So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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rogelah
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Location: Weston, Florida

So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by rogelah » Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:35 am

I was excited! "The Mask", with it's Three Amigos arrived yesterday. We opened the box, carefully cut the sizing templates from their exalted position on the bag containing the Small and Large Amigos, read the less than helpful manual three times and worked on deciphering the hieroglyphics on the "Quick Start" card attached to the headgear.

Suitably armed with information, I decided to get into bed early and don "The Mask". First we used the sizing templates. The Medium Amigo was too narrow and a tad too short and The Large Amigo was okay on width but the top was above the top of my eyes. We decided to go with The Medium Amigo.

Before I go on, some background. I cannot don a mask by myself. My FSHD prevents me from raising my arms and I rely on my caregiver.

We spent about 30 minutes following "mounting" the mask instructions. I must say that it was, IMO, very comfortable and the bridge of my nose immediately voted "Yes" in favor. Then we turned on the "Leaf Blower" with a five minute ramp. All was well. When the pressure reached 14 IPAP, a Hurricane erupted from all points on the compass. ABORT! ABORT!

We tightened straps 1 and 2 and "relaunched". Now at 14, it was an annoying left side of the top of the nose air leak. Slight pressure on the top of the frame stopped it but it returned soon after. We tightened left side strap 1. GOOD! Pressure got to 14 and started upward. At 19 all was well until I moved. TORNADO! TORNADDO! IT'S AN F5! And I'm in the middle of it. If I thought a hurricane was bad this time it was beyond annoying, it was a shipwreck and my ship was capsizing and I couldn't get to a lifeboat. I'm outta here; I want my Quattro!

My caregiver, bless her heart, ignored me and proceeded to exchange "The Medium Amigo" for "The Large Amigo". We launched again. We were not able to overcome the bridge of the frame being above the eyes.

The best we could accomplish with either mask was with the straps cranked tight so as the front of the frame was touching the tip of my nose.

We spent 1 and 1/2 hours and gave up. Measuring FullLife against Quattro (we have both med. and lg. in both) shows distinct differences in dimensions. Another difference between them was the length of the flaps that lay against the skin.

Although I prefer the FullLife, the masks were not dimensioned for my facial features.

Now, I have to decide what to do with "The Three Amigos".
ResMed VPAP III ST
IPAP:23.0, EPAP:12.0, RR:15, RT:250ms, IPAPmax:2.0s, MAX I:E:1:1, IPAPmin:1.0s

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mdintx
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Location: DFW-TX

Re: So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by mdintx » Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:04 pm

Sorry to hear it didn't work out for ya. I hope the Quattro works well enough. I tried it once and it felt like a hovercraft was my face

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tattooyu
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Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:57 am
Location: Valley Village, CA

Re: So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by tattooyu » Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:05 pm

Sorry "the mask" didn't work out for you. I'm planning on trying it on my next round of insurance (this month). Since the Quattro (medium and large) would never seal for me, maybe the FullLife will work for my face shape, since it's the opposite problem?

How does the shape of your face compare to mine (see my avatar)?

Thanks, and good luck!
Sleep well and live better!

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PST
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Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 9:56 pm

Re: So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by PST » Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:14 pm

Thanks, rogelah. I think there are a lot of us looking for every experience anyone has had with this new mask.

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SleepyInDC
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 9:01 pm

Re: So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by SleepyInDC » Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:15 pm

rogelah wrote:I was excited! "The Mask", with it's Three Amigos arrived yesterday. We opened the box, carefully cut the sizing templates from their exalted position on the bag containing the Small and Large Amigos, read the less than helpful manual three times and worked on deciphering the hieroglyphics on the "Quick Start" card attached to the headgear.

Suitably armed with information, I decided to get into bed early and don "The Mask". First we used the sizing templates. The Medium Amigo was too narrow and a tad too short and The Large Amigo was okay on width but the top was above the top of my eyes. We decided to go with The Medium Amigo.

Before I go on, some background. I cannot don a mask by myself. My FSHD prevents me from raising my arms and I rely on my caregiver.

We spent about 30 minutes following "mounting" the mask instructions. I must say that it was, IMO, very comfortable and the bridge of my nose immediately voted "Yes" in favor. Then we turned on the "Leaf Blower" with a five minute ramp. All was well. When the pressure reached 14 IPAP, a Hurricane erupted from all points on the compass. ABORT! ABORT!

We tightened straps 1 and 2 and "relaunched". Now at 14, it was an annoying left side of the top of the nose air leak. Slight pressure on the top of the frame stopped it but it returned soon after. We tightened left side strap 1. GOOD! Pressure got to 14 and started upward. At 19 all was well until I moved. TORNADO! TORNADDO! IT'S AN F5! And I'm in the middle of it. If I thought a hurricane was bad this time it was beyond annoying, it was a shipwreck and my ship was capsizing and I couldn't get to a lifeboat. I'm outta here; I want my Quattro!

My caregiver, bless her heart, ignored me and proceeded to exchange "The Medium Amigo" for "The Large Amigo". We launched again. We were not able to overcome the bridge of the frame being above the eyes.

