There is a strong sense of "Paying It Forward" in this forum. Others helped me, so I will help others. It makes this particular journey a bit more bearable. I personally try to help others with central sleep apnea, since I had so much problem trying to get it diagnosed and treated. I want to try to make the path a little smoother for the next person.Woolybugger wrote:... I can't believe so many people are offering their help. This forum is amazing ...
Glad you switched to the Quattro FX. They should have put you onto that in the first place. Hunt for the online guides for wearing the Quattro FX mask. Essentially, if you put it onto your nose first and swing the rest of the mask down onto your face, it will work well.Woolybugger wrote:... I haven't had a problem sleeping with my mask, but it has been hurting my nose and especially my forehead. I have the ResMed Mirage Quatro. My wife noticed, after only 8 days, I was bruising on my forehead. Anyway, I noticed from another post that I could exchange masks within 30 days. I went in and they gave me the Quatro FX. It feels comfortable and there is nothing covering my eyes or touching my forehead. Hopefully I made the right choice. Does anyone else have thoughts on the Quatro FX. I try it for the first time tonight! ...
One note about the Quattro FX (and frankly any other mask). As the silicone on it ages, it will start to leak more. It becomes stiffer and tends not to be as flexible as it was when you first put it on. Because you have an ASV machine, you will start to have more problems with leaking. When you have a central apnea and stop breathing the machine ramps up the pressure a HUGE amount to help sustain your respiration. Essentially, it acts as a respirator rather than just as a BiLevel machine. These fast changes in pressure tend to cause the mask to leak. When the mask leaks it sounds as if someone is slowly letting out the air from a balloon and making it squeak and squawk. The mask does the same thing. Or it makes rather rude mask fart sounds.
[ And here you thought sounding like Darth Vader was bad enough ! 8^) ]
One way to tame this type of leaking is to use a mask liner to help improve the seal. I find this helps a LOT. It does not completely eliminate the leaking, but it certainly makes it much quieter. Here are three different varieties. I've personally used both the REMzzzs and the Pad-A-Cheek mask liners. I can recommend both.
http://www.remzzzs.com/Default.asp
http://quietusliners.com/
http://padacheek.com/
Oh, one final thing. I have been using xPAP therapy (first a CPAP unit, then a BiLevel unit, now an ASV unit) for more than 20 years. I found that when I first started to use CPAP that I would cough up a lot of phlegm in the morning. I discussed it at the time with my pulmonologist. At the time, I had concluded (and he agreed) that because the CPAP was keeping my airway open and causing me to breathe more deeply during sleep that my body was better able to clear my lungs than prior to CPAP therapy. Since starting on CPAP, I've rarely had Bronchitis. I would normally get two or three chest colds per year. Now I might get one, if that. So, it seems that (at least for me) xPAP therapy helps me keep my lungs clear and avoid problems. The only drawback is that I occasionally cough up gunk in the morning. The mount decreased with time, but I still do it some. Still it's a cheap price to pay for fewer serious chest colds.
Hope that helps.