Full weeek on Quattro FFM Still no sleep ?

[leftlane45]

Hi All !
Switched over from a Opus 360 nasal pillow mask to a Mirage Quattro FFM for a full week now. I have not slept well at all. I do not know whats going on. I believe there is leaks starting about 3 AM,
and I can't seem to stop the leaks. Last night I went back to the Opus Nasal pillow and no luck there either. My pressure is set to 6/10 maybe too low. Any ideas. I think I sleep better without the machine.

Please any help is greatly appreciated,
Thanks
Jerry

[Wulfman]

Hi All !
Switched over from a Opus 360 nasal pillow mask to a Mirage Quattro FFM for a full week now. I have not slept well at all. I do not know whats going on. I believe there is leaks starting about 3 AM,
and I can't seem to stop the leaks. Last night I went back to the Opus Nasal pillow and no luck there either. My pressure is set to 6/10 maybe too low. Any ideas. I think I sleep better without the machine.

Please any help is greatly appreciated,
Thanks
Jerry

Have you done the "Teflon tape fix" to the elbow coming out of the front of the mask?
If not and you're not familiar with the term, read the thread in this link.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37202


Den

[phoebe368]

Just out of curiosity, why did you switch from nasal pillows to FFM? The full face masks are generally more prone to leakage than nasal masks. Do you have Encore software, care and card reader for your Respironics? This will help you identify exactly what time of night the leakage is occurring. There can be many causes of this leakage:

Improper fitting of mask

Mask too tight/not tight enough

Improper adjustment of mask

Jaw dropping too low at night breaking the bottom seal – fix this with a chinstrap.

Make sure you wash your face and mask thoroughly before bedtime to remove skin oils.

I’m sure there are other causes but these seemed to be the major causes of leaks when I had the Quattro. If you find that it leaks in one particular area you can use Mack’s silicone earplugs to plug the leak – do a search on the boards on how to use these.

[rested gal]

I think I sleep better without the machine.

What you were really doing before getting on "cpap" was suffocating all night without being aware of it. You just thought you were sleeping "better" back then.

"CPAP" treatment is a trade-off. A trade that might not seem like a good one at first. We're trading the sleep disruptions and suffocating oxygen drops that we weren't aware of before, for new sleep disruptions we ARE aware of -- usually mask problems.

Sleep disruptions are sleep disruptions, however. Many equipment issues (mainly the mask) can leave us just as sleepy and worn out as before. Sometimes even more so than before. It can sure make a person think, "I was sleeping better before CPAP, so why am I doing this? This is making me MORE tired!"

It can take quite awhile to sort through the many equipment issues to make everything (especially the mask!! ) more comfortable and more effective. I'm very big into "comfort" -- gotta be comfortable to be able to sleep.

And gotta have a throat that's held open, in order to get AIR while we sleep.

We each have to make our own decision.. "Is it worth it?"

Keep reminding yourself about what Obstructive Sleep Apnea is...and what oxygen deprivation during UNtreated sleep apnea does to the heart and the brain while we blissfully sleep (we think!) through it.

Others can help you work on the aggravating leak issues. And you can dig into this message board for tips about making everything about this kind of crazy treatment more comfortable and more "doable." It can be quite a job working out all the pieces of the puzzle to get to "good treatment."

My post is just a reminder about how we can sleep through suffocation without even knowing it. We weren't really sleeping "better":

"Understanding Sleep Disordered Breathing"
http://www.resmed.com/en-us/patients/un ... 40x380.swf

[leftlane45]

Thanks RG

This is so frustrating, Because I have had 3 sleep studies in the last 4 years. Two in the last 6 weeks. The first one 4 years ago the Dr. said the test was negative. The next test different Dr. and hospital. In Oct 08. The RT said I had a good nights sleep with good deep sleep, therefore he did not think I required the split study and I slept the whole night without a cpap. The DR. however felt I should have taken the split study and sent me back on 11/04/08 for the split study. This time I slept with the cpap the whole night. The RT again said I slept pretty good with good deep sleep. He also believed I did not have OSA.

I went back to see the Dr. who is a pulmonary and sleep Dr. but was unable to locate the results of the second study. Without the results he wrote the perscription for a apap with a pressure setting of 6/10.

So I really dont know for sure if I do have OSA, If I do, thats OK I can deal with it. But what if I don't.

Thanks for your help
Jerry