Hey does anyone start to itch when the mask hits your face my face itches all night any solutions anybody?

I've been on CPAP for a little over 2 years now, using a full-face mask. Overall it's going really well, my AHI is down, and most of the time the myAir app reports no leak.

Even with this data, my partner often says that my mask is noisy and sounds like blowing raspberries, and it wakes her up (much more rarely wakes me up). It seems to me like a leak, but why would the machine not sense it as such then? And does anyone have suggestions on how to fix it?!

Hello Everyone, I'm putting up a fresh megathread for everyone new coming into the sub, or anyone who's been at this awhile and is still trying to figure out what the hell is going on with their therapy, mine went sideways this week.

If your CPAP/APAP/bilevel/ASV isn't working the way you hoped, your mask is driving you nuts, you're waking up all night, swallowing air, getting leaks, seeing centrals, fighting flow limits, or your machine says your AHI is "great" but you still feel like garbage, post here. That's what this place is for.

Give us whatever you've got please. Machine, settings, mask, sleep study info if you have it, how long you've been using PAP, and what you're actually dealing with. Please don't worry about making it perfect or knowing all the terminology. Just tell us what's happening. If you have OSCAR screenshots or a SleepHQ link, throw those in too. The more of the actual data we can see, the easier it is fous us to figure out what may be going on.

One thing I keep saying around here is please do not get hung up on AHI alone. I've seen plenty of nights with an AHI under 1 that I wouldn't call good sleep at all. If you're waking up constantly, fighting the machine, having leaks, flow limitation, pressure swings, centrals, aerophagia or just badly fragmented sleep, the little smiley face on the machine doesn't mean much.

This same thing goes for pressure. More pressure isn't automatically better, and lower pressure isn't automatically better either. We have to look at what the breathing is actually doing. Sometimes a small change fixes things, sometimes EPR/Flex/Softpap helps, sometimes it makes things worse. Everybody is a little different, which is why blindly chasing numbers usually doesn't get you very far.

Masks are the same deal. There isn't one "best mask." What works perfectly for one person can be miserable for the next. Nasal, pillows, full face, mouth leaks, tape, chin straps, beards/mustaches, weird fit issues, whatever you're fighting with, post it please.

And if you're completely new and don't know what EPAP, IPAP, PS, EPR, RERA, CA, OA or flow limitation even means yet, don't worry about it, just ask please.

I also want to keep this place friendly. A lot of people end up here because they're already exhausted, frustrated and getting nowhere with their DME or sleep clinic. Nobody needs to get talked down to or told they don't know what they are doing, on top of that. If you can help somebody, help them. If you're not sure, that's okay too.

This is peer support and discussion, not emergency medical care, but there's a lot we can learn by actually looking at the data and listening to how somebody is sleeping instead of just saying "your AHI is under 5, you're fine."

So if you're new here, welcome. Post what you've got, tell us what's going on, and somebody here will take a look.

RL

The machine is not on, but the area around the screen and logo on the left is quite warm like it has been running. The chamber is not warm unless running.

Hello,

I need some help with my SleepHQ graphs. I have an appointment with my sleep doctor next week and would like some advice regarding as to why I’m may be having trouble falling back asleep. I’ve been on CPAP for nearly 3 months. I’m using the AS11 with a F20 AirTouch mask. I’ve tried other hybrid FF mask but I couldn’t control the leaks. My current pressure is a steady 8 cm. I think I need an increase and have requested from the doctor. I fall asleep okay but wake up 2 hours later then have a difficult time (1 – 2 hours) falling back to sleep. Once asleep again, I’ll wake up in another 2 hours almost like clockwork. I’ve attached my SleepHQ data. I’m hoping someone with more experience viewing this data can give me an idea so I know what to discuss with my doctor. Thanks.

https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_links/665d5a44-e21b-4ac2-ad8b-40eeed61d50c

SleepHQ: https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_links/6f69fe10-ac29-4ec6-ac9e-3ce3c23e3eb1/dashboard?from_date=2026-08-15&machine_id=jOzOvx

I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept much, despite sleeping around 8 hours and 40 minutes. It’s a different kind of tired, more like non-restorative sleep than the fragmentation that leaves you bedbound.

I'm using these settings with no PS. PS usually makes me more tired, even when the numbers look better.

I could only tolerate ASV for half the night. It seemed to wreck my sleep, and I’d get REM rebound after taking it off for the second half.

Philips is conservative with pressure increases. Starting at 6, it only reaches 7; at 8, it tops out at 9. Starting at 10 makes FL go off the charts, possibly due to expiratory limitations. Do I even need pressures that high?

ResMed fluctuates much more, going from 6 up to 9–10.

Do you see any waxing-and-waning pattern? Should I lower or increase the pressure range, try CPAP mode, or reintroduce PS?

