Donning the Amara View

[blownaway]

The Amara View headgear is rather complicated with 5 adjustment straps so its no wonder people are having trouble with leaking. My mask came with only this little card that inadequately showed how to put it on. On Wednesday night my results were horrible with AHI of 5.9 and avg. leaks at over 60; the events chart was crowded and I was having thoughts of quitting but something prompted me to do a search on the mask and I was eventually led to a You Tube video on how to put the mask on correctly and adjust it.

Naturally, I had it all wrong. No matter how I adjusted the mask, I had a high leakage rate. Last night I put the headgear on correctly. This mornings graphs look more like straight lines than mountain ranges. The leak rate was at 4.8; mask pressure at a steady 8 point something. AMAZING. Respiration rates looked real nice, too and the events chart had only a few marks on it.

Are your leak problems the result of not putting your mask on correctly? Wouldn't hurt to check.

[49er]

The Amara View headgear is rather complicated with 5 adjustment straps so its no wonder people are having trouble with leaking. My mask came with only this little card that inadequately showed how to put it on. On Wednesday night my results were horrible with AHI of 5.9 and avg. leaks at over 60; the events chart was crowded and I was having thoughts of quitting but something prompted me to do a search on the mask and I was eventually led to a You Tube video on how to put the mask on correctly and adjust it.

Naturally, I had it all wrong. No matter how I adjusted the mask, I had a high leakage rate. Last night I put the headgear on correctly. This mornings graphs look more like straight lines than mountain ranges. The leak rate was at 4.8; mask pressure at a steady 8 point something. AMAZING. Respiration rates looked real nice, too and the events chart had only a few marks on it.

Are your leak problems the result of not putting your mask on correctly? Wouldn't hurt to check.

Thanks for the tip blowaway and glad you found the You Tube Video helpful. I will have to remember that as I have just ordered a Simplus that I found to be very comfortable when I tried it out during a mask fitting session. Concerned it seems to leak very easily but if that happens, I will check to make sure I am doing everything right.

Speaking of the Amare, I tried it again after rejecting it initially. I realized why I didn't like it as I couldn't stand having all the pressure around my mouth area and not spread out like most full face masks. I know most people are happy not to have something pressing on their nasal area but as usual, I seem to deviate from the norm. I wanted to share that in case people were wondering why they didn't like the mask but had no clue why.

Good luck with it and I hope your success continues.

49er

[Heart Jumping]

I realized why I didn't like it as I couldn't stand having all the pressure around my mouth area and not spread out like most full face masks.

I tried the Amara yesterday because I wanted a FFM backup for when I am congested. I was expecting to like it because it uses a nose piece similar to my DreamWare which I love and consider a work of art of industrial design. So I was surprised when I found it very uncomfortable for the reason you mention. Very nice and compact though so as always YMMV.

[49er]

I realized why I didn't like it as I couldn't stand having all the pressure around my mouth area and not spread out like most full face masks.

I tried the Amara yesterday because I wanted a FFM backup for when I am congested. I was expecting to like it because it uses a nose piece similar to my DreamWare which I love and consider a work of art of industrial design. So I was surprised when I found it very uncomfortable for the reason you mention. Very nice and compact though so as always YMMV.

Thanks for letting me know I am not crazy HJ. Good luck in finding a FFM backup.

49er

[HeadlongFlight]

I recently got an Amara View to serve as a FFM backup for the inevitable cold/congestion situation. I haven't tried it yet, though, other than a quick donning at the store.

Does one need to tell the machine what type of mask is being used? I mean, is there an option in there somewhere where it needs to be configured for nasal mask/nasal pillow/full face mask?

[OkyDoky]

I recently got an Amara View to serve as a FFM backup for the inevitable cold/congestion situation. I haven't tried it yet, though, other than a quick donning at the store.

Does one need to tell the machine what type of mask is being used? I mean, is there an option in there somewhere where it needs to be configured for nasal mask/nasal pillow/full face mask?

Yes there is a mask setting. Here is the clinical manual if you don't already have it. https://sleep.tnet.com/home/files/resme ... -guide.pdf

[HeadlongFlight]

Yes there is a mask setting. Here is the clinical manual if you don't already have it. https://sleep.tnet.com/home/files/resme ... -guide.pdf

Okay, that makes sense. Does this setting affect how the machine delivers its designated pressures and how it interprets leakage, etc.?

Or put another way, if you spent a night or two with a FFM, would it hurt anything if you left the machine set for your usual nasal pillows?

[Pugsy]

Does this setting affect how the machine delivers its designated pressures and how it interprets leakage, etc.?

Or put another way, if you spent a night or two with a FFM, would it hurt anything if you left the machine set for your usual nasal pillows?

If affects leak calculations and not the end of the world if you forget to change the mask setting.
ResMed machines take a generic vent rate per whichever mask setting you choose at your pressures and subtract that number prior to reporting the excess leak number that ResMed machines report.

It won't affect therapy pressures...at worst it might underestimate or overestimate the leak numbers a little bit.

Nasal pillow masks usually have a slightly lower vent rate than full face masks so the reported leak numbers might not be totally accurate but they will be close. If you use a full face mask and it is set to nasal pillows there is the potential for the machine to think the leak is worse than it really is. That's about it and if you aren't seeing a large leak flag anyway...hurts nothing.

[blownaway]

So I was surprised when I found it very uncomfortable for the reason you mention. Very nice and compact though so as always YMMV.

That shouldn't be be tight around the mouth. Mine isn't. I'd suggest that you aren't adjusting it properly.

Take note of the directions that all five of the straps pull, including the over-the-head one which could be the culprit in causing the tightness and possibly overlooked? Try easing up on it and see if that helps.

[grayghost4]

My wife and I have both started using the Amara View this week ... previous for my wife was the Swift Fx ... and she would leak trough the mouth all night ... Not any more last three nights she has had AHI of 0.00 ... for 3 night in a row :

http://imgur.com/NWLbb1w

so the correct mask and the correct settings can make a differance !

Now if I could just get mine to look like that ..I would also be very happy

[AcedDublB]

My wife and I have both started using the Amara View this week ... previous for my wife was the Swift Fx ... and she would leak trough the mouth all night ... Not any more last three nights she has had AHI of 0.00 ... for 3 night in a row :

http://imgur.com/NWLbb1w

so the correct mask and the correct settings can make a differance !

Now if I could just get mine to look like that ..I would also be very happy

Amazing results, congratulations.

In my opinion, the Amara View doesn't need to be tight with the straps.

I love mine but suffered for 3 weeks with a Medium when I should have been large.

Now larger opening area for nostrils and mouth.

[chunkyfrog]

I would really like to try the Amara view; but I REFUSE
to have my nose enlarged just to fit the smallest size they make now.
Until they make a Petite, they are dead to me.

[blownaway]

I would really like to try the Amara view; but I REFUSE
to have my nose enlarged just to fit the smallest size they make now.
Until they make a Petite, they are dead to me.

Maybe you could get a nose prosthesis that would resolve that problem.

[chunkyfrog]

Don't think the thought never passed through my head.