Mask leak or normal?

Hello everyone I'm on day 2 of my sleep apnea treatment ! Not sure if I've noticed much improvement in a way I don't feel as fatigued through these the day but I still feel kinda sleepy if that even makes sense. But my question is my AirFit mask is constantly releasing air from the front is that normal? Around the ring where you connect the elbow too. And sometimes when I fix my mask during the night when imma switch positions to sleep . After I move around the mask I feel more air being reealsed than before. Is all that normal?

Yayoe10, I don't know anything about your mask but most all full face masks connect with a cushion piece attaching to a frame. The cushion part will have air holes to allow your exhale to escape the mask. When the CPAP machine runs, air will constantly come through these and the air holes are located near the place where the hose connects. I think what yo are experiencing is normal.

Put the mask on while awake and turn the machine on and check in a mirror; air should not be coming out of the place where the hose connects to the cushion part.

If you have a Resmed machine (Airsense 10 or Aircurve 10), the machine has a built in modem that sends your sleep results to a cell phone tower. About an hour after you turn the machine off in the AM, the results of your sleep therapy are available and they store two weeks of results for your comparison to see how things are going. The website to get a login and then subsequently check your therapy results is:

http://www.myair.resmed.com

The results will show a number of things including: hours you had the mask/machine on, AHI, leaks measured as L/min, times mask was on/off and a total score. These things are explained in detail on the website I gave you. You can track how your mask is sealing and how it affects the AHI (apnea-hypoapnea index) and you want that number as low as possible. Anyway, self educate and don't hesitate to ask any question. No point trying to figure stuff out when there are folks here who have already been there. Good luck!

Do you have a ResMed CPAP machine? If so, have you looked at the daily recap so you can put numbers to the progress? If you have some other type machine, have you heard about Sleepyhead software which also measures the metrics necessary to understand your own progress? What type machine do you have? What mode is it set in and what pressures were prescribed? If you don't know, you best find out as these things will help you understand your own therapy. How do you know if you are making progress otherwise?

Hi Yayoe10. Patients using CPAP experience progress very differently. I have had some patients report feeling better immediately, while others have said it took weeks or event months. There are other things that can contribute to feelings of sleepiness including medications and other health conditions. It is likely that you may still also be adjusting to treatment and that your sleep will continue to improve. As for the air leak you describe, it is normal to have air exiting from the exhalation holes or ports on the mask. This prevents you from rebreathing the carbon dioxide that is exhaled into the mask. If your machine is set to automatically adjust to your breathing and the pressure increases during the night, then the amount of air exiting the mask will also increase. Hope this helps, and please let us know how you are doing!

I have had the Wisp, and now the Dreamwear. They both have an "overflow" air exit. The nasal "pillow" on the Dreamwear has two or three microholes on the front to ensure the air is equalized. If there is a real leak, you will hear the rush of air. As long as the air is not coming from around the fit to your nose or around the tubing, all is good.