Swift LT leak and a dilemma?

Okay, I used my brand new Swift LT last night for the first time. I did add an extra strap to anchor it around the back of my head and I tried to get a good quiet seal but the vents were not blocked as they are just at the end of the small hose. I downloaded my card today and looked at all the "stuff". I have the daily posted below.

Range is 8 - 12 - been having problems and been looking for a new "sweet spot" range. 90 %ile pressure is 9.9, average is 8.7. The break is a bathroom break. There are some events associated with talking that last hour too as spouse was up. There is that other pocket of events I know around and after the NR but this post isn't about the events though I would appreciate feedback on that - I suspect my pressures are too high as I have lost a little more weight.

Leak graph isn't too bad - no big peaks which are signs of mouth breathing (which is part of what I have been trying to remedy - the Respironics chin strap yields too much locking of jaw which isn't good for the TMJ so I was back to my "tights" leg chin anchor last night). But the leak average is what gets me.


Average leak is 21.87


Now I know by heart that the Swift masks at 10 are around 30 (LT is different that original and II but still 30 is a ballpark number). I know I looked at the manual the other day (and again this morning) - Swift LT at 8 is 28, at 12 is 33. Other Resmed masks have said the flow rates are +/- 6 L/min but this one didn't just that the vent flow rate may vary.

How did I get a 21.87?

Now if I look at how far off this is from what is expected --- well --- I am way out of my personal tolerance of being off by 20 %. But this isn't over 20 % higher than expect - it is more than 20 % lower than expected. If someone posted a leak rate that was more than 20 % more than expected I would post back to tell them to look for where the leaks are coming from.

How can I find where the lack of leaks are coming from?

Maybe I need to run an experiment like feeling_better determining flow rates for this particular mask and use it instead of the chart we all are to trust.

I realize I only have one night's data so far but I would appreciate any feedback on this dilemma.

P.S. This isn't a m-series - this is an APAP Remstar Tank (Legacy series).

jules wrote:Okay, I used my brand new Swift LT last night for the first time. I did add an extra strap to anchor it around the back of my head and I tried to get a good quiet seal but the vents were not blocked as they are just at the end of the small hose.

I'm no expert at this. But I would suspect that you had a constricted airflow of some kind, and my guess is that your CO2 vent might have in fact been blocked (pillow? sheet/blanket? anchor strap you added?) Were you having any trouble breathing normally? Were the side edges of your pillow locked into the frame (top & bottom edges snap in with a little ridge, but the side edges can often be left sitting above the frame's slot). Mouth taped, or flapping open? Just a couple of thoughts....

The extra strap is entirely on the headgear - double thin elastic band into the little slots of the "fork" down on the headgear so no where near the vent. I followed the idea I used for the original swift posted below.

No bed pillows - been sleeping in a recliner since Jan. - most of time on back but I know I was on my right side part of the night. If I sleep in the bed I will sleep mostly on the left side and that is the ear that had been full of fluid (or so I thought) and been killing me. Sheet blockage or blockage on my side could be happening.

I do have a couple of nights recently with original swift with the leak rate that is okay (pressures slightly higher - flow average in lower 30's - some mouth breathing) however the vents are in a different place on it.

I can get this low of a flow rate on the Somnotech masks using a range of 8.5 - 10 many nights but that is expected.

Jules, I'm confused. Your Thread topic reads "Swift LT," but the photo above is (I think) a Swift II. Very different apparatus; and I was speaking to the Swif LT where the hose comes straight out (up or down) from the center of the pillow frame.

There is another post on the board from college girl with some leak problems she is dealing with after changing from a tank to the a Respironics AFLEX.
viewtopic/t43103/Huge-Jump-in-Leak-Rate ... eMask.html
Both of you posted data. Her data from her first machine show low leak lines around the 20's as does yours.

Could this be that the older machines are just much less leaky in their total construction and the pathway of air flow? The Swift LT if used correctly, does not leak much. Seems to leak with movement and position and often reseal. Perhaps you have managed to really control that leakiness with the modes you added as you illustrated?

What was your last mask? What were the leaks like using it?

sil

Plr - I posted the old swift (not even the II but headgear is the same actually) as I had the picture already on the forum. It is just to show how I added the band is all - mimicked what I had done there. The band is black elastic - same package as the top one in teddy's picture - and actually have both parts of it around base of head. I haven't taken a picture of the LT modification yet but there is no way the band is blocking the vents.

On the somoplus I get leak rates in lower 20's usually although I can see some in the upper teens on a good night where the pressure was lower - Range is normally 8.5 - 10 with many nights average of 9 or so and 90 %ile at 9.5 - 10 (does vary) Expectation for it is flow rate at 10 is around 25 if I can read graphs semicorrectly, at 9 it is 23 so I have assumed my machine does read a little low.

However this was extra low imo. If my rate had been 25 or so I would haven't felt it was that out of line even though it was low because my machine does appear to read low. The graph isn't that bad.

It also points out the problems we have with newbies posting leak rates without any knowledge of the actual flow graph.

We don't know which batch of masks their masks came from and if the batch has higher or lower flow rate than average.

We don't know how accurate their machines are determining the rates either.

For me this might just be a combination of my machine reading low and this mask is from the "low flow" rate batch and a few more nights will give me more information.

Neither CG nor I are newbies but she had two changes causing her dilemma. I just changed masks is all.

Looking at the charts you posted, the leak rates are all below the max range, so that is good. As far as thinking your pressures are too high because you are losing weight, NO. You are losing weight because you should if you are getting a good night's sleep and getting all four sleep stages, and most especially the deep (restorative) stage of sleep.

As far as the Swift goes, I tried the original and defended it to the max because it was so much quieter than what I had before (Breeze). But when I got a Comfort Curve, I knew what quiet was. Just like a properly adjusted nasal mask (I also had a Mirage Activa). Properly adjusted and that being just a little bit tighter on the straps than you would a nasal mask, I can sleep on my side without leaks, and the only problem I had was the silicon pads coming off. Once they started putting out the foam pads, I had no problem. But now the Comfort Curve is getting bad mouthed, but you sure see them a lot on TV medical shows, and most of the reviews are years old. If the Swift is so great why so many redesigns? Oh, well, just my opinion.