I need your knowledge

[Chipman]

First this is not a joke. Here is my problem. I have sleep apnea and have to wear a mask eack night. Air is feed into the mask with a hose and because I have severe apnea the air pressure has to be high which causes leaks in my mask around the nose.

When this happens I get a stream of air right into my eye which makes sleeping impossible and it makes the whole process not work so the next day I feel like crap and I am falling asleep all the time.

I have tried many fixes for the blowout and have now discovered that if I split a big rubber worm it makes a perfect gasket for the mask.

So my question to you guys is, Does the plastic that you guys use cause any skin irritation. It should tell on the bottle or the MSDS sheets.

Point being I would like to make my own gaskets if it is safe..Thanks for any help

[hazmail]

Great idea Chipman, "necessity is the mother of invention". I would copy your post and place it in the 'Soft Plastics' section, I think you would have a much bigger audience and response. Good luck with it .pete

[jimcline]

Have you thought of trying a full face mask. that may work. JIM

[Chipman]

Great idea Chipman, "necessity is the mother of invention". I would copy your post and place it in the 'Soft Plastics' section, I think you would have a much bigger audience and response. Good luck with it .pete

Thanks, how are things in OZ..By the way you guys is OZ can get masks that are formed according to the face so they fit perfect. Naturally we can't do that here it makes to much sensse.

If anyone thinks they have a sleep problem talk to me. It might save your life, or your families life, or the guy on the other side of the road that you run into because you went to sleep at the wheel. Yes, I know I sound like a newly minted non-alcoholic..I want to preach the gospel of getting sleep apnea help.

[Waterworks]

Chip........I would try going to smooth-on website and trying some of their medical grade silicone. This would be a much better gasket material. I think they offer it in a trial size.....

[Chipman]

Have you thought of trying a full face mask. that may work. JIM

I have the full face mask but my nose is so skinny at the top that it leaks. I have gone through 5 masks and the full face mirage quattro works best I just need the leak at the top stopped.

The nasal pillows did not work because I have an extremely high air volume. It was like putting the air hose at the gas station up my nostrils.

[Chipman]

Chip........I would try going to smooth-on website and trying some of their medical grade silicone. This would be a much better gasket material. I think they offer it in a trial size.....

I have a guy shooting me some on a freebie right now. It took me two weeks to get better so I don't want to lose anything and create another sleep debt.

I just read about a busdriver who killed a bunch of people cause he went to sleep at the wheel. He was not using his cpap machine. Almost been there and done that myself but it was in my pickup.

[Vodkaman]

I think the first job is to make a mold of your face, using alginate. Then cast a positive in PoP (plaster of paris). Lots of options from this point, you could even make the entire mask, instead of bodging the standard mask (designed to fit all, but actually fits none).

I wish you good luck with this project.

Dave

[&DRE]

daughter wears one and they do need to be replaced and also cleaned between the plastic and formed silicon seal. try a full head strap.

[hazmail]

Chip - sounds like you are getting to the bottom of it, lots of suggestions here.

I happen to know a lady who had a lot to do with developing these machines (invented here), she is in France at the moment, as she now works for 'ResMed', loverly lady (Doctor), she is also an authority/researcher on 'SIDS', which she thinks is related to 'sleep apnea' in children.

Good luck with it. Sleep tight. pete

[Chipman]

Chip - sounds like you are getting to the bottom of it, lots of suggestions here.

I happen to know a lady who had a lot to do with developing these machines (invented here), she is in France at the moment, as she now works for 'ResMed', loverly lady (Doctor), she is also an authority/researcher on 'SIDS', which she thinks is related to 'sleep apnea' in children.

Good luck with it. Sleep tight. pete

I think she is probably right as far as the sids. when a grown person has an apnea event our mind has been trained and is fully developed so we wake up. If a baby has an event then his/her body might not know to wake up.

And about the machines, you wouldn't belive all the things they do beside just blow air.

[Chipman]

daughter wears one and they do need to be replaced and also cleaned between the plastic and formed silicon seal. try a full head strap.

I do all that on the 3 masks that I use daily. They all get broke down and washed along with headgear and chinstraps.

