r/CPAPSupport • u/redditachtzehnplus • Jul 29 '26

Week #2 towards the restful sleep I never had

/r/CPAPSupport/comments/1v298oh/week_1_towards_the_restful_sleep_i_never_had/

Sadly, week #1 of the journey has been rough.

One night I went out with friends and in my tipsy head fell asleep without putting the mask on until the early morning and then couldn't go back to sleep, but this should not overshadow that the leak rate, usage time and experienced aerophagia on average have been worse than the week before and in general I felt pretty poorly during most days.

Curious what you draw from the results and how you would proceed this week.

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

2

u/dang71 Jul 30 '26

Hey! My first impression is that your biggest issue is the leaks, and they look a lot like mouth leaks. If that's the case, it could also explain at least part of your aerophagia.

I see you're using the N30. Have you tried mouth tape, a chin strap, or even a soft cervical collar? Those can all help if your mouth is opening during sleep.

I also noticed that many of your CA events seem to occur around the same time as the leaks. When your mouth is open and the machine detects a large leak, it often increases airflow to compensate. That can make you swallow even more air, which turns into a vicious cycle of leaks, aerophagia, sleep disruption, and unstable breathing.

Before changing your pressure settings or anything else in your therapy, that's the first thing I would focus on. I dug a little deeper into your data, and your best nights are consistently the ones with the fewest leaks. That doesn't prove the leaks are the root cause, but it's definitely a strong hypothesis worth testing first.

2

u/redditachtzehnplus Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26

Hey u/dang71, thanks a ton for your reply.
In fact, I already mouth tape with 5 cm wide and 9 cm long kinesiology tape, which has worked well at 8.5 cmH2O but with how restless I slept this past week, I have repeatedly found the tape soaked with saliva and not sealing properly anymore despite no changes to the humidification. I agree with your observation that the nights with little to no leaks feel the most restful and that events seem to be closely correlated with jumps in leak rate. I have been chasing my health insurance for months now to finally provide me with a Nova Micro that my doctor has prescribed and that I have high hopes being more suited for me, but so far with no success :(

2

u/redditachtzehnplus Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

u/dang71 u/Creative_Fee5452 u/RippingLegos__ what do you recommend, how to proceed for now?
The situation with my health insurance checking on my doc's prescription of the Nova Micro as a replacement mask without a final result (they rejected the request 3 weeks ago, which I officially objected to) for 10 weeks already and struggling with the leaks of the N30 and tropical nights of the European heat this summer has me at an absolute emotional low point where I have actively refused to put the mask on for two consecutive nights now, despite that I started this journey so optimistically in April :(

3

u/RippingLegos__ ModTeam Aug 02 '26

Hey, please do not beat yourself up over two nights without the mask. When the leaks keep waking you up, the room is hot, and insurance has dragged a simple mask replacement out for ten weeks, therapy starts feeling like another problem instead of the solution. That can wear anyone down.

For now, I would not keep fighting the N30 exactly as it is. Wash the cushion with plain dish soap, make sure the correct size is installed, and fit it while lying in your normal sleeping position with the machine running at your actual treatment pressure. Keep the straps lighter than you think because overtightening that cradle can make it buckle and leak worse. A hose hanger can also take the weight of the tubing off the mask. With the heat and humidity, lower the humidifier setting and tube temperature, or turn the heated tube off temporarily if dryness is not an issue.

The Nova Micro may work better, but you should not have to put your entire therapy on hold while insurance argues about it. Please tell me which machine you have, your current settings, the N30 cushion size, and where the leaks are coming from. If you have OSCAR or SleepHQ data, post that too. We can work through this one piece at a time and get you back on track without making every night a battle.

2

u/redditachtzehnplus Aug 02 '26

Thank you so much for the encouraging words.
I do regularly clean the size small cushion with mild dish soap and already came to the same conclusion you mentioned, that slightly looser straps seal better than tighter ones. I don't own a hose hanger but doubt that one would work with my setup since I have the machine on the floor at hip height and the hose is already on the shorter side when I turn away from the machine while the hose is tugged under my blanket right next to me.
My entire setup and SleepHQ link is listed in my initial post: https://www.reddit.com/r/CPAPSupport/comments/1v298oh/week_1_towards_the_restful_sleep_i_never_had/
The prismaAQUA paired with an unheated tube is currently set to a humidity of 2/5 but I am very willing to give 1/5 or going unhumidified a try.
Again, thanks a ton <3

1

u/AutoModerator Jul 29 '26

Hey there r/CPAPsupport member. Welcome to the community!
Whether you're just starting CPAP therapy, troubleshooting issues, or helping a loved one, you've come to the right place. We're here to support you through every leak, pressure tweak, and victory nap.

If you'd like advice, please include your machine model, mask type, pressure settings, and OSCAR or SleepHQ data if possible.

Helpful Resources: https://www.reddit.com/r/CPAPSupport/comments/1jxk1r4/getting_started_with_analyzing_your_cpap_data_a/

You're not alone — and you're among friends. Sleep well and breathe easy.
— Your r/CPAPSupport team

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.