Quattro FX -- Please post feedback on it

Reading over the responses so far, I wish I had the luck Banned has had with the FX! My experience has been much more similar to trytryagain's, ending up with the bottom of the mask in my mouth..........I agree it is very comfortable to wear at first, the straps near my eyes don't bother me, but I've tried the mask four nights now and ended up going back to my original Quattro every time due to the leak problem.

I really want to like this mask, so I'm going to give it a fifth try and this time loosen it way up to see if that's my problem. I'm still not sure if the Small mask is the right size for me though, as the silicone by the mouth always turns on edge after I've worn it for awhile. And then there's that pesky problem with the liner coming detached from the mask itself. I have checked repeatedly to make sure everything lines up when I reassemble the mask, so this puzzles me. I may have defective mask or liner or probably it's just my inexperience.

I was so hoping this would work since I am a side sleeper and the mask's side profile is nice and small. I'm not sure if loosening it up and side sleeping is going to work, but I'll find out. I really appreciate the feedback on this mask.

Bump

I read the review and I can only say so far after many masks....at least 9 this is the only good one.
1. The Resmed Quattro caused pain and severe redness
2, The libery...is an insane design of nasal pillows and a mouth breathing part..the worst of both worlds
3, The Breeze has excellant pillows but the plastic holding the pillows caused pain
4. Respironics Comfort LIfe 2 ..excellant head gear BUT the nasal pillows are not anatomic so the seal is poor
5. Respironics TOTAL FACE Mask leaks...period..confortable BUT leaks
6 Fisher -Paykal FF is supremely conortable but leaks..adjusting cause facial damage
7 The Resmed Nasal Pillows FX LT is the most confortable but getting the pillows to seal after awhile is difficult as it softens to much in hot water

THE QUATTRO FX CAUSED NO FACIAL MARKS on the bridge of my nose, no leaks into my eyes and was confortable..worn for 3 nights so far

Randelle wrote:7 The Resmed Nasal Pillows FX LT is the most confortable but getting the pillows to seal after awhile is difficult as it softens to much in hot water

THE QUATTRO FX CAUSED NO FACIAL MARKS on the bridge of my nose, no leaks into my eyes and was confortable..worn for 3 nights so far

Good. I'm glad to hear to Quattro FX started out as promising as the SWFT FX (or was that the LT? They are actually 2 different masks....)
Please - Randelle and everyone else, make sure to report again "after a while" on the Quatro FX. Resmed's recent track record in seal durability in pillows masks has been quite abysmal... viewtopic.php?p=366810#p366810

I wonder what it will be on the new FFM.

I have had my new Q FX since mid December. The first 2 weeks it was great. Pressures were down, leaks were very good and very even (which I don't always have). After that it wasn't quite so good, more leaks around the eyes. I played around with straps but still couldn't duplicate the original good results - nothing else seemed to be different. I decided to ask the supplier to look at how I was fitting the mask just to make sure everything was right and she said it was all OK.
What was interesting was that she said a few other people had said the same thing - one had even bought a new cushion even though the original one was only a few weeks old and she was back to great performance again. I decided I would buy a new cushion just to see if that was the problem. Luckily the supplier very kindly "gave me" a new cushion to try to see what difference it makes. I will try it out tonight.

I posted this elsewhere, but thought I would add that the FX doesn't come in XS as of yet. I was measured yesterday and a S still went too far down my chin.
My new DME did say that Quattro came out the same way --S,M and L but eventually rolled out with XS. They expect FX to do the same.

I have given up on the new FX. At first I thought it was great, then leaks and waking up with the lower part of the seal in my mouth. I even tried a chin strap, but no help. I had to really tighten down to get no leaks and then my face hurt the next morning. I had ordered a mediem but the head straps just bearly fit. It's back to the Quatro for me.

Just some comments with my experience with the Liberty.

