Hi all....I am new to this board and new to being a partner of someone who wears a CPAP mask.

My BF and I have only been together for a few months, however it has been on the "fast track" since our first date....if you catch my drift!

The first time I spent the night at this house, he didn't wear his mask, nor did I even know he had to wear one. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep. LOL, well on that thought, neither of us did! Wink, wink! But the little amount of time that we did sleep, well I should say, he slept, he snored really bad.

However, on our second "sleep over" he did introduce me to it. Funny thing is that I had already seen it on his night stand and given his current weight situation (he has lost 80 lbs in the past 4 months however and is still losing!) I had already figured out what it was before he even told me.

But I so totally applaud him for having the courage to tell me about it given that we had just met. I appreciate the fact that he trusted me enough to be open about it.

Has it been difficult to adjust to? Yes. Do I wish that he didnt have to wear it? Yes. But then again, I can guarantee you that he feels the same. It took some time to get used to the "purr" of the machine all night, but now I really don't notice it.

HOWEVER, there is one thing that keeps waking me up and I am not sure if its the mask not being worn right (he has the chin strap also) or if its normal. And that is that several times during the night, I get woken up with him making a loud noise during exhaling. The only way I can explain it is that when he exhales, he "blows razberries"! Basically, when he is exhaling, his lips are vibrating and making a very loud noise. It happens mostly when he is sleeping on his back. I've noticed that when it happens, I gently nudge him to roll over on his side, and then it stops.

Is this normal, or is his mask not fitted correctly?

Thanks for your help!

Sounds like air leaking out of his mouth.  

 Does he wear a full face mask that covers the nose and mouth?

You've got to have the mindset to think that he is receiving air/oxygen therapy while wearing the mask.  This will only serve to SUPERCHARGE him.  wink *  wink  *


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Dianne's: Remstar Auto M, C-flex, humidifier, smart card. Mask: Swift LT, AHI- 23, lowest blood ox 80%.

John's: Same cpap, Mask: Respironics Profile-lite mask.
severe apnea, Cpap user for more than 20 years.

What he wears is a plastic round tube that is about 3 inches long that has two nostril pieces that fit into his nose (about the size of a roll of Lifesavers...no pun intended!)

So nothing is going over his mouth, however his head gear goes around his head and under his chin. Personally, I am wondering if its fitting correctly given that he has indentations on his face which will eventually go away during the day, but when he wakes up he has these  marks all over his face for at least 5-6 hours.

Sounds like the mask is way too tight.  He shouldn't have mask marks for hours.  Sometimes masks leak when they're too tight.

I wear a chin strap (actually a homemade ACE bandage with velcro strips works best for me) a nasal pillow cpap, and tape my lips to avoid leaks.  3M Transpore tape works well for me, but you've GOT to make a quick release tab on the end of the tape to remove it quickly if you get sick, or whatever.  The tape would stop the raspberries/ lip flutter.

Luckily, my DH wears a cpap too. We both have a sense of humor about our oxygen/air therapy.  It's ALL natural.


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Dianne's: Remstar Auto M, C-flex, humidifier, smart card. Mask: Swift LT, AHI- 23, lowest blood ox 80%.

John's: Same cpap, Mask: Respironics Profile-lite mask.
severe apnea, Cpap user for more than 20 years.