Large Leak (LL)
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Large Leak (LL)
What is the top limit on the Large Leak (LL) percentage in the left hand column at the top in the color coded box?
Re: Large Leak (LL)
We aren't sure what number you are talking about.
Could you be a little more clear about which number you are referring to?
See this thread for something that might help you.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=108724&p=1036669&hi ... t#p1036669
We don't know which column you are referring as what the number means or if you are asking what could that statistic go to.
An image of the report and what you are referring to would be helpful.
Could you be a little more clear about which number you are referring to?
See this thread for something that might help you.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=108724&p=1036669&hi ... t#p1036669
We don't know which column you are referring as what the number means or if you are asking what could that statistic go to.
An image of the report and what you are referring to would be helpful.
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.
Re: Large Leak (LL)
After reading your post and the llnk you posted I have a different understanding/take on the leak situation.Pugsy wrote: ↑Thu Nov 12, 2026 11:24 amWe aren't sure what number you are talking about.
Could you be a little more clear about which number you are referring to?
See this thread for something that might help you.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=108724&p=1036669&hi ... t#p1036669
We don't know which column you are referring as what the number means or if you are asking what could that statistic go to.
An image of the report and what you are referring to would be helpful.
The number I'm referring to, from the OSCAR chart you posted, is the Large Leak 13.36% in the gray box, followed by the other colored boxes.
Typically the 'Leak Rate' is supposed to be less than 24 so I was wondering if the number in the Large Leak 'gray' box had a high limit number like the Leak Rate number, but now I have a much different understanding.
It's more about the graphs opposed to the numbers!
Another question. I use nasal pillows. How important, when it comes to leaks, is it to have cushions that haven't worn out? Replacing pillows is supposed to be changed every month, minimum?
I'm assuming that means after a month of using, or just a month of limited use but out of the package?
Re: Large Leak (LL)
I believe that Large Leak number in the gray box is a per hour average similar to the AHI number for the entire night is a per hour average.
I don't know if there is a line in the sand number that would maybe cause us to worry or not.
I go by the 95% number myself and if it is over 30 L/min I then will take time to examine the leak line itself and see just how much I went into large leak territory and how long I was there.
The mask manufacturers want you to replace the nasal pillows/cushions/whatever every 30 days not because the cushions/pillows, will fail in 30 days but instead they want to sell more product and make more money. It's a cash cow for them.
In real life those nasal pillows, cushions, etc, with common sense care will last for months and months and months with the exception of the masks that have the memory foam cushions but even those can last 3 to 5 months with common sense care.
I have used a single nasal pillow for at least 9 months and it never started leaking and I would change them out mainly because they turn yellow and look yucky after a period of time exposed to the air. The air will turn the silicone yellow even if it isn't used. I lost a nasal pillow on my dresser one time (got hidden under something on my dresser) and it was never used after I opened the package and it turned yellow...just ugly looking. It didn't effect the function or seal though...so just being out in the air for several months and turning yellow didn't cause it to leak excessively.
I have been trying the F & P Nova Micro Nasal Pillow mask for several months now and I know for a fact that I have use one nasal pillow size medium for at least 6 to 8 months now and it's no more leaky now than when I first got it.
To be honest I have never paid any attention to that gray box area statistic.
I don't know if there is a line in the sand number that would maybe cause us to worry or not.
I go by the 95% number myself and if it is over 30 L/min I then will take time to examine the leak line itself and see just how much I went into large leak territory and how long I was there.
JackieLee wrote: ↑Thu Nov 12, 2026 7:36 pmI use nasal pillows. How important, when it comes to leaks, is it to have cushions that haven't worn out? Replacing pillows is supposed to be changed every month, minimum?
I'm assuming that means after a month of using, or just a month of limited use but out of the package?
The mask manufacturers want you to replace the nasal pillows/cushions/whatever every 30 days not because the cushions/pillows, will fail in 30 days but instead they want to sell more product and make more money. It's a cash cow for them.In real life those nasal pillows, cushions, etc, with common sense care will last for months and months and months with the exception of the masks that have the memory foam cushions but even those can last 3 to 5 months with common sense care.
