Love RespCare Hybrid but ASV doesn't???

[VikingGnome]

... with my Wisp mask and older model masks from previous years I do not have leaks being reported on this machine, and get good AHI reports but I can't tolerate the dry mouth anymore and have run the whole gamut of chinstraps, gels, headbands and even taping...Nate

I have been using Airfit F10 for Her for 6 months now. I breathe through my mouth in the FF mask and wake up with very dry mouth. Could be that the volume of air passing through the mask can't be humidified sufficiently to prevent dry mouth. I'm at 22/18 on VPAP. But it is not nearly as dry as falling asleep in easy chair with NO xPAP.

I found the Airfit F10 worked better for me to get a good seal when I pulled the mask down so bottom as at mid/low chin instead of under lip. Then when mouth opens/moves it does break the seal. It places the top a little lower on the nose but I like that. The top of the Airfit F10 is a little wide for me (my eyes are narrow set) and so mask almost in one eye. Moving entire mask down has worked great for me with minimal leaks.

[chunkyfrog]

Just a suggestion: do make sure the cushion is thoroughly seated all the way around.
I noticed a tendency for the cushion to work its way out on mine (now gone).

[NateS]

... with my Wisp mask and older model masks from previous years I do not have leaks being reported on this machine, and get good AHI reports but I can't tolerate the dry mouth anymore and have run the whole gamut of chinstraps, gels, headbands and even taping...Nate

I have been using Airfit F10 for Her for 6 months now. I breathe through my mouth in the FF mask and wake up with very dry mouth. Could be that the volume of air passing through the mask can't be humidified sufficiently to prevent dry mouth. I'm at 22/18 on VPAP. But it is not nearly as dry as falling asleep in easy chair with NO xPAP.

I found the Airfit F10 worked better for me to get a good seal when I pulled the mask down so bottom as at mid/low chin instead of under lip. Then when mouth opens/moves it does break the seal. It places the top a little lower on the nose but I like that. The top of the Airfit F10 is a little wide for me (my eyes are narrow set) and so mask almost in one eye. Moving entire mask down has worked great for me with minimal leaks.

Thank you, VikingGnome - I appreciate your suggestion.
I had high hopes for my AirFit F10 and persevered for way more than a month:
See: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=103073&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
But unfortunately it would never stop loudly leaking all over the place.
I apparently had the wrong shape face for it.
Now I am dealing with the Hybrid, which seems to fit wonderfully but apparently is leaking somewhere somehow that is not apparent to my eyes and ears, but I'm not giving up because it is very comfortable, and I'd love to make it work, so naturally I am going to apply the same time and effort to it as I did to the F10, hopefully with a better outcome.

Best wishes, Nate

[NateS]

Just a suggestion: do make sure the cushion is thoroughly seated all the way around.
I noticed a tendency for the cushion to work its way out on mine (now gone).

Chunky, is this advice referring to your AirFit F10 or your InnoMed Hybrid?

Regards, Nate

[BlackSpinner]

Just a suggestion: do make sure the cushion is thoroughly seated all the way around.
I noticed a tendency for the cushion to work its way out on mine (now gone).

Chunky, is this advice referring to your AirFit F10 or your InnoMed Hybrid?

Regards, Nate

This happens with the hybrid too though it whistles and farts for me when that happens. Every once in a while if I take it off to fast in the am, the mouth cushion slips out of the hard part. When I put it on it is noisy, but ti is hard to spot where the leak might be.

And if I mouth breathe with this mask I get a dry mouth, no matter how well seated everything is, though the chin flap mostly keeps me from doing that.

[palerider]

Here is Night Two. I actually felt as if I had slept soundly during the two long sessions, despite the Large Leak chart being literally through the roof:

those leaks are so bad, you can see on the mask pressure trace that sometimes it's so bad that the machine can't maintain pressure, and depending on hose type and humidifier and stuff, they're good up to around 170-200lpm!

[chunkyfrog]

Just a suggestion: do make sure the cushion is thoroughly seated all the way around.
I noticed a tendency for the cushion to work its way out on mine (now gone).

Chunky, is this advice referring to your AirFit F10 or your InnoMed Hybrid?

Regards, Nate

The Hybrid. I've never had an F10.

[Sheffey]

I cut the chin flap off. It made the mask more prone to leaks around the lower and side parts of the mouthpiece. The chin flap did not stop my mouthbreathing when I hit REM sleep, so I don't miss it.

It took a few weeks and some experimenting, but the mask is leak and trouble free for me.

I don't know how thick your beard is. The beard could be a problem for leaks around the mouthpiece.

