Full face CPAP masks

That’s the advantage to my newer mask, Resmed F30i, as it has the hose fitting on the top of my head that moves with me. My very first mask was the F20 and I felt claustrophobic, plus it had the hose fitting on the face mask which I didn’t care for.

Here’s a pic of my mask. Hoping you find one that works for you.

That is what I have but the air leak is at the connection of tubing at the top of head when I sleep on my side. No problem with the integrity of connection.

@johnbishop- Greetings John! I wondered what your thoughts are about having the hose exit above your mask (point up) vs. what I see in nearly every picture showing someone wearing any type of mask with the port in the down position?
My numbers are generally quite low (below 1.5 down to .07), but nearly every day my mask reads leak and on the Resmed Air App so I l often loose15-20 points! When I've mentioned this to my sleep Dr. he really seems to think this is a non issue. He is more concerned about my apnea's not getting above 4 and time of use, which for me is generally 7-8 hrs daily. Jim @thankful

Hi Jim! @thankful - I had a Dreamwear Full Face mask with the hose connection at the top and really liked the hose connection at the top. I only used it for about a month after getting it due to not being able to breath through my nose with the mask up against the lower part of the nose. I switched back to a full face mask over the nose after trying 2 other masks similar to the Dreamwear one that didn't go over the nose. I'm thinking about setting up an appointment with an ENT doc to discuss if a septoplasty might help my seems to always be plugged up nose. My sleep medicine doc told me I had a deviated septum but he didn't think it would help my obstructive sleep apnea so I just forgot about it until recently. Like you I've always been told that minor mask leaks are not a big deal. My numbers are generally between 1 and 4 but occasionally I will have one of those 5 or higher nights and it's usually when I have trouble breathing through my nose.

I have been thinking about giving the ResMed F30i Full Face Mask a try because I liked the hose connector at the top. The F30 was the last one I tried but felt claustrophobic because I couldn't breathe through my nose and wasn't able to focus on breathing through the mouth. I use a CPAP hose stand which holds the hose above the head and I swivel the connector upwards to keep it away from my cat that likes to snuggle and play with hose.

My Phillips Respironics app that works with my DreamStation Go CPAP shows 100% for mask fit all of the time. It does record my nightly disconnects for the bathroom trip but I know it's not that accurate because I can feel that small air leaks around my mask once in awhile since I also use a cloth comfort cover over the mask that goes between the mask and my face. My Mayo sleep therapist told me about them when I was complaining about having a CPAP nose 🙂

I was doing some research and watching some YouTube videos for the ResMed AirFit 30i and one tip I saw said to see a sleep therapist and get measured before ordering one because they have several sizes of the mask as well as the headgear and getting a good fit is important. I think the hose at the top solves a lot of problems if it works for you. I would give it a try!

John, I am new to the Resmed F30i and yes I was fitted for my mask, I wear a small. My first mask, F20 was a medium and so much leakage due to not fitting properly. I think you’ll find the F30i fairly comfortable especially with the hose connection at the top. By the way, I also have a deviated septum but am going to live with it. I do a nasal rinse followed by Flonase before bedtime as I have sinusitis and this regimen seems to be helping.

Hi @mattie77, I also do a nasal rinse most of the evenings and have used Flonase after the nasal rinse before going to bed but it doesn't always help clear my nasal passage to where it's easy to breathe through the nose. I'm still not sure I want to have a septoplasty but I wanted to see an ENT specialist before making a decision to see if it would be worth it at my age of 77. The F30i is really close to the Dreamwear Full Face mask which was the second mask I tried and really wanted to love it but just could not get over the feeling of it up under my nose and I was not able to breathe through my nose. I had about a week of a really good experience with the mask and then my nose started acting up and I could get it cleared even with the nasal rinse.

@johnbishop- Thanks for the tip John! I have seen that mask in an earlier post and liked the look although I think any full face mask will give me the creeps. I grew a full beard during all this Covid stuff and I've noticed wearing my chin strap along with the mask often creates irritation and I've had to remove the chin strap to deal with it. It's not the quality of sleep I get when I do wear the strap so I know it works! We both were able to get the Pfizer vaccine back in mid January & February so we have decided to take our trip to Tucson in April. Can't wait! Happy Zzzz's my friend! Jim@thankful

Where can one obtain the cloth comfort cover that you mention? Thanks!

@akalsas, I ordered mine from CPAP Comfort Cover - https://cpapcomfortcover.com/. I'm using the ResMed AirFit F20 full face mask.