Bad Leaks With New Amara FF-Mask and ASV

[KenTheriot]

I had been having leak problems with my Quattro mask and purchased a Pad-a-Cheeks liner and anti-leak strap. Things didn't get a whole lot better in the leak department with the liner and strap. So I was hoping that the new Amara FF mask would work well. But the leaks were horrendous (avg. of 3.35 L/m) - worse than the Quattro ever was (worst was .58). I even put on the leak strap, but that didn't seem to help.

Interestingly, my AHI with the new mask (as reported by SleepyHead using S9 VPAP Adapt data) was 0.0! I had it on for 3.5 hours. Is it even possible to report anything like an accurate AHI when the leaks are that high?

I'm going to try putting the Pad-A-Cheeks liner on the Amara and see if that helps. But I'd be very grateful for any other suggestions and thoughts.

Cheers,

Ken

[Julie]

Hi - the machines generally don't recognize sleep periods of under 4 hrs, so that info may be skewed, plus if leaks are large enough (whatever enough may be to the machine) those also may not register at all. Lots of people don't like the Amara - you need to try on others or get better advice!

[Pugsy]

But the leaks were horrendous (avg. of 3.35 L/m) - worse than the Quattro ever was (worst was .58)

Is that the median average you are talking about? or is that the 95% number?
Big difference sometimes in what each number might mean.

If it was the 95% number I would be dancing the happy dance for sure and even if it is the median average which does seem to take a lot of leak to get it off of 0.0 ..I might not be all that disappointed if I slept well (meaning the leaks didn't wake up up all the time) and the bulk of the leak line is showing below 24 L/min leak.

If your leak graph is showing long periods of time above 30 L/min then I would question the AHI as above 30 L/min the machine could miss some events due to sensors not picking up the events. Otherwise from 24 to 30 L/min leak it can still sense events but might not know what to call them and we might get some unknown event flags.

Can you post an image of last night's leak line graph...see how far over 24 L/min you went and for how long?
So it is very possible the AHI last night of 0.0 was fairly accurate. It all depends on how far above 24 L/min you went and how long you stayed there.

[OldSarge]

Hi Ken
Sorry to hear you are having trouble with the Amara.

I'm wondering - do you have just the older silicone mask insert? Or do you also have the Amara Gel mask? (Both are included in the new packaging). I believe the original Amara mask had only the silicone construction.

I started on the Mirage Quattro but had excessive leaks when my pressures were raised. That's when I was given the Amara mask with the Gel type interior. It has a blue translucent color to it and it is much more dense than the totally silicone (clear color) one that was also in my new package. I tried out the silicone one for about 3 minutes - just could not work on my 15cm pressure.

The density of the gel interior (much firmer) and the slightly smaller "footprint" (Maybe "faceprint" ?) gave me better results.
It still has a silicone outer layer that is soft and actually traps the air flow and seals to your face. That being said it still has leaks - just not as bad as the original Quattro. I still have to be real conscious of positioning it correctly. And, some nights it just seems either the mask or my face has somehow morphed. I believe most everyone has problems like this.

I just wanted to tell you about the Gel insert mask in case they included it in your package and somehow it was missed.

Good luck with sorting it out. It seems we all need help with this in the first days and weeks.

[Pugsy]

Did you used to use a S8 or older machine? If so then the leak numbers you mentioned would be excessive for a S8 or older machine but are NOT excessive at all for a S9 machines because they are reporting different units.

S9 reports in liters per minute
S8 and older reported in liters per second and to get that converted to liters per minute we multiplied by 60 seconds.

With the S9 machine 24 L/min is where large leak territory begins.
in the S8 machine that would be equal to 0.40 L/sec.

Now if leaks wake you up...they need to be fixed no matter what but if you are thinking that 95% leak number of 3.38 L/min is bad, bad leak...it isn't at all and in fact it is quite good. I don't know that I ever have seen that...maybe a couple of 4.0 95% numbers but mostly I am doing good in I am in the teens.

[brivers222]

I have started to shave the sides of my goatee and the "soul patch" to help give a better seal at the bottom.

Where i am having an issue appears to be where the entrainment elbow enters the plastic mask around that seal. I know the exhalation port is there and thats okay, its right at that seal where the elbow and the mask intersect. its like if i apply slight pressure into my face the sounds goes away but if i let go I can hear what appears to be leaking. Is this normal?