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Chrisbgood46
+0 points
·
over 6 years
ago
Original Poster
Im little confused with my resmed scores. In the last few months my leak issues have gone through the roof. Have nights as high as 50l/min. I was thinking i had a nasal issue. Went and bought a new nasal unit and my numbers have not changed. Yet i know my new mask not leaking like my older unit.
Ive check the machine and cant find any leaks. I use this online resmed score all the time and im thrown off big time with my sleeping score. Does anyone have an answer for me. Stressing me getting to the point of buying new machine cause now im guessing if its the site or my machine.
What manufacturer and model of mask are you using? If it is a nasal, or nasal pillow mask, could you be opening your mouth and letting air out that way? If you download and install SleepyHead, you can get a lot more detail. When you look at the graph of leakage through the night you will get a lot better idea what is going on. The typical mouth leak is high and has a flat level top. See link below.
Hi, this is my first post and I have a huge problem with Resmed 10. I've only been using a CPAP machine since Feb 2018 and have had nothing but problems. My scores will show 100% (on meAir web scale) and drop 20 or more points the next night. It seems only when
I am using a new nasal pillow do I get a score between 100 - 90. Nothing changes about my sleep patterns. I still toss and turn as usual
and the air leaks and mask on-off scores show that I've got lots of leaks and, though I'm don't recall it, that I'm removing my mask at least once every night. I have used every kind of mask from full face, amara view, nasal, and now nasal pillows. I will not buy a new machine. I doubt I could have lived 70 with sleep apnea only to now need to spend tons of money on masks, cleaners, bed gear, expensive pillows, etc. The biggest and most interesting thing is that the constant air escaping into my eyes is causing soreness and I'm not getting any help from my cpap provider or doctor's office.
I have leak issues with a full face mask too, and have not been able to solve them. Some report that using a mask liner like RemZzzs helps, but I have not tried that. My solution has been to use the ResMed AirFit P10 nasal pillow mask, with a Breathewear Halo chin strap over top of it. Before I put the mask on I tape my mouth shut with 3M NexCare paper medical tape. That seems to keep the leaks down, and my mask in place. For a pillow I use a softer down alternative one that is fairly inexpensive at places like Costco, and a rayon pillow cover so my head and all the paraphernalia slips fairly easily on it.
Keep working with the masks. It is not a machine problem, it is a mask issue.
snuzyQ
+0 points
·
over 6 years
ago
Sleep
Commentator
Hi GoodCaribou:
I agree with Sierra that this is a mask problem and not a problem with your machine. While all these leaks are going on, what does your nightly AHI look like? My husband's mask leaks like crazy, yet his AHI (Apnea/Hypopnea Index) stays under 3 or 4 each night. So, the leaks, even though they are noisy, produce awful leak numbers and earn him a red frownie face on his machine, are not really an issue. If your AHIs are over 4, then you have mask leak troubles that must be addressed.
About the sore eyes. The air that's escaping could be from your mask exhaust, independent of your mask seal. Mask exhaust sometimes ricochets off bed covers, bed pillows or parts of your body that may inadvertently be in the way and gets directed back into the eyes. I have dry eyes yet am no longer troubled by air getting in them because I use an eye lubricant each night before I go to bed.
Everyone is different, but the one that has helped me so much is a product called Systane Nighttime preservative-free eye ointment. It isn't all that expensive and you don't have to have dry eyes to use this. The soreness tells you that your eyes are drying out from the escaping air. Try this and see if you can get your sore eyes to go away. Squeeze about a quarter-inch long strip of the ointment inside the lower lids of each eye. Your doctor's office isn't being helpful with this because they know it's a minor issue, so matter how uncomfortable it might be for you. Doctors like to deal with the life or death problems.
Often the doctor or DME provider aren't a lot of help if they haven't experienced it. I've learned any mask over my nose is going to leak air into my eyes, and they were dry before I started CPAP. I also tried the liners, boomerangs, etc....and they didn't much help me. For a long time I used the Amara View mask with with a Quattro Resmed headgear. I also did the AirSense face mask, trying both small and medium cushions.The medium felt better because it would fit lower beneath my mouth, without being too tight on my nose.
But may favorite these days is my DreamWear Full face mask. Finally keeping my numbers under 4 usually under 2.
Hang in there...good luck. I've been at it for about 11 months. At 58 yrs old, I was so exhausted I could no longer even think straight. Seriously thought I was developing early Alzheimer's. It's taken time, hut I'm starting to get back energy I thought I'd never see again.
Chrisbgood46
+0 points
·
over 6 years
ago
Original Poster
Im using the resmed airfit p10 nasol pillow system. Ive never heard of sleepyhead i will certainly check this out im open to any advice and thank you. I dont use my chin strap but this hasnt been an issue with me in 13 years and my numbers have always been good till recent. I will see how this program works as you suggest :)
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.
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!!
snuzyQ
+0 points
·
over 6 years
ago
Sleep
Commentator
Hi Chrisgood46:
Before you go through a lot of rigmarole over the leaks, check on your AHI numbers each night. If your numbers are under 5, then you are, with your CPAP treatment, experiencing the average number of apneas per hour that a person without obstructive sleep apnea experiences. If you find this is true, that your AHI is under 5, then just fuggidaboudit and have a great night's sleep.
As I understand it, ResMed is not confident in their machine's ability to accurately detect apnea events during periods of major leakage, so they suppress the reporting of apnea events during major leakage periods. For that reason large and frequent leakage may result in inaccurate AHI readings.
snuzyQ
+0 points
·
over 6 years
ago
Sleep
Commentator
This is news to me. How did you discover that ResMed is not confident in their machine's ability to accurately detect apnea events during periods of major leakage? How did you discover that they deliberately suppress the reporting of apnea events?
snuzyQ
+0 points
·
over 6 years
ago
Sleep
Commentator
I just did a search and found a related post by sleeptech (some months ago) who confirms that ResMed AHI data gets compromised when you get large leaks over 30% of your sleep time (and the dreaded red frownie face). I'm fairly confident in sleeptech's posts. Apparently the machines just can't handle excessive leaks. Nevertheless, sleeptech also states that if the AHI, in the presence of excessive large leaks, has not risen over 4, then the patient , as long as the leaks are not waking him/her up, can safely ignore the red frownie face.
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