Quatro and Sleep Aids

[sashaspopster]

Hi All. Its Matt again. Well i have now gone from the nasal pillows to a Quatro full face mask. I have had it about 10 days now and it still seems to be hit and miss. Sometimes it goes well. Other times i wake up in the morning and i have taken it off during the night and thrown it on the floor. Still running. But hoping with time it will work itself out.
I do have a couple of questions i would like to pose to you wonderful people. First i seem to be having some problem with leakage. I sometimes feel air shooting up towards my eyes. Other times towards my cheeks. Am I doing something wrong in terms of not having the straps tight enough or not having the mask positioned correctly on my face and not having that knob on my forehead tight enough? any help would be appreciated.
Secondly i still seem to have a lot of trouble going to sleep. the noise and the whooshing sound etc. Is it ok to take like tylenol pm or are sleeping aids not a good idea when on cpap therapy?
Oh and one other question. do you really need to clean the mask every day like the instructions say?
i was really hoping this would be a magic bullet but it sure seems to be taking a long time. Oh well enough of my frustration.
Hope you are all doing well and having a great weekend
Matt

[rjjayrt]

You should not tighten the Quattro too tight. It should be just snug. The pressure will close the seal. Tweak things with the knob at the top of mask.

[2ndGenCPAPgal]

I also use the Quattro. I don't clean the entire mask every day, but I have found that the single best thing I can do to prevent leaks is to clean the seal portion daily. Sometimes I just use the citrus wipes (I can make 1 wipe last at least 3 days) but a couple times a week I have to do a wash with soap and water.

Also, when you have leaks try repositioning the mask slightly higher or slightly lower on your nose. For me that is sometimes enough to fix the little eye leaks.

It is kind of hit or miss for a while until you find that sweet spot that works....it took me a few weeks...and another couple weeks to learn to resist the urge to mess with it.

[JimIllinois]

I get some leakage around the nose at eye level, and occasionally on the cheeks.

For the cheeks, I can usually tighten the bottom straps just slightly (they do stretch a bit over time).

For the nose, I can adjust the knob, but usually just move the mask down a touch, as was said above. The knob is usually adjust-and-forget unless you have a change in the basic shape of your face. Once it's tweaked in you shouldn't have to adjust it.

I clean the seal about once a week. If I don't, leaks become rampant for me.

[DoriC]

You can try to pull the mask gently away from your face and let it settle back down to allow the air to inflate the seal.

[sleepymonkie]

I have used this mask for over a year. I have needed to change the position of the mask several times to get a good seal. Sometimes I wear it higher on my nose, and sometimes it needs to go lower. I also clean the seal daily. If you use hot water on the seal, it seems to get its shape back. Often the seal becomes very sloppy, I use the hot water bath on it at that time. I have wondered if it has a shape memory that is heat related. I also sleep on my side and have a high narrow bridge to my nose. I find that I have to tighten the straps more than most people report here, everyone's face is different.

[Gerryk]

If your pressure is high you will have a hard time getting a good seal on this or any mask. However their are some good suggestions here and I have tried all of them successfully.
Lift the mask up so the cushion fills with air and helps seal properly.
Clean the mask at least the cushion daily.
Do not tighten too much, you want the mask just snug of it can't seal properly.
Put the mask on so it feels somewhat comfortable then adjust the top knob a little at a time until it stops leaking air around the bridge of your nose and your eyes.
Now here is a big one I found. Position of the mask on your face.

If the mask if up too high you will not get a good seal on the mask, I have also found that if it is too low you won't get a good seal. Kind of right in the middle. So if you find that sometimes you can get a fairly good seal and the next time you can't, try adjusting the mask up or down.

I found that once I got used to the mask and figured out these small things, I barely noticed when the mask was leaking.

Gerry