[nova]

There is a type of soft weatherstripping that is about 1/4" wide. It has adheasive on one side. I would give that a try. Usually comes in a flat roll (like a spiral) and is enough to do a door; so if it works you'll have pleanty for replacements.

Oh, by the way, it's quite inexspensive. Try Wallyworld.

www.novalures.com

[MTfishingrods]

Chipman,

I cant even sleep anymore without my CPAP machine. I even went to the extreme of buying the 12 volt adapter so I could run off a battery while camping or durring power outages. Whoever your provider is should be able to get many different styles of masks for you. since the mask and hose actually should be replaced every six months it may be easier in the long run to try a different type of mask for a better fit. I had the same problem as you with leakage in the same spot. It was fixed with a mask that has a almost gelatin like gasket material that now seals perfect. You might also try a search online for different masks.

[Chipman]

There is a type of soft weatherstripping that is about 1/4" wide. It has adheasive on one side. I would give that a try. Usually comes in a flat roll (like a spiral) and is enough to do a door; so if it works you'll have pleanty for replacements.

Oh, by the way, it's quite inexspensive. Try Wallyworld.

That is a great idea but the seals on the mask are about 3 steps up from a cheap condom. It tears real quick if you stick anything to it.

[Chipman]

Chipman,

I cant even sleep anymore without my CPAP machine. I even went to the extreme of buying the 12 volt adapter so I could run off a battery while camping or durring power outages. Whoever your provider is should be able to get many different styles of masks for you. since the mask and hose actually should be replaced every six months it may be easier in the long run to try a different type of mask for a better fit. I had the same problem as you with leakage in the same spot. It was fixed with a mask that has a almost gelatin like gasket material that now seals perfect. You might also try a search online for different masks.

I am with you man and I am going to buy a battery because I now live in Tornado Alley. I will bet you I have the gelatin mask you are mentioned.

I also spent 2 years on the 6th floor of rimrock at the college in Billings.

[68KingFisher]

Chip, I was diagnosed with moderate to severe sleep apnea close to 3 yrs ago, and started dealing with a CPAP machine and mask shortly after......I have a huge love/hate relationship with this stupid thing......I love the fact that it helps keep me from snoring....as much....it does allow me to get a better nites rest so I actually do wake up feeling rested, and I'm not worried about the whole "Stopping breathing" thing anymore.

On the flip side I absolutely hate wearing the mask everynite.....its hot....its uncomfortable....the hose is always hangin on something or gettin wrapped around my neck.....but it works so well that I put up with all that and wear it even though I can't stand the thing. I use the Resperonics brand comfort gel masks....and I get the same problems you do with the air leaks and blowin in your eyes.....I have found two things that help.

First is adjusting the pivot above your nose that holds that padded deal against your forehead.....by changing the angle of that pivot the leaking around the top of the mask can be made alot worse or alot better, so you gotta play with it.....sometimes routing the hose up and over your head can help hold pressure against your face a bit better than runnin the hose at a downward angle....at least for the way I sleep it works better, plus it keeps the hose from wrappin around my neck.

Secondly, is simply adjusting the headbands to fit tighter and pull everything against your face a bit tighter....the down side is you wake up with indentions in your face and around your nose from the mask and straps every morning and it takes awhile for those to go away....as you probably already know...lol.....I wear a mustache and it stays smashed down all the time because of this stupid mask....but I can get it to seal even with a mustache which I actually found surprising.

Lastly, just make sure your mask is the correct size for your face and nose.....maybe switch size and see if that helps....although those masks are not cheap......here lately i've been looking at another mask that a buddy of mine showed to me....insurance won't pay for it, but it looks interesting enough that I might fork out the green myself.....check it out for yourself at www.nomask.com

Good luck with yours, and keep preachin the word brother cause theres alot of guys out there that have sleep apnea and don't even realize it, nor do they have any idea how dangerous it can be. I've told alot of guys and several went down and did a sleep study to find that they too had it bad.....two of them swears the CPAP machines have saved their lives, and marriages.

Edited May 26, 2009 by 68KingFisher