ResMed Liberty

WillSucceed · Post by **WillSucceed** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 1:10 pm

Are any of you using the ResMed Liberty and, if so, how are you liking it?

It is going to be available here in Canada on Tuesday June 12th at a price of $320. (I sustained a head injury when I hit the floor after hearing the price) so I'm interested to hear any experiences that people have with the Liberty.

Thanks.

jabberwock · Post by **jabberwock** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 1:34 pm

That's interesting Will. My DME sells the Activa for $300! Maybe that's because they're in Oakville

I can't wait to ask what they want for the Liberty

Bonnie

WillSucceed · Post by **WillSucceed** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 2:58 pm

Ouch!! $300. I'm hoping I can get the price dropped some.

Let me know, please, what your supplier charges for the Liberty.

phorts · Post by **phorts** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:03 pm

Not sure what they charged me, but i just got the liberty today. This is my 2nd go at CPAP after failing the first time around with several nasal pillows and then with full face masks. I had another sleep study in the lab and tried the hybrid there. It felt better than any mask i had tried to date and the study came out that i slept better with it on then off (i had a split night).

I'll be sure to post my results here. How can i find out how much they charged me for it? THey just dropped it off and said good day.

dsm-guest · Post by **dsm-guest** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:06 pm

Will,

Here in Australia the price for both the liberty & quattro is $AUD299.

Seems we aren't too badly off. $AUD 1 = $US 0.84 cents

DSM

phorts · Post by **phorts** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:38 am

Ugh.

Well, no miracles here. I regret to report that my first night w/ the liberty mask was yet another failure for me and CPAP. After a year hiatus from my first attempt w/ CPAP, i really thought this mask was the real deal. I'm using a RESMED AutoSet Spirit w/ Humidifier set to a set pressure of 7.

The mouth portion feels too small to fit over my mouth and continues to leak in side positions and when my jaw falls down as i'm beginning to relax/sleep. Why they only make a Small and Large of the mouth portion is FAR Beyond me. That wasn't the worst part however. The nasal pillows dont fit in both nares. The left one is near perfect while the right one will only seat right after playing with it and only delicately fitted as that. Any movement one way or the other and it leaks like a drunken sailor.

I threw in the towel for the night after about an hour of trying to get it to work. I noticed that when i pinched the pillows upward the mask became quiet and the seal was tight, but i couldnt get near the same effect without holding it there. Maybe if i put a bandaid or a piece of tape connecting the two pillows OVER the bridge of my nose, that might help. Who knows though. And then i still have the mouth leak problem...yay. It just seems that it's more of the same with masks and me. I have kind of a boney nose and overbite which makes my lower jaw sink back...

I'm going to give it another go tonight. I dont know why i switched to the Liberty from the Hybrid. The therapist had both and recommended the liberty because it was brand new and supposedly fixed all the engineering issues with the Hybrid. Looks like that might be true, but then added a few more flaws of their own. The reason decided to give CPAP another try was because of the news that they had a Hybrid Mask. I found this out when i went to my sleep study for a split night (half w/o mask and half w/). The technician there fit me with the Hybrid and I was like.."whoa, looks like they're starting to figure some stuff out". I liked it and the study showed that it helped a great deal with my apnea.

But the therapist pulled it out and she couldnt get the rubber part of the mask to stay in the hard plastic part. She was discouraged and I agreed and said let's just go w/ the liberty... we tried for a few minutes w/ the machine, with both, and decided the liberty was the way to go.

well, after reading all the manuals on the CPAP Machine, Humidifier and Mask, the battle began. And so it will continue tonight.

Anyone have any suggestions for me? I feel hopeless again......ugh!

neverbetter · Post by **neverbetter** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 10:42 am

The good news is that the price seems to be going down a bit for us on the Hybrid.

phorts · Post by **phorts** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:54 pm

Round 2:

Ok so last night i bucked up and stepped back in the ring w/ the ResMed Liberty. Here's how it went: (spoiler...it went better).

So i sat upright again to adjust the mask and spent another 10 minutes messing around and became growingly frustrated. I tried w/o air and with a low setting. The "Fit Mask" Feature on my ResMed AutoSet Sprit blows air out like a mutha and i couldnt even get it to seal with me holding the mask with my hands. I nearly hung it up again.

My last resort was to go to the bathroom with the mask on and try to adjust it looking in the mirror. This helped a great deal now that i could SEE WTF was going on. After a few minutes of getting it situated i laid back down and tried the FIT MASK feature again. It blew air HARD but the mask didnt budge much. One thing i am leaving out is that the mask is pretty uncomfortable at this point. Far more uncomfortable than I remember the hybrid being during my sleep study.

Ok, so i got a tight seal and it takes me awhile to fall asleep. I like to sleep on my side/stomach and this mask was "OK". No real problems with that I guess. The head gear felt real tight on the back of my neck and all but i just dealt with it because the seal was working and i ended up falling asleep.

I woke up twice throughout the night but the mask was still sealed. I woke up for a 3rd time around 5:30am and took the mask off. I had to get up at 7:30 so i'm not sure why i took it off but at that point i felt like i did good so i gave myself a break.

At 7:30 i got up for good and felt like i normally do, unrested and just wanting to call into work so i can sleep all day. At the time i'm writing this (3:00pm) i feel like i always do around this time...tired and dreading the 1hour commute home.

But, i'm going to give this a few nights even with it being as uncomfortable as it is. I'm going to let my RT know what's up. My insurance covers $750/year so i dont understand why she didnt want to leave both masks at my request....she gets paid for both right?

i dunno.. so, round 2 was a bit more successful mask wise...yet i woke up a few times. I might go CPAP/Ambien and see how that works but i'm gunna give CPAP a shot on it's own for at LEAST a week, maybe more.

