing a full face mask, and fill the mask with vomit? You plug your nose and your mouth. Either way not pleasant. I use about a 4" strip of 1" tape, and fold over the last 1/4" or so to make a non adhesive tab that I can use to easily pull the tape off, if I have to in a hurry. I never have. I do wake up in the night sometimes and wonder why I can't open my mouth though!!