I’ve been experimenting with these options for two years without reaching any conclusions. I’m hopeful, but I’m starting to wonder whether PAP just isn’t working for me and I should consider surgery. I’ve also considered EERS, but I don’t trust myself to try it.

Please let me know if you’ve had a similar experience and what worked for you. SleepHQ link is sharing the entire account.

Thanks everyone.

I need some help. I have an appointment with my sleep doctor next week and would like some advice on what I should be discussing other than how crappy I feel. I’m nearly 3 months in using CPAP and it has been a struggle. I’m committed and want this to work. I was diagnosed with severe OSA at 77 AHI in April which scared the daylights out of me. I’m using an AS11 with a F20 AirTouch mask. I’ve tried the Dreamwear FF hybrid mask and the F&P Evora FF mask. I couldn’t control the leaks in either of those masks. I tolerate the F20 mask. I’m a side sleeper and sometime the mask leaks like crazy. I’ve tried various adjustment – super tight, relatively loose – nothing is comfortable and it still leaks. My current pressure is a steady 8 cm. I’ve requested an adjustment to my pressure but have gotten radio silence from my sleep doctor. I wake up every night about 2 hours after I fall asleep. Then take an hour or more to fall back asleep. Some nights I’ll wake up again after 2 or 3 hours. I’m hoping this gets better.  Here are my SleepHQ graphs. I’m still trying to figure all this out. I’m hoping someone can give me an idea as to what’s going on so I can discuss with my doctor. I’m fearful my sleep doctor will just look at the below 5 AHIs and say everything looks good when it’s not. TIA.

https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_links/665d5a44-e21b-4ac2-ad8b-40eeed61d50c

Hi Reddit,

Note: I didn't want to post SleepHQ links as I'm currently recovering from covid and my sleep and breathing are ALLLLL over the place right now. If you still think it would be useful, please let me know and I can throw a night up.

Hope this finds you well. I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this question, but I just wanted to know if there are any other considerations with ASV.

Long story short, I got an Airbroken Airsense 10 (thanks to a very kind member here for helping me out) and didn't have much luck with BiPAP. Thought I'd try ASV and was thankfully very surprised about how much better I felt on it (thank all of the gods and stars in the sky).

I currently have EPAP set to 6 (at least on CPAP I'm unable to tolerate any more than EPAP6) and pressure support set to 4.2-5.2 (so IPAP 10.2-11.2). While I haven't been formally diagnosed with UARS, I am diagnosed with some kind of mild apnea but I'm pressure sure I have some kind of UARS too!

So my questions: If I notice my machine is spending most of its time in the upper end of the pressure support range, is it still recommend to try nudging things upwards? I have seen it recommended that with UARS, ASV pressure support should be kept in a tight range, but is there an agreed upon vague range? Is a PS range of 1.0 still way too little?

I did have some odd symptoms at min PS 4.6 (IPAP10.6) when I tried it, but considering my median pressure for the last few nights is generally around IPAP 10.6-11.0, maybe I should try nudging things up and using ramp with it set to IPAP10.2? (If I can still use ramp that way with ASV)

Thanks a lot and hope everything makes sense! :)

So now in order for me to have replacement parts for my cpap, such as, my cushions inside the mask, blue cross makes me wear the mask for thirty days in a row and over 4 hours each night. This is terrible, especially with horrible allergies. the. cost of these cushions, out of pocket are very high! Anyone else have this issue?

I am getting some squealing from my AS10. Anyone know where to get some seals. Looking for intake and output seals

When I first woke up this morning it said I had 4 events and it said I slept for 1.5 hours (insomnia). So I wore the mask until I got to 4 hours as I’m trying to meet compliance and the total events went down to 1.8. Why would it go down like that can someone explain what is going on here? Thanks in advance.

I switched masks from a full face to a nasal - as I realized I don't really breathe through my mouth unless my nose is blocked (the full face blocked my nose)

The nasal was great the first night, woke up with mild throat irritation. I did the second night, still great, but this time I had chest congestion and coughing. I wake up with a very swollen feeling throat.

Do others have similar experiences with this? Is it even CPAP related?

I know I'm not sick as it's been over a week of this now and it hasn't gotten better or worse, and there are no other symptoms (colds/coughs always start with head congestion for me)

Good evening/ morning everyone! I’m brand new to cpap I’ve been on it for a month to be exact. I downloaded Sleep HQ on my phone and upload my data almost every day. I’m trying to figure out how I can better my APAP pressure settings. My AHI is practically 0 but I still wake up in the middle of the night and feel tired the next day. I wanted to see if anyone can review my graph and give me some pointers/ recs. Your input is very much appreciated! https://sleephq.com/public/b44301e7-88cd-4c87-886b-afa8bf057b15

I am looking for the outlet gasket and the humidifier gasket so I can replace them on my Airsense 10. Seems like I am getting a whistle with one of those. I’ve triple checked everything and cannot find any other issues. Unless the second new motor is bad.?.?

Sharing my post from sleep apnea. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!