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I am having ongoing issues with mask leak and wonder if I am alone and if there is anything more I can do? My hose has been changed to a wider one of 3m length which kinks and snags less so things have improved, but sometimes I am woken up by blasts of air that just won't stop. I have consulted my clinic and have been told it is air leak but I wonder if it might be something more than that? I am woken by air blasts coming through the mask that do not stop, and on taking the mask off the air flow does not stop. This happens sometimes now, the not stopping of air when I take the mask off. Whilst I am using the wider, longer 3m hose, this not stopping of air flow started before I switched hose, and was only once in a blue moon. Now I would say it averages once a week so it is happening more often. Usually, if I blow hard down the air hose it then registers it followed by non-breathing as I only blow the once, and stops, but not always, and I have had to do it twice to work. I have checked with my clinic who have advised that on reviewing the detailed data, the mask was leaking but no episodes noted. I am also advised that the machine (ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet) will appear to blow more when mask is not insitu as it is looking for resistance, but I do not understand why when I take it off it stops blowing air after it's usual few moments most of the time, just a low level push of air as it were, but at other times it continues to blow it as if it were still on my face at other times and not stopping until I blow hard into it? When woken by air blast I check for leak and try to adjust and seal it and whilst holding to my face, clearly no leak now, the air blasts persists and until it has forced my mask off, and if I hold on to it, it continues to blast air through elbow joint at the front and reverberate the mask making a loud vibrating 'raspberry' sound, it just will not stop until I take it off and blow like hell into it and today had to do that twice! All this was in the night; this morning I woke with my little finger on my right hand very cold presumable because it was next to the elbow joint on my mask, implying air had been coming out of it. I'm at my wit's end with it. If anyone can help in any way that would be terrific thank you.
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Good Afternoon,
Thank you for your post.
Can I suggest the following
1. Check you have the right size mask for your face
2. Watch a fitting video for your mask on youtube to make sure you are putting on and adjusting the mask correctly.
3. Try a sample pack of RemZzzs CPAP Mask Liners. These are a soft cotton fabric liner creates a barrier, absorbs skin oils and reduces air leaks as well as skin irritation and pressure marks. Try a sample pack for just £6.99. Here is the link to the product page - https://www.cpap.co.uk/remzzzs-cpap-...sk-liners.html
The above suggestions are to ensure you get a good seal with your mask.
If you have any auto CPAP machine, you should pop the mask on and then turn the machine on. The pressure should then start at 4cmh20 and stay at this pressure until you go to sleep. Once you are asleep the pressure will increase between 4-20cmh20 as and when you need it.
If you are active or move alot in your sleep, then you can roll over and knock the seal of the mask. This causes an air leak, and the machine increases the pressure to counteract the air leak. This can wake some people up. If this happens, you just need to press the ramp button on your machine to take the pressure back down to 4cmh20 so you can adjust your mask and go back to sleep. If this is the case, and you are a side sleeper, then you may want to consider a CPAP Pillow 2.0 - https://www.cpap.co.uk/cpap-pillow-2-0.html
Some machine have an auto on/off feature that turns the machine off when you take your mask off. It might be worth looking at your settings to see if you have this and whether it is on. Without this feature, if you take your mask off then the pressure will increase as there is no resistance.
Do you want to see if my above suggestions help, and if not let me know and we can see what else we can suggest to help you.
Kelly
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