Quattro FX - I'm Done!

[mmkof5]

OK - since Pugsy is on "drugs" and volunteered me...

I have been trying to use the Quattro FX since February 1st. It is the 5th mask I've tried to use in less than a year. I am a mouth breather - no getting around that! Yes, I tried the nasal pillows with a chin strap but felt like I was suffocating...The Quattro FX is the most comfortable one I've tried UNTL it starts the hissing, screaming and pardon "farting" when I start moving around during the night!

Leaks have been off the charts...so bad the machine would shut down. I turn my machine on each night with the full pressure of 16. Sometimes I get a great seal the 1st time I put the mask on (rare but does happen), other times it takes me 6 - 10 times to get the seal. Yes, I have watched the video many, many times. So I get a good seal which lasts about the 1st hour. That is when my "witchin hour/hours" begin. It wakes me up - I take it off (found there is no giggling that works for me), get another good seal that might last another hour - might last 5 mins.! So my success with keeping this mask on for more than 2 - 4 hours a night has truly eluded me...

I will admit to being a "slacker" but have never been a "quitter". I know that I need to use the CPAP machine every night, I need to keep the mask on...I have 5 fantastic grandchildren - I want to see what life has to offer for each and every one of them! If I don't do this therapy - chances are I won't be around to enjoy them. They are my motivation...

I don't post often but I READ a lot! So I keep seeing the "miracle" pantyhose posts...This past Saturday night I sat down at my kitchen table with an old pair of support pantyhose, a pair of scissors and my mask. I knew exactly where my leaks were coming from - the bridge of my nose. Looked over that mask to find an anchor to attach "my" homemade anti-leak strap. There is little to no place to anchor a strap on the top half of the mask. The frame was the only thing I could see to work with. Cut a leg out of the panyhose. Then cut that piece in half. Attached a piece to each side of the uppermost part of the frame (where the felt covers go on to the frame to protect the side of your face), tied 2 knots in it and proceeded to put the frame back on. Not happening - it was too thick for the frame to snap in place. Sat there and looked at it - decided I would have to move my knots down to below where the frame snaps into the upper part of the frame. Thought to myself - probably not going to work - not high enough to anchor the part that is leaking. Anyway - put the mask on that night - got a seal I thought was pretty good, tied the 2 pieces of the panyhose I had cut into 2 knots behind my head. Result: Unintentional leak that night was 11.8! My leaks had been running in 20's, 30's, 40, 50's and even 60's!!! Since my homemade anti-leak strap highest leak has been 11.8 and as low as 8.9! I now can keep the mask on 5/6 hrs. a night. QUITE AN IMPROVEMENT for me!

SO, don't give up on the mask untl you have exhausted ALL means for a "fix"!

Sorry for the novel - my "mentor" taught me well!!!

[Pugsy]

Unintentional leak that night was 11.8

Baseline Unintentional Leak rate for this mask at the 16 cm pressure is 10 cm on Encore Pro. The leak line itself was essentially straight except for one small blip for a short time and this likely elevated that average a bit.

For all practical purposes except for the little blip leak time, essentially zero excess leak. This is a1000% improvement.
Need more nights to confirm stability but this bit of lab ratting shows definite promise.

She had tried Padacheeks Anti Leak Strap but it was not stable enough and kept coming off. She was considering Karen's latest item that Builta is reporting on but had not ordered it yet

[Knightmare]

Why fight pressure at all? Put the mask on with the machine off, then turn the machine on. If you have problems with this, put the mask on without the hose attached, then attach the hose to the mask.

Because the Mirage Quattro and Quattro FX both have a doubled walled cushion which is meant to be filled with air. These air pockets function as the cushion between you and the frame. If you ratchet down the straps too tight, the cushions may not fill properly with air causing all kinds of problems with leaks and fit. I've noticed that having some pressure helps inflate the cushions as I'm trying to tighten the straps. This seems to help quite a bit with preventing leaks in my experience.

[70sSanO]

I have posted a number of times about using elastic straps for my Quattro FX because the FX headgear doesn't seal well enough.

I have been raising my pressure and it is currently at 14.0 and I get leaks artound 2.4L/Min. The nice thing is that I can I can pull the mask away from my face and then re-position it, at full pressure, and I can re-seal it like my old Mirage FF.

I realize that some masks just don't work for some people, but for me the mask is great but I can't get it to seal and be comfortable if I use the Resmed headgear.

This may be too much of a hassle, but here is a link to making your own headgear...

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64337&p=600274#p600274

John

[OLEGOAT52]

I also had trouble fitting my norrow nose above the bridge. When I used the fx ff it felt good but it almost blinded me. I got some swim googles which worked out good but you should have seen the bags under my eyes. Tried weather stripping one nite(ouch), did not work. Well on my fourth mask I hit the bullseye. It is a Fisher-Paykel Forma. It took a couple of nites to get it set, but wow now I can flip around and get very little leakage. I sleep on my sides amd move alot. hope this helps. GOOD LUCK.

[DadscreepyCPAPmask]

Thanks for all the replies so far, keep them coming!

