Looks like I am not alone.

[Bigjim43]

I was diagnosed about a month ago as having OSA with dips of 47.5. I have to say the guys at Good Hope Hospital (West Mids) have been fantastic and very supportive and I am now in possession of my Resmed CPAP machine and Mirage full face mask. These were collected last Thursday and I have been using the kit since then.
Thankfully for the familiy the heroic snoring has stopped completely , I am however not enjoying uninterupted sleep and have some questions;

Mask Fit

I can live with the mask being tight on my face to avoid leaks and the fact that I have a red band across my rather large nose but the release of air from the front of the upper part of the mask is somewhat puzzling, it escapes at a very fierce rate, I cannot see a hole other than the four pin sized holes, this wakes me up as it is very noisey. My question, is this normal and nothing to worry about? My machine has been set at 15.

While the mask is on my lips see to bellow around my gums, its as if the mask is trying to lift of my face, is this normal due to the pressure being excerted?

Any help will be very much appreciated and put my mind at rest as the whole situation has got me down and I seem to worry about the whole thing.

[Tom @ Intus]

I was diagnosed about a month ago as having OSA with dips of 47.5. I have to say the guys at Good Hope Hospital (West Mids) have been fantastic and very supportive and I am now in possession of my Resmed CPAP machine and Mirage full face mask. These were collected last Thursday and I have been using the kit since then.
Thankfully for the familiy the heroic snoring has stopped completely , I am however not enjoying uninterupted sleep and have some questions;

Mask Fit

I can live with the mask being tight on my face to avoid leaks and the fact that I have a red band across my rather large nose but the release of air from the front of the upper part of the mask is somewhat puzzling, it escapes at a very fierce rate, I cannot see a hole other than the four pin sized holes, this wakes me up as it is very noisey. My question, is this normal and nothing to worry about? My machine has been set at 15.

While the mask is on my lips see to bellow around my gums, its as if the mask is trying to lift of my face, is this normal due to the pressure being excerted?

Any help will be very much appreciated and put my mind at rest as the whole situation has got me down and I seem to worry about the whole thing.

First of all, hello! You're certainly not alone

Do you know which Mirage mask it is? It sounds like the Ultra Mirage, but I may be wrong. If it is the Ultra, then you're right in that it does only have a few holes on the top of the mask to act as its diffuser. Generally speaking, the more holes and the more spaced out they are, the more effective the mask is at letting air out more quietly and naturally. The Ultra Mirage only has a few holes, which means the air is forced out at a higher pressure and can cause the whistling noise you've described.

There's not really a solution to the problem with that mask unfortunately - that's just the way it's designed. Your pressure setting of 15 will increase the problem simply because that's a fairly high pressure setting, causing the air to be pushed out even more forcefully and, as a result, more noisily.

It may be worth trying a different Mirage mask if you're otherwise happy with it. Both the Mirage Liberty and Mirage Quattro have better diffusers which should lessen the noise, so if you're really having a problem with the noise it may be worth asking the hospital if they have either of those (preferably the Quattro as it's design is more similar to the Ultra, the Liberty has nasal pillows). I'm sure that they'll help you out if they can, judging by the impressive quality of equipment they've given you so far they definitely look like one of the better clinics

It would be worth looking at some other threads specific to the mask that you have to see if others have had the same issues and if they have any solutions. I'm not sure exactly which Mirage you have so I'll give you a few links:

Ultra Mirage
Mirage Quattro
Mirage Liberty

Just as a further aside, it may be worth asking your clinic about RemZzzs to help prevent those red marks you suggested. They're a fabric liner that sit between the mask and your face to improve the seal and comfort, and many clinics will be able to provide them for you so it's worth asking. There's a thread about a full face ResMed mask problems where RemZzzs were suggested which may help you out as you're in a similar situation, you can find it here.

With regards to tightness, it's worth noting that overtightening your mask can cause more problems than it solves, as you can see from reading this thread by OldCrow.

I hope this information goes some way to solving your CPAP problems. If you've got any questions about what I've said then fire away! As I said above, it looks like you're in good hands with your hospital judging by the quality of kit you've been given so far, so hopefully they'll be able to help you out further.

Have you had a search in these forums to see if anybody else has had the same problem as you? And did any of the suggestions in the links I posted help at all?

Tom @ Intus

[ElleCee]

Hi BigJim,
You are not alone with your problems and as Tom has said the RemZzz liners are fantastic at making the mask more comfortable and lessening the leaks from your mask. You can buy them from Intus.
I have tried several masks, Fitlife, Mirrage Quattro, a nasal one which I forget the name of right now and I have also just received the SleepWeaver.
As a list of choice I prefer the SleepWeaver, Mirage Quattro, Fitlife and then the nasal one in that order. Remember that what ever mask you have you will need to avoid pressure sores on your nose so don't over tighten and get another mask to swap with occasionally if your nose does get sore.
Sweet dreams!
Lorraine

[Bigjim43]

Hello Guys, firtsly thank you for the prompt response and advice. You are right, it is the Ultra Mirage full face mask and after doing a little bit of research around the site can see that this is quite normal, which puts my mind at rest and hopefully goes some way to to stop me worrying.

Anything new to me and I always try to be a perfectionist without researching.

I am going to make a record of the coming nights sleep patterns and hopefully things will improve.

Tom, please feel free to send me the details regarding the REMzzzs as my wife prefers my nose the way it is.

Once again thanks again for the support and responses, it is a big world and I do not want to be lost in it.

Regards

Jim

[Tom @ Intus]

Hi Jim,

Here's the product page for the RemZzzs for the Ultra Mirage on our website, hopefully it'll have all the info you need but if not let me know and I'll fill in any gaps!

RemZzzs Mask Liners for Ultra Mirage

If you need a product code for requesting some from your clinic, then let me know what size mask you're using and I can give you the appropriate code.

Tom

[Bigjim43]

Hi Tom,

cheers for that, I will check it out sometime this morning.

I have to admit a lot of getting used to wearing the mask has to be psychological as the first night after having the chat resulted in a better night with only a couple of interuptions.

Last night however was great to say the least, I did wake up at 12:30 to make some minor adjustments after going to bed at 10:15 after this I have no recollection of waking or issues until I woke this morning at 06:10. I am sitting here at work actually feeling refreshed. Again this could be pschological or hopefully the dawning of a new era, only time will tell. Lets see how the day goes.

[James @ Intus]

Sounds like you're getting the hang of it Jim, good job. Indeed, there's a big part in it that's just getting used to the therapy, the mask strapped to your face etc. Once you accept it as a potentially life changing benefit and shrug off the little inconveniences it may at times bring, things will settle for the better and you'll start to see results. Think of it this way, if hundreds of thousands of people world-wide can get on with it and reap great rewards, so can you!