My guess is you won't solve your problem unless you shave the beard or cut off the chin flap or use a different mask.

[NateS]

Last night, I took Jay's suggestion and refreshed my recollection as to how to use the pre-flight "Mask Fit" feature on the ResMed S9:



No matter how I tightened, loosened and/or adjusted the Hybrid during that 3 minute period, I got a continuous red face; so I tried it with the Wisp attached and got a continuous green face, so that suggests to me that my ResMed S9 is presumably working normally and that the fault lies with the Hybrid - could this particular Hybrid be defective?

No new chart for last night, as I gave myself a break and slept with the Wisp, and the dry mouth and got my typical chart for that combo.

I will await word back from the Innomed rep, probably not until Monday.

Best wishes, Nate

[squid13]

My guess is you won't solve your problem unless you shave the beard or cut off the chin flap or use a different mask.

Maybe as Sheffey suggest it doesn't like your beard. Is the mask worth shaving your beard to find out?

[palerider]

No matter how I tightened, loosened and/or adjusted the Hybrid during that 3 minute period, I got a continuous red face;

can you try it again with a hand mirror, and strip of tissue and move it around the sides, etc, (anywhere except the vents) and see if there's any leaking you aren't feeling otherwise? a strip of kleenex should be easily blown by air currents you might not feel as easily by hand.

are all six vent holes equal in size?

[NateS]

My guess is you won't solve your problem unless you shave the beard or cut off the chin flap or use a different mask.

Maybe as Sheffey suggest it doesn't like your beard. Is the mask worth shaving your beard to find out?

Hi Sheffey and squid!
I own and use this trimmer and my beard pretty much looks like this guy's:



Remington MB-200 Titanium Mustache and Beard Trimmer, Black
http://www.amazon.com/Remington-MB-200- ... r%2C+Black

and I presently try to keep it trimmed to position 3, which is: 3 - 4 mm 0.16"

I could try taking it down to position 1, which is 1 - 1.5 mm 0.06"
In fact, I think I will go and do that right now.

I was under the impression that many of the satisfied RespCare Hybrid users selected it because of what they described as their beards or goatees.

Puzzled but not (yet) defeated,

Nate

[palerider]

Nate.... see if you can plug up the nose holes with your fingers, an get the mouth part to seal against your hand... or use some duct tape or something over the big mouth opening.
see if the s9 still says it's a leak.

if it still says it's a excess leak with the mouth and nose holes plugged, then we know it's not coming out your ears or something

[NateS]

Nate.... see if you can plug up the nose holes with your fingers, an get the mouth part to seal against your hand... or use some duct tape or something over the big mouth opening.
see if the s9 still says it's a leak.

if it still says it's a excess leak with the mouth and nose holes plugged, then we know it's not coming out your ears or something

palerider,

1) Are you suggesting doing this while holding the Hybrid mask in my hand, or while holding it up against my face with it strapped on? Not sure.

2) Also, when you refer to "the mouth part" and "the big mouth opening" - are you describing the soft flexible mouth part first and then the hard mouth part into which the soft flexible part is inserted, or vice versa?

Regards, Nate

[palerider]

Nate.... see if you can plug up the nose holes with your fingers, an get the mouth part to seal against your hand... or use some duct tape or something over the big mouth opening.
see if the s9 still says it's a leak.

if it still says it's a excess leak with the mouth and nose holes plugged, then we know it's not coming out your ears or something

palerider,

1) Are you suggesting doing this while holding the Hybrid mask in my hand, or while holding it up against my face with it strapped on? Not sure.

2) Also, when you refer to "the mouth part" and "the big mouth opening" - are you describing the soft flexible mouth part first and then the hard mouth part into which the soft flexible part is inserted, or vice versa?

Regards, Nate

I'm just brainstorming (might be just a drizzle) and wild ass guessing about how to figure out what the heck is going on here, it's very puzzling!

so, my thought was if you could block off the facial openings of the mask, ie, the mouth cushion opening and the two holes for the nostrils (you could use fingers for that) and then hold it in your hands, and see if you're still getting mr frowny face on the leak test. if so, feel for leaks or even stick it in water and see where the air's coming out, if it's all coming out the six vent holes and no where else, and the machine still says too much leak, then all I can guess is the vent holes are too big, and venting too much air.

I'm loath to suggest blocking them off... but, *briefly* perhaps try this:

put the mask on, do a leak test, and start blocking the vent holes with your finger... see if it ever stops complaining. stop if you get light headed or anything at all adverse, and don't keep them covered for long.