#1 warning is that the headstraps are everything. And what I found is over the first month, the headstraps changed as they broke in. It was such an annoyance that I kept the same headgear for over 1.5 years until it wore out because I didn't want to experience another break in period. It was stable most of that time until the end where it was just too worn.

For the Liberty the problem from break in partly comes from the fact the upper straps are largely plastic while the bottom straps are largely fabric. They don't stretch out proportionately

The #2 warning is that the headgear can be centered in mulitple positions on your head and be tighted up seeming properly. You can shift it upward and you may need to loosen the lower straps and tighten the upper straps. What I found is the uneven stretching and readjustments can lead to a shift in where the headgear centers itself that you might not notices. And depending on where its centered you may find the mask may or may not pull up or possibly pull down subtly. For the liberty with the nasal pillows you want it skewed towards pulling up. I find with the Liberty the headgear sort of stays where you put it for quite a while when putting it on allowing to may recentering adjustments.

I got a Quattro FX as a sample from my doc yesterday.

I used to wear an old Quattro in a medium, but the sizing plastic dealie says large... more importantly this medium would not fit on my face. So large its. Fortunately the large seems a little smaller than the old large.

I took a nap yesterday afternoon, got it set okay, no leaks for 30 minutes. Hm. Cautiously optimistic.

Slept with it last night, good night's sleep, the wife had to wake me up vs. the last few weeks I've just been getting up because I'm not getting rest, anyway.

Anyway, looked at reports.

Median leak, 0.0 L/min.
95th %tile leak, 0.0 L/min.
Max leak.... 0.0L/min.

Cautiously optimistic may be upgraded to Optimistic.

The main issue is the headgear. The medium doesn't allow for much slack and makes it hard to adjust. I have to have the hard part of the velcro bent over the clip to make it sized correctly. But then it's impossible to adjust slightly. No one I can find has the large headgear in stock. Urgh. I may be stuck with my extra velcro + hat solution for a while.

Aloha Ladies and Gentlemen:

Today is the day the latest and "greatest?" new mask the ResMed Quatro FX Full Face Mask size L came in to Lincare my provider.
I was able to pick it up for a $38 copay that is on par with taxes to 20% of the cpap.com price so that was ok.
The tech or registered respitory was of course out till next week busy with calls as usual.
So I whipped on down the road and picked it up.

After Lunch I was in the mood to play with my new toy.
So it takes some reading, some playing with the straps, and everything was just an "oh my god did I make a big mistake" for about a half hour.
Without the help of the Snoopy dialog above, just the pictures on the instruction manual and the same video and internet stuff you have seen I just kept working it.
To make matters worse it comes with this great little face measuring device that says "Size First" Well that is hard to figure it seemed to tell me I was a Medium if I clenched my teeth or that I was fine with a Large if I let my jaw hang normal?? Well time to dig in the bag and work with it.

I did finally get it to seat when it was way down almost in the middle of my nose. It repeats in the trouble shooting guide designed to sit in the middle of the bridge of your nose.
Well they must really mean it.
I was finally able to get it to seat and I took about a two hour nap, rolling to both sides.
I awoke with only a little bit of 2 red lines on my left side from the straps.

Not one to easily give up I think it needs a few more nights of success before I can give a final verdict.
The Quattro was very very good to me and it still has the ultimate quick snap ease! This one looks similar yet the clip in is not part of the mask and you have to do a little bit of one handed prestidigitation to get it to click in.
There also seems to be a few more parts that need to be dis-assembled and re-built for daily washing, that I find so key to keeping a cushion good to go for at least 90 days.

I will of course follow up in a few days, and I do intend to camp out this week at the Daytona NASCAR preseason Thunder with mask.
So sorry I do not have a narrow nose bridge to say the least.

Best of luck to all you other early technology adopters out there!

flowergal3 wrote:Reading over the responses so far, I wish I had the luck Banned has had with the FX! My experience has been much more similar to trytryagain's, ending up with the bottom of the mask in my mouth..........I agree it is very comfortable to wear at first, the straps near my eyes don't bother me, but I've tried the mask four nights now and ended up going back to my original Quattro every time due to the leak problem.