I'll keep ya posted. I still stand that the Liberty is no miracle mask. The only miracle solution for this is when they come out with an invisible fat straw to stick down our throats at night so we can breath.

till next time..

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 2:04 am

Many thanks for your feedback - I am holding off both the liberty & quattro until I can get a consensus on their value.

My UMFF works to a level that I get by well. I really liked using nasal prongs & would love to get away from using only the UMFF but each time I go back to the nasal masks my wife complains about the noise, the blasts of air (compared to the UMFF), & I then give up.

So, many thanks for your detail & I am sure many others are following this as well.

DSM

PS Will, thanks for starting this thread

phorts · Post by **phorts** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 8:53 am

Thanks, I was beginning to think i was using this thread as a journal..heh.

Well, i do have more to report but it is not a favorable to the Liberty. I had high hopes for last nights attempt due to my previous night's success but, alas, I was let down.

I put the mask on sitting up in bed and thought I had it just as I left it the previous night and turned on the air, no ramp. Again, my pressure is only 7 so i dont really need the ramp. Well, the nasal prongs were leaking out hard and i played with them for nearly 10 minutes, unable to get them IN my nose and seal.

I couldnt, for the life of me, get both prongs to sit into my nares properly. My nares are relatively long and have a fairly distinguished arch to them. (It's weird how much you pay attn to the characteristics of your face when on CPAP...heh). I think this is the main cause why these pillows just arent working. After about 10 minutes and my girlfriend staring at me I became so frustrated i launched the mask off my face at the nearby wall, hit the off button and rolled over.

Please, don't be discouraged by this report, as everyone's face is different. I think the key to these hybrid FF masks is the relation of your mouth to nose to nare size and shape. I gave up on CPAP a year ago because of the FF masks I tried (UMFF and one other i forget) leaked so badly into my eyes and out the bottom I thought I was doomed. It leaked into my eyes because of my boney, thin bridge of my nose and it leaked out the bottom due to my underbite.... So when I went back to my sleep study and saw this Hybrid mask, I was very. very intrigued and had some ray of hope.

You'll be happy to know i'm not giving up, i'm simply going to ask my
RT to bring me the Hybrid mask that seemed to work during my last sleep study.

If anyone has any questions about the Liberty i'll be happy to answer them, I may give it another shot before I get my new mask but i'm not expecting miracles. The only thing I can think of is to try to seat the pillows before turning on the air and maybe taping over the bridge of my nose to keep the pillows angled inward and upward for a better seal. I'll let you know how that goes...

Thanks for reading

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): CPAP, Ramp, seal

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): CPAP, Ramp, seal

patbringer · Post by **patbringer** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 10:32 am

phorts wrote: I think the key to these hybrid FF masks is the relation of your mouth to nose to nare size and shape.

I think it is very important not to use the general term "these hybrid FF masks" when talking about the Hybrid (manufactured by Innomed/Respcare) and Liberty (manufactured by Resmed). I have tried both and find each to be very different in terms of how they fit, sizing, comfort etc...I've posted my experience on this thread

viewtopic.php?t=20684

FYI...The new headgear is grey on the inside.

Cheers!

Pat

phorts · Post by **phorts** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 10:57 am

Thanks Pat. I've read your posts in other threads and appreciate your detailed and insightful reviews, they've been helpful for me and i'm sure i dont just speak for myself. Your post in the thread you mentioned is one of the main reasons i'm still holding out hope for The Hybrid.

I see your point with generalizing about "hybrid" masks, however, they are the same "style" mask and categorizing them as such does not seem harmful to me. I will however be more careful when referencing them as to not confuse anyone about which mask i'm talking about.

I'm quite hoping that the Hybrid is different in terms of fit and comfort. My life depends on it

Thanks again for your insight Pat and your response to my question about the new and improved headgear for the Hybrid in my other post in this thread.

viewtopic.php?p=180323#180323

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 3:56 pm

Phorts,

Thanks for the added info - it is helpful.

I have a hybrid but my wife says it is the noisiest mask I have - I was particularly wondering about the noise & air blasts problems.

DSM

phorts · Post by **phorts** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 4:03 pm

I will say, once sealed, the Liberty mask was extremely quiet. Pat has mentioned a newer "Low Flow Vent" version of the Liberty. Not sure if this helps with the noise or not, maybe Pat can chime in on that.

patbringer · Post by **patbringer** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 5:08 pm

phorts wrote:I will say, once sealed, the Liberty mask was extremely quiet. Pat has mentioned a newer "Low Flow Vent" version of the Liberty. Not sure if this helps with the noise or not, maybe Pat can chime in on that.

I mentioned "lower vent flow" version of the Hybrid, not Liberty. Let me explain.

The originial Hybrid had a very generous flow rate of exhaled air through the vent holes. While some users liked it because it flushed out CO2 very well and you can breathe more fresh air, others confused it with leaks (due to not getting a good seal) because some machines (such as the Resmed S8s) displayed it as a major leak especially at higher pressures. Some users who routed the hose over their head (I don't route the hose this way) said that the strong vent flow would ricochet off the swivel elbow of the Hybrid mask and create additional noise.

The Hybrid manufacturer launched a new version a few months back called Adaptive Flow version, which has a 20-25% lower vent flow rate than the original version. While that is still adequate to flush out exhaled CO2, it solves the problem of users mistaking it for large leaks and the mask has gotten quieter because there is less ricochet noise. I find the new Adaptive Flow/lower vent Hybrid to be comparable to the Liberty in quietness. Since the lower vent flow version was launched a few months back, I would assume most sleep labs and DMEs must be using that.

Hope I've explained it clear enough.

Cheers!

Pat

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Additional Comments: Pressure: 8

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