[quattro fx rules]

My first mask was a Quattro Mirage, it took awhile but I got use to it with exception of the fore head piece, it just bugged me but I slept fine, I switched over to the Quattro FX and I absolutely love this one, its lighter and at times I have to feel my face to see if it is still in place, some people come by it easy and some don't--- tks--FA

[Bright Choice]

-Put mask during a cooldown flow (S9): I've found trying to put the mask on with the full pressure (13cmH20 for me) can be a bit challenging. However I noticed with the S9, it still pumps a small amount of air after you turn the machine off while its cooling down. I've found that putting the mask on during this time and then turning the S9 back on after I have the mask secure seems to provide a very good fit. The small amount of air flowing seems to start inflating the cushions. I go from cooldown flow to full pressure so I don't use a ramp. However, I suppose you can mimic this behavior on other machines with a very fast ramp time.

What I do for daily washings is I remove the spring frame with all of the straps attached. Weekly I'll wash the spring frame, but I will wash the spring frame in one piece keeping it together with the straps and cushions.

Knightmare - you just may be my knight in shining armor - where have you been all this time? All of your suggestions are great. Very creative in using the cooldown flow - I can't wait to try it. And, I couldn't figure out how to conveniently clean the darn thing.

Stick around!!

Last night I used Knightmare's suggestion of using the "cooldown" flow to fill the mask as I was putting it on. Awesome!! Leaks were way down (4.8l) and that was just in the last hour of sleep. What a delight to not wake up to "face farts"

He deserves kudos for that one!!!

[DadscreepyCPAPmask]

I used the Pad-a-Cheek anti-leak strap with my Quattro FX last night and it seemed to help with the leaking I get around the bridge of my nose. I did get some significant strap marks on my face though. Maybe I had this strap on a bit to tight? I am not crazy about having to put this strap over my ears, I guess maybe it just takes getting used to. I will try it again tonight and post back later this week. I am praying this is the answer to my constant leaky Quattro FX problems!

[lyalich]

First posting and i am a new user (one week)

I have not noticed any difference in sleep habits or a raise in energy. i understand that this will take time. i just want to understand, with all the talk about mask leaks (i have the quattro mask) how you tell if the mask is leaking ?

[OutaSync]

First posting and i am a new user (one week)

I have not noticed any difference in sleep habits or a raise in energy. i understand that this will take time. i just want to understand, with all the talk about mask leaks (i have the quattro mask) how you tell if the mask is leaking ?

In order to answer that question, we have to know the make and model of the CPAP machine that you are using. Different machines report leaks in diffrent manners.

[Otter]

I understand why you want the QFX to work. It really is a good idea, but it seems to need another hour or so in the oven. I've also been struggling with it, but when it works, it's extremely nice, and I'm not ready to give up either. I've got my 95% unintentional leak rate down to 9.6 most nights. Oddly, this exact number comes up again and again. If it's not 9.6, it's usually about 12 or 14. The leak rate has really never been an issue in itself, though, it's the jets of air that wake me up or keep me from falling asleep that are the problem.

Moleskin has helped me with leaks into my eyes. My RT recommended that i use a very small piece (i think he said 1/2" by `1/4") on the bony part of the bridge of my nose. But what works for me is a larger piece that comes all the way down to where the bridge of my nose meets the flesh under my eyes. The difference may be my face, but I think it's probably that the QFX sits lower on the nose than most masks. With the moleskin, my 95% leak rate went up at first, I think because it allowed me to sleep through leaks that would otherwise have woken me up. I still get leaks at the bridge of my nose, but they don't go into my eyes now, which makes them less of a problem. I'm still struggling to get a consistent seal at the nose, though.

Does anyone know if foam backed moleskin will leak significantly through the foam?

Why is this mask so leaky!

For me, I think the headgear is the main problem. As near as I can tell, it's the size of the circle at the back, which can't be adjusted. With the large headgear, the bottom strap is down on my neck so that when I incline my head it disturbs the mask. The medium headgear is better than the large, but it pulls the mask up my nose a little even with the upper straps adjusted all the way out, and the top strap is so far back that it can be pushed down the back of my head very easily. The moleskin seems to give the mask a bit more traction to resist the pull of the headgear, and I suspect that's a big part of why it helps.

My other trick is mask liners cut out of an old cotton t-shirt. I've used these from day one to protect the mask from the oil in my beard, but I suspect they help with the seal too. The unstictched edges survive the washing machine surprisingly well.

I always put the mask on with a trickle of air going, not because I'm aware it makes any difference in getting a good seal, but because my S9 runs the blower at low speed during warm up as well as cool down.

If I do have a good seal and I need to get up for some reason, I sometimes leave the mask on and pop off the swivel elbow so that I don't have to fuss with the mask again. Sometimes I even drink with a straw through the opening, or reach in with my pinky to scratch.

BTW, what pressure are you trying to seal against? I'm running apap at 11.6 - 16.4 cm h20. I have the impression that the QFX would work a lot better at a lower pressure, but I suppose that's true of all masks.

[DadscreepyCPAPmask]

My pressure is a constant 9

[Slinky]

I would think that there would be more of a fit/leak problem w/the thicker molefoam than w/the moleskin. Wouldn't cost that much to try tho. Its pretty dense foam. I don't think any leaks would be thru the foam itself but rather w/mask cushion sealing around the thicker piece.

Ach! Just about ANY headgear can be "adjusted". There's nothing like a pair of scissors and some velcro for the really challenging headgear.

The Quattro FX does seem happier w/the hose hanging above our heads, then running under the blankets w/us or off to the side. At least in my personal experience.

[JohnBFisher]

I just posed a review of the Pad-A-Cheek mask liners for the Quattro FX mask. They help reduce some of the leaks, especially for someone with very high pressures or significant pressure swings during the night. Hope it helps.