I really want to like this mask, so I'm going to give it a fifth try and this time loosen it way up to see if that's my problem. I'm still not sure if the Small mask is the right size for me though, as the silicone by the mouth always turns on edge after I've worn it for awhile. And then there's that pesky problem with the liner coming detached from the mask itself. I have checked repeatedly to make sure everything lines up when I reassemble the mask, so this puzzles me. I may have defective mask or liner or probably it's just my inexperience.

I was so hoping this would work since I am a side sleeper and the mask's side profile is nice and small. I'm not sure if loosening it up and side sleeping is going to work, but I'll find out. I really appreciate the feedback on this mask.

I also question if I'll like this mask b/c it does not go under the chin as this mask does, to stop Mouth Leak:

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/FlexiF ... aykel.html

In the meantime my DME emailed me:


In regards to the
new Quattro FX, I have had great success with all of my patients who have
tried it. So far, I have not received any complaints, although it is still
too new to tell. I can definitely tell a vast improvement in the design
and a lot more comfort.

I had my fitting at my DME for a Quattro FX today. I wear a medium Quattro but went with the small Quattro FX. The medium put the top up near my eyes at the top of my nose. Still deciding what I think. I was due for a new mask and took the mask home, they will send me a large headgear when they come in. Seemed like the medium headgear shipped with all size masks was not the best fit for me. Actually was thinking that the top of the mask on the medium fit my nose width better than the small. But had no problems with the width of the opening at the bottom for my mouth.

It is a learning experience. I need to play with it more to decide what I think.

If anyone would benefit from the sizing guide that comes with the mask, I'll loan it to you if you pay round trip postage.

I have logged four nights with the Quattro FX, and have been a Quattro user. Here are the pros and cons.

I wanted to try this because the Original Quattro, while delivering almost astonishing efficacy (from 101 apneas an hour to less than 1), produced a very nasty pressure sore on the bridge of my nose. as I was a cpap virgin when starting, I hoped it would go away, but finally resorted to the gel comfort patch from cpap.com and Pad-A-Cheek. Neither worked, and I have to give applause to the gal who runs Pad-A-Cheek who sent me different kind of pad product for my Quattro gratis when she read the first one didn't work.

I then tried that with and without the gel cushion. By this time, I had a BIG sore, and finally just started putting neosporin on a square cotton pad and sticking that on my nose so the sore didn't worsen.

enter the new mask, which my sleep lab let me test for four nights. The good and bad news is that it is much lighter. Good for obvious reasons, bad in that the seal seams a bit more delicate, which makes sense. The mask is smaller. The frame on the old quattro is the shape of a pyramid; the shape on the new is a pyramid with the top lopped off. There is ONLY cushioning on the bridge of your nose. The way you put it on is important; if you don't follow the instructions that top piece cannot expand properly, and you could have leaks.

The part of the mask this is replaced is a whopping $54 on cpap.com. Through Apria, my cost for the old Quattro replacement part was $15; as I have a copayment of 50%, that puts Apria's price at $30. That's a big difference in monthly on bi-monthly replacements parts.

Bottom line is it is smaller, lighter and fits fine, and I expect my new one tomorrow. I will use my old Quattro as a back-up mask. BTW, pad a cheek sells a forehead pad for the old quattro that eliminates any soreness or red makes caused by the head piece. Probably, had I attended to it sooner, I could have solved the problem with pad a cheek. I'll know better after my nose is 100% better. Then I'll road test my old mask with the new pad a cheek again. hope this helps.

MoonBear

btt

I use a Swift FX 95% of the time, but sometimes my allergies get the best of me so I need a FFM. I have tried several FFM's, without much success (I know, they are the most difficult to get used to). Anyways - Got the Q-Fx and slept all darn night without incident. It is very lightweight, the headgear is comfy and the best part - no kickstand on my forehead!

Anyone struggling with a FFM should give this a shot!