Am I leaking from my mask?

[Chefchad37]

Fellow cpap users,
I use the resmed mirage liberty full face mask with small nasal pillows. My machine is remstar m series pro. I don't feel any leakage from the mask expect for the air vents on the mask. My leakage on my machine says 90.2 L/min. My AHI is 1.9. My pressure is 13cm. Can anyone tell me if I'm leaking from my mask or if it's acceptable. Thank you

[Julie]

Are you using SleepyHead software to track things overnight? It's free from various places here and would tell you many things about what's happening each night that possibly could be fixed.

And have you ever tried a full face mask?

[palerider]

Fellow cpap users,
I use the resmed mirage liberty full face mask with small nasal pillows. My machine is remstar m series pro. I don't feel any leakage from the mask expect for the air vents on the mask. My leakage on my machine says 90.2 L/min. My AHI is 1.9. My pressure is 13cm. Can anyone tell me if I'm leaking from my mask or if it's acceptable. Thank you

there's a chart in the back of the manual for your mask, if you don't have the mask, you can google it up.

if you check that, you'll see that the expected leak at 13 is around 43lpm. so you're leaking roughly twice what you should be.

sleepyhead, as suggested, will show you WHEN you're leaking, is it happening all the time, or just sometimes?

[Chefchad37]

Thanks! Do you have any suggestions where I may be leaking when I don't feel any leakage from my mirage liberty? I would appreciate any help.

[Julie]

What makes you think you'd be aware of a steady stream of leakage while asleep?

[Chefchad37]

Good point Julie. I just don't notice any leakage before going to sleep. Just wish I knew why my leakage says 90.2L/min.

[robysue]

Chefchad37,

Your signature indicates that you are using an Resprionics M-Series machine. And those machines do report an average leak rate in L/min as I recall. The newer Respirionics System One machines do NOT report an average leak rate in L/min; rather they report a Large Leak % time on the LCD.

The M-Series machines were discontinued about 6 years ago. They were first replaced by the Respironics System One Series 50 machines and about 2 years or so ago they were replaced with the System One Series 60 machines.

Can you confirm which machine you are using please? It's important. You can click here to see my Guide to Respironics Machines to figure out which one you are using.

Here's why we need to know which machine you are using:

If you are using the M-Series machine, an average leak rate of 90.2 L/min means that your leaks are either in or close to official large leak territory for a good part of the night, but it's possible that your leaks are not too bad for a good part of the night as well. It's hard to tell how bad the leaks are just based on the average leak rate. The accuracy of the AHI data would be determined by just how much time was spent in official Large Leak territory, and we can't tell that from the Leak Rate on the machine's LCD.

But if you are using a System One machine and you're getting that leak number off the machine's LCD, that means you are in Large Leak territory for almost the entire night---as in your leaks are official Large Leaks for 90% of the time the machine is running. And that means that your therapy is being significantly compromised and the AHI figure is likely very inaccurate because once the leaks reach the official Large Leak territory and stay there for a lengthy amount of time, the machine has a very difficult time trying to track the patient's breathing. And if the machine can't track the breathing, it cannot accurately determine when events have occurred.

To palerider and Julie: If Chefchad37 is using an M-Series, then SleepyHead won't work. He'll need to use Encore to see what his leak line looks like during the night.

[Chefchad37]

Robysue,
I'm using the M-series Pro by resprionics. I also don't have the software for my machine to see the daily charts for each night. All I know, is that I don't feel any leakage from the mask expect the air vents. My ahi is 1.9 for last night as read on my LCD from my machine. Any tips to control my leakage using my resmed mirage liberty full face mask? Thanks for your help.

[robysue]

Robysue,
I'm using the M-series Pro by resprionics. I also don't have the software for my machine to see the daily charts for each night. All I know, is that I don't feel any leakage from the mask expect the air vents. My ahi is 1.9 for last night as read on my LCD from my machine. Any tips to control my leakage using my resmed mirage liberty full face mask? Thanks for your help.

I'm going to say that you ought to contact Pugsy, one of the long time posters. She knows a lot about the M-Series machines and she also can tell you where you can get the software for looking at the detailed data. There is also a special card module and card that is needed to record the detailed data, but that is available at cpap.com (our host)

Here's the thing: Given what the expected leak rate for your mask at your pressure is and the fact that your average leak rate is about twice as high as the expected leak rate, we know you have some kind of a problem. The question is: Does the problem last all night? (In which case your leaks are probably close to the average leak rate all night long.) Or does the problem affect half the night? (In which case your leaks may be acceptable for part of the night and even worse than the 90.2L/min average for part of the night.) Without looking at the detailed data in Encore we can't establish just how bad the problem is.

Since you say that you can't feel any leaking at the beginning of the night, it's worth inspecting the hose itself to see if there are any tears or pinhole leaks in it. If there's a small tear at the end of the hose attached to the machine, that might explain why you don't feel any leaks when you first put the mask on at night.

As far as the mask itself is concerned: If the pillows get pushed out of place, that could cause a leak. Since the mirage liberty also covers your mouth, you should be able to open your mouth without triggering a Large Leak. But our faces also relax when we sleep, and once that happens, the facial structure can sag away from the mask and trigger a leak. This mask also uses an air-filled cushion to create the seal. Overtightening the headgear can prevent the air cushion from properly inflating and that too can cause leaks. You may have better luck if you try to fit the mask while lying down (and at your full pressure). Finally, if the mask cushion is getting old, that also can cause leaks.

Out of curiosity: How long have you been using the M-Series?

[Chefchad37]

Robysue,
I've been using the M-series machine for maybe about 7 years. I would like to try and get the resmed autoset s9 model, but can't due to having no health insurance. Any ideas how I could get an updated machine? I've also looked at the hose and there doesn't seem to have any holes or rips. Does it matter if the average leak is recorded in 7 day averages? The 90.2L/min leak is just for last night. I appreciate your feedback and look forward to hearing from you.

[HairyReasoner]

Fellow cpap users,
I use the resmed mirage liberty full face mask with small nasal pillows. My machine is remstar m series pro. I don't feel any leakage from the mask expect for the air vents on the mask. My leakage on my machine says 90.2 L/min. My AHI is 1.9. My pressure is 13cm. Can anyone tell me if I'm leaking from my mask or if it's acceptable. Thank you

I have the same problem. I put on the mask and turn on the machine and everything seems fine. The machine says I'm leaking. My wife says my mask leaks as soon as I fall asleep. I think the problem is that my face relaxes once I fall asleep. I'm still looking for a solution.

[Chefchad37]

Hairy,
Are you still leaking with your mirage liberty? Found anything to stop the leaks? Where are you leaking from? Hope we can solve this issue soon.

[knothead]

Chef, I tried the same mask you have without good results. I tried all size (s,m,&large) with no success. Tried the nipple cream suggested, no good. Finally went with a Mirage Quattro FFM and now sleep like a baby, jest sayin, you might have to sleep around with other masks to find your huckleberry...