Need advice on a new mask

[Jack356]

I am going to see my DME this afternoon to exchange the Quattro FX I started with 12 days ago. I had more sleep interruptions due to fixing leaks and adjusting the mask than interruptions from AHIs! The last two nights I gave up on it because I could not adjust it to not leak long enough to get to sleep. I believe this is not the mask for me.

The Quattro is s size large---my head is on the larger side and the Quattro FX rides up my face and over my lower lip resulting in a huge leak. Alsi I cann't get a seal to last for over 5 minutes at the bridge of my nose. I gave this mask a fair shot and studied how it should be fitted to my face with poor results. I know that this mask is nirvana for many people but not for me.

My machine is a model 560 Respironice and is automatic. Sometimes when I get a "blowout" the pressure is way high--I wonder if a lower pressure might help me. It is set at a range of 10-20.

I truse the advice I see provided here and would be grateful fopr suggestions for a better mask for me.

Thanks so much! Jack, Hot Springs, AR

[Harleycruzer]

I can relate... gave up on the Quattro myself for the same reasons, only I waited much too long and went back to the Swift FX nasal pillow mask but now am going to give the Mirage Liberty a try,.and if it don't work, I'll have enough parts and pieces from the three masks that I can make one that will work for me

[cosmo]

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[Bobby269]

While your at the DME see if a medium fits better.

[jencat824]

If you are needing a Full Face mask, my hubby has had good luck with his Amara. He has a large face & head and although it looks too small for him to me, it seems to fit him just right. You might want to give one of these a try IF you must have FF. If you can try nasal pillows, I would have to agree that is the way to go.
Jen

[Jack356]

I would like a nasal pillow but at night my nose is always stopped up. I had an operation for a deviated septum 5 years ago but it didn't help. I didn't think I was a candidate for a nasal pillow.

I do have a new chin strap and am going to use it with my next mask.

Anyone have any thoughts to the best mask for me? LOoks are not important, I am mainly interested in comfort and minimal leaks.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[cosmo]

Can you breathe through one nose at least?

[Pugsy]

My machine is a model 560 Respironice and is automatic. Sometimes when I get a "blowout" the pressure is way high--I wonder if a lower pressure might help me. It is set at a range of 10-20.

These newer machines aren't nearly so bad with increasing the pressure trying to fix a leak and the increase in pressure only causes more leak.. nasty circle thing. The older machines...yeah they were known to go chasing the leaks with pressures as high as it will go.
The new machines don't do that nearly so much...
http://sleepapnea.respironics.com/techn ... ement.aspx

Not saying that is isn't possible...just not nearly as probable as with the older technology machines.

I don't have any full face mask experience so I can't help much there. If you happen to need higher pressures to be effective leaks are going to be a challenge no matter what mask you use.
The fact that you have congestion issues that pretty much mandates a mask to allow mouth breathing means that any FF mask is just going to have more surface area to have to deal with.

Lots of forum members do well with the original Quattro which has the forehead adjustment.
Also the Ultra Mirage .
You might also look at the ResMed Liberty or Innomed Hybrid....surface area is less to have to deal with sealing.
People using high pressures can do very well with them with just a few little tweaks.
Padacheek has an anti leak strap that offers additional support without having to tighten the mask so much (which we know too tight often makes thing worse anyway)
I think it can be used on a variety of FF masks.

Just keep trying different FFmasks...there's a lot of them to try. There's no shame in giving up on one and moving on to something else. Not all masks fit every face out there no matter what we do to try to make it better.

[Harleycruzer]

Can you breathe through one nose at least?

that would be a nostril Sir, unless of course he has more than one nose's

[zoocrewphoto]

Get a nasal pillow, way easier to keep leaks down to a minimum. Tape or chinstrap if you're a mouth breather. People shouldn't be mouth breathing anyways.

Perhaps I should just quit breathing.

Please don't say things like that. Some people have to be mouth breathers. I can barely breathe through my mouth when I am lying down. A couple months ago, I intentionally closed my mouth and breathed through my nose while wearing the mask. It felt very uncomfortable. Without a full face mask, using a cpap machine would be impossible for me.

We shouldn't be discouraging newbies by telling them they shouldn't be breathing through their mouth when that may be their only available way to breathe at night.

I am having good success with my treatment, yet, by your standards, I should have spent months trying to use chin straps and various masks that would have left me unable to breathe.

[cosmo]

Mouth breathing ruins your oral health. Thats why it should be discourage.

If one can't breathe through their nose, that is something that should be addressed as well. But if they don't care, that's what the full face mask are for.

[zoocrewphoto]

Mouth breathing ruins your oral health. Thats why it should be discourage.

If one can't breathe through their nose, that is something that should be addressed as well. But if they don't care, that's what the full face mask are for.

I've never had a doctor or dentist tell me that I should not breathe through my mouth. They don't seem to think it is a big deal.

Every dentist and assistant I have been to has commented on how small my mouth is. When I was tested for asthma years ago, my doctor determined that my airway was smaller than normal. I have a constant level of congestion that does not improve with various medications. I have one ointment that will prevent some level of allergic reaction when I am exposed to allergens. But clariton, zyrtec, benadryl, chlortimeton, etc don't give me any improvement, even twice a day for a month straight.

I've lived this way all my life. It is normal for me, and I do okay. Why would I want to torture myself to find a cure to something I am used to, just to satisfy somebody else's wish that I try a nasal mask?

[cosmo]

You can be a mouth breather if you want. I'm putting it out there for the OP since its his thread.

You obviously know whats best for you. Congrats.

[zoocrewphoto]

You can be a mouth breather if you want. I'm putting it out there for the OP since its his thread.

You obviously know whats best for you. Congrats.

You say it like it is an absolute, and it comes across as judgemental.

Why not suggest that it may be better if they can go with a nasal mask, instead of making statements that make it sound like mouth breathing is only for failures. Somebody else was always insisting that people should try nasal first and only try a full face mask if nasal failed. If a doctor told me that, I never would have even tried cpap treatment. Years ago, I dismissed the idea of treating sleep apnea for two reasons. One, I assumed it was just sleep deprivation, and longer sleep would cover that. (I didn't realize that it was oxygen deprivation). And I thought that cpap treatment required nasal breathing, which I can't do at night. Hell, sometimes, I can't do it during the day when I am upright. I usually have to take a larger breath through my mouth every minute or so. If I had known years ago that there were full face masks, I might have tried this sooner.

Newbies need useful suggestions. But telling them that they should not be mouth breathing, that may lead them to struggle for weeks or months and possibly give up. We need to be as helpful as possible in giving them useful advice.

[greyhound]

I'd give nasal pillows a try. I've found that if your nostrils have any opening at all, air will get through.