How do I figure my leak rate?

[yamar2001]

I've been using nasal pillows with the chin guard for a while now, girlfriend says sometimes she hears air coming out of my mouth.

I was curious how you guys figure out your leak rates, because my doctor recently lent me a Liberty FF mask, and I tried it last night... I'm afraid that thing just wont work for me.

I have a REMStar Auto A-Flex.

I'm not sure what software I have, the card says encore pro smart card... by Respironics.

The Dr says with the nasal pillows I'm sleeping long enough... but didn't comment on the leak rates, I wasn't sure if my software could figure that out? That's essentially what's important to me in figuring out if I need to switch up the masks.

Do you guys read your software at home? How? I need to go to the Dr to do so.

Thanks in advance... I'm toying with the idea of taping tonight, but not sure I wanna do that either... last night with the FF mask I got the feeling I was almost being choked, I am guessing the tape will be much of the same. Also, my drool collected in the bottom of the FF mask.... err, annoying!

[rested gal]

yamar, does your machine say "M series" on top of the machine?

Or does it say "Philips Respironics" on the front edge?

Which does it have on it?

[yamar2001]

says M Series...

[yamar2001]

So I found instructions on how to turn the AHI\Leak feature on.... when I went into my settings it appears like that feature was off.

But I just went through my readings and it said

System Leak 7 day Average 22.1 L\M

Apn Hyp Index 7 Day Avg AHI 3.7

30 Day Avg AHI 4.2

Can anyone tell me what this information means? I use the nasal pillows as a mask. From what I gather I need to look at my masks rating to see if that AHI is a reasonable number or something needs to be switched?

I'm thinking I'm losing some leak when I open my mouth...I use the chin strap. Trying to figure out if I need to switch to a FF mask.

[yamar2001]

pressure is a six.

[yamar2001]

I am beyond annoyed right now because my respitory therapist never mentioned any of this crap that the C-Pap Machine can track.

I fully remember asking her several times, "I'm concerned I may have too much leaking, can we read that off the card?" She said no.

She said as long as I was using it for 6+ hours, that was the main concern.

I also remember saying to her, "I wish I could set an alarm so if the mask came off an alarm would go off..." she said they didn't have the technology for that.

I feel extremely not taken care of after reading on this website how much information you can track, and on your very own!

I have my AHI\Leak rate turned on now...it appears that it was off but I was still getting a reading on System Leak when I went through it.

Can anyone explain further why that would be?

[yamar2001]

Swift LT Nasal Pillows is my mask

Thanks in advance guys... shit, now that I've joined this site I've learned more than I have from the stupid fucking Dr's in two years! I am extremely pissed off at them. They have me coming in for check ups every 4 months and they aren't even helping me. Unreal!

[yamar2001]

The pressure flow curve for my mask indicates that a pressure of 4 would have a 21 L/min and a pressure of 8 would have 28 L/min

So I'm guessing a pressure of six would be right around 25 L/min

My System leak said 22.1 L/M....so what does this mean? How am I doing?

Again I'm not sure how it's reading my leak rate because when I went through and looked at AHI\Leak...it appeared to be off.

It's now on, but it looks as though it's already been recording data. Any help is appreciated.

[rested gal]

The pressure flow curve for my mask indicates that a pressure of 4 would have a 21 L/min and a pressure of 8 would have 28 L/min

So I'm guessing a pressure of six would be right around 25 L/min

My System leak said 22.1 L/M....so what does this mean? How am I doing?

Sounds like the leak rate you're getting is excellent...nice and low.

You're doing fine -- getting the normal expected vent flow rate.

girlfriend says sometimes she hears air coming out of my mouth.

Unless she turns a light on and really looks, it's possible that what she hears is the mask exhaust perhaps hitting the bed covers or the pillow. Making it sound louder than when she first heard it when it was not hitting anything. Or, it might really be air coming out your mouth occasionally. I don't think it's a problem, though, or you wouldn't be getting such a low leak rate.

About the DME employee you've had to deal with...

I fully remember asking her several times, "I'm concerned I may have too much leaking, can we read that off the card?" She said no.

I don't blame you for being angry. I would be, too. The DME employee is clueless.

She said as long as I was using it for 6+ hours, that was the main concern.

Typical attitude of too many DMEs (and doctors, for that matter.) "Compliance." Hours of use. Sure, a person needs to be using their CPAP, but if massive leaks are occurring to the point the machine (especially an autopap, which is what you have) can't give effective therapy, the people monitoring how things are going are not doing their job well. Leak rate should have been one of the very first things they looked closely at, imho. Within the first week, if not the first few days.

There is software made by Respironics that would let you read the machine's card yourself at home. It's called Encore Viewer. You'd also need the Smart Card reader -- the card reader comes with this bundle:
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... eader.html

[yamar2001]

Compliance is the word I kept hearing, It was on the top of my tongue but I couldn't quite remember it. I don't even know how to approach this situation. I recently switched to a new Sleep Center because the attention I was getting at the last one was garbage....but I've had two appointments and never once did they mention that I could find the leak rate - it boggles my mind. I'd rather sleep 4 hours with no leaks, than 6 hours with a ton of leaks.... you idiot doctors with your silly terminology that makes everything "easy" for you to explain to people - UGH!

So you think my therapy is fine as is? I often wake up with the chin guard not in place correctly, it's really frustrating and then I start to worry that perhaps I had a bunch of apneas that evening and I'll be "confused" during the day. The new Sleep Center lent me a Liberty FF Mask to try, but shit, it feels like I'm being choked. Even still, it might be worth trying for a week - I'd love to get my AHI down into the low 2's.

As for my girlfriend not being able to tell if the air is coming out of my mouth, she says it makes a Darth Vader type of noise, I was assuming the gym guard wasn't working properly and my mouth was open enough for the air to be coming out (and therapy would then not work) Am I wrong?

Thanks!!!

[rested gal]

As for my girlfriend not being able to tell if the air is coming out of my mouth, she says it makes a Darth Vader type of noise, I was assuming the gym guard wasn't working properly and my mouth was open enough for the air to be coming out (and therapy would then not work) Am I wrong?

Thanks!!!

She's probably right if you're making that much noise. Still, your overall leak rate is so low, you probably aren't doing that often enough to cause a problem with your therapy. The software will help you to better see what's going on.

[avi123]

Hi, as I understand it, the data for a mask in the supplied table that comes with the mask, is for the passive venting (in the mask). For proper operation you need air flow greater than this. Mask leakage is the extra air flow above the indicated passive venting in the table. The acceptable mask leakage is below 0.4 L/S (24 L/Min). For example, for a Resmed Swift mask in which its table indicates a 30 L/Min at a 8 cm H2O the total air flow thru the CPAP machine would be the total of the two: 30 L/Min + 24 L/Min = 54 L/Min, maximal at the 8 mm H2O. So if a CPAP machine shows a value around this rate you should be satisfied.

Am I correct?