Breeze SleepGear with an S7 Elite

[White Wolf]

I just got a Breeze SleepGear mask. The nasal pillow works a lot better than than the Ultra Mirage nasal mask I had as I have a beard.

The S7 Elite has a program to configure the machine. Under the Settings/Mask option it gives me choices 1. Ultra, 2. Mirage, 3. Mir Full, 4. Standard.

Currently my machine is set for Ultra, which is what I got with the machine. Do I have to change that now that I'm using the Breeze SleepGear mask? If so, what do I change it to?

[rested gal]

Any of them other than Mir FF should be fine with the Breeze.

I wouldn't pick Mir FF -- that's for a Full Face mask which covers nose and mouth together.

Standard, Mirage, Ultra... in that order, that would be the mask setting I'd choose. In other words, I don't think it will matter much which one you select as long as it's not the "FF."

The machine already has the expected normal vent rate of ResMed masks programmed in. It uses the mask setting to subtract the normal mask vent rate from the total leak... what's left is actual leak. It doesn't tell you whether the leak reported is from mask, mouth or both, but the leak rate lets you know there was a leak.

Other than the fact that the leak rate might be reported a little higher or lower if the Breeze's leak rate is different from the ResMed masks that fit those categories, it's not going to affect the pressure your Elite (plain CPAP) uses or your treatment. Most (not all, but most) masks of all the brands have roughly the same expected vent flow rate from their exhaust. There's no need to worry about getting the exact mask setting dialed in, in my opinion. Especially with a straight cpap machine.

[Bookbear]

I was in a very similar position, beard and all, White Wolf (and I really like the Breeze, have used it for 2 1/2 years now). Rested Gal is right about the various settings under the MASK options not affecting your therapy pressure. What it DOES affect is the Leak Rate stats. None of the options ResMed provides match the stated leak rates of the Breeze, which are rather low compared to other masks. I tried a number times to get a definitive statement from ResMed about the leak rate that the 'Standard' setting equated to. No joy. I DID finally manage to corner a ResMed tech on the phone once (OK, I lied to the operator at ResMed's location in Poway, CA ). He said that the Standard setting would be the one closest to the Breeze leak rate, but didn't give a specific number. On an earlier call, I got some sort of customer rep who said that the Standard was the one to use for all non-ResMed masks, because "the Standard Setting disables the leak rate computation". Huh?? (I know the rep was wrong in that. I use the standard setting with my Breeze and get zero leaks 99 nights out of 100. maybe 4 nights a year I will register a slight leak, so I know the leak computation is not disabled with the standard setting.)

In the end, it's really more of a convenience feature than anything else. It saves you from having to subtract the mask's leak rate from the actual leak rate a machine might report, assuming of course that your mask's leak rate matches fairly closely to one of the ResMed masks that are options. I'd say, go with Standard.