The best we could accomplish with either mask was with the straps cranked tight so as the front of the frame was touching the tip of my nose.

We spent 1 and 1/2 hours and gave up. Measuring FullLife against Quattro (we have both med. and lg. in both) shows distinct differences in dimensions. Another difference between them was the length of the flaps that lay against the skin.

Although I prefer the FullLife, the masks were not dimensioned for my facial features.

Now, I have to decide what to do with "The Three Amigos".
I have been looking at this mask... what face shape do you have? I think I may well buy one.

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rogelah
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Location: Weston, Florida

Re: So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by rogelah » Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:43 pm

The Face that stopped "The Three Amigos".

Image
ResMed VPAP III ST
IPAP:23.0, EPAP:12.0, RR:15, RT:250ms, IPAPmax:2.0s, MAX I:E:1:1, IPAPmin:1.0s

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SleepyInDC
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Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 9:01 pm

Re: So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by SleepyInDC » Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:52 pm

rogelah wrote:The Face that stopped "The Three Amigos".

Image
I have a similarish (slightly more narrow) face... now I'm wondering how it will work for me....

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Uncle_Bob
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Location: Arizona

Re: So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by Uncle_Bob » Fri Aug 14, 2009 1:20 pm

SleepyInDC wrote:
rogelah wrote:The Face that stopped "The Three Amigos".

Image
I have a similarish (slightly more narrow) face... now I'm wondering how it will work for me....
Nothing abnormal about that face The fact that it did not work on your face has me worried now as i was going to try that mask next too.

Your pressure of 19 is somewhat high, I wonder if it would have worked for you if your pressure was lower.

Glad to hear you have a mask to fall back to.

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BleepingBeauty
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Location: Aridzona ;-)

Re: So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by BleepingBeauty » Fri Aug 14, 2009 3:12 pm

[quote="rogelah"]We were not able to overcome the bridge of the frame being above the eyes.

Just curious, rogelah. Did you try tightening the chin support strap when you tried the Large seal, to seat the mask a little lower on your face?
Veni, vidi, Velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Dx 11/07: AHI 107, central apnea, Cheyne Stokes respiration, moderate-severe O2 desats. (Simple OSA would be too easy. ;))

PR S1 ASV 950, DreamWear mask, F&P 150 humidifier, O2 @ 2L.

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rogelah
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Re: So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by rogelah » Fri Aug 14, 2009 3:41 pm

BleepingBeauty wrote:
rogelah wrote:We were not able to overcome the bridge of the frame being above the eyes.

Just curious, rogelah. Did you try tightening the chin support strap when you tried the Large seal, to seat the mask a little lower on your face?
Thanks for asking. Yup, sure did. But even with the tightening (bottom of mask even with bottom of chin) it made no difference.

By the way, we also tried moving the back of the head part of #1 as low as possible and the over the head #4 further back and while it did seem to help somewhat it increased pressure on the skin at the sides of the bottom of the nose to a point that it bordered on unbearable.

I just ordered some RemZzzs for the large Quattro to try. I might try one with the large FullLife.

I have another sleep test scheduled for Aug. 24. I will take both the Quattro and the FullLife. Maybe the Rts can figure it out.
ResMed VPAP III ST
IPAP:23.0, EPAP:12.0, RR:15, RT:250ms, IPAPmax:2.0s, MAX I:E:1:1, IPAPmin:1.0s

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Muse-Inc
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Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by Muse-Inc » Fri Aug 14, 2009 6:27 pm

rogelah wrote:I was excited!...
Hilarious Rogelah, absolutely hilarious! I really am sorry The Mask (Jim Carrey anyone?) didn't work out for ya; maybe the techs can figure it out is right. I hadda take my Hybrid in for help...just couldn't get it setup and tightened so it didn't leak.
ResMed S9 range 9.8-17, RespCare Hybrid FFM
Never, never, never, never say never.

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jdm2857
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Location: South Jersey

Re: So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by jdm2857 » Fri Aug 14, 2009 6:34 pm

With what that FitFull mask costs, I think it would be worthwhile to try it again. A fresh pair of eyes on a new day may notice something that was overlooked the first time.
jeff

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robertmarilyn
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Re: So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by robertmarilyn » Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:28 am

rogelah wrote:The Face that stopped "The Three Amigos".

Image
I'm going to try the mask next week...thanks for telling us how it went for you. BTW, you are looking a little purple rogelah!
mar

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rogelah
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Re: So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by rogelah » Sun Aug 16, 2009 11:24 am

robertmarilyn wrote:
rogelah wrote:The Face that stopped "The Three Amigos".

Image
I'm going to try the mask next week...thanks for telling us how it went for you. BTW, you are looking a little purple rogelah!
mar
Too much grape HIC HIC
ResMed VPAP III ST
IPAP:23.0, EPAP:12.0, RR:15, RT:250ms, IPAPmax:2.0s, MAX I:E:1:1, IPAPmin:1.0s

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jdm2857
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Re: So Ask Me...How Do You Like the FullLife Mask?

Post by jdm2857 » Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:32 pm

Here's what a little visit to Dr. Photoshop can do:

Image
jeff