I have used a single nasal pillow for at least 9 months and it never started leaking and I would change them out mainly because they turn yellow and look yucky after a period of time exposed to the air. The air will turn the silicone yellow even if it isn't used. I lost a nasal pillow on my dresser one time (got hidden under something on my dresser) and it was never used after I opened the package and it turned yellow...just ugly looking. It didn't effect the function or seal though...so just being out in the air for several months and turning yellow didn't cause it to leak excessively.
I have been trying the F & P Nova Micro Nasal Pillow mask for several months now and I know for a fact that I have use one nasal pillow size medium for at least 6 to 8 months now and it's no more leaky now than when I first got it.
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.
Re: Large Leak (LL)
Pugsy,
Since reading your post on leaks and seeing your OSCAR chart, the 'leak factor' takes a different look than it used to for me.
To me the AHI is number 1, no ifs ands or buts, because, after all, it's the AHI number that caused our sleep apnea diagnosis to begin with!!
Keep in mind, I just hit my 90 day mark yesterday, 11/11. What caused my 'concern' with leaks is the fact that I've 'heard' that leaks can distort your AHI numbers in a negative way. For example, with a high leak rate, your AHI number may be much higher than what OSCAR tells you!
Again, AHI is the whole reason we were diagnosed to begin with and it's the problem that can cause us heart health issues!!
My concern was, if my AHI is 1.06 in OSCAR, but the leak rate is off the chart, maybe my AHI is truly 7.54?!?!
Since reading your post on leaks and seeing your OSCAR chart, the 'leak factor' takes a different look than it used to for me.
To me the AHI is number 1, no ifs ands or buts, because, after all, it's the AHI number that caused our sleep apnea diagnosis to begin with!!
Keep in mind, I just hit my 90 day mark yesterday, 11/11. What caused my 'concern' with leaks is the fact that I've 'heard' that leaks can distort your AHI numbers in a negative way. For example, with a high leak rate, your AHI number may be much higher than what OSCAR tells you!
Again, AHI is the whole reason we were diagnosed to begin with and it's the problem that can cause us heart health issues!!
My concern was, if my AHI is 1.06 in OSCAR, but the leak rate is off the chart, maybe my AHI is truly 7.54?!?!
Re: Large Leak (LL)
Well.....this is what can happen if leaks are high AND PROLONGED but not necessarily a given that it will happen and even if you do have a period of large leak it will only affect the time spent in large leak. The rest of the time during the night when you are not in large leak your events that slip past the defenses won't be very many and your AHI that is nice and low will be accurate for the bulk of the night when not deep in large leak territory.JackieLee wrote: ↑Thu Nov 12, 2026 8:52 pmWhat caused my 'concern' with leaks is the fact that I've 'heard' that leaks can distort your AHI numbers in a negative way. For example, with a high leak rate, your AHI number may be much higher than what OSCAR tells you!
My concern was, if my AHI is 1.06 in OSCAR, but the leak rate is off the chart, maybe my AHI is truly 7.54?!?!
Just how high is "off the charts" and how much time do you spend "off the charts"?
Are you seeing many UA flagged events? When leaks get really excessive and might be missing events we usually see UA flags before the machine loses accurate sensing abilities.
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.
Re: Large Leak (LL)
I can post a chart but not sure how to do it here?!!Pugsy wrote: ↑Fri Nov 13, 2026 4:08 amWell.....this is what can happen if leaks are high AND PROLONGED but not necessarily a given that it will happen and even if you do have a period of large leak it will only affect the time spent in large leak. The rest of the time during the night when you are not in large leak your events that slip past the defenses won't be very many and your AHI that is nice and low will be accurate for the bulk of the night when not deep in large leak territory.JackieLee wrote: ↑Thu Nov 12, 2026 8:52 pmWhat caused my 'concern' with leaks is the fact that I've 'heard' that leaks can distort your AHI numbers in a negative way. For example, with a high leak rate, your AHI number may be much higher than what OSCAR tells you!
My concern was, if my AHI is 1.06 in OSCAR, but the leak rate is off the chart, maybe my AHI is truly 7.54?!?!
Just how high is "off the charts" and how much time do you spend "off the charts"?
Are you seeing many UA flagged events? When leaks get really excessive and might be missing events we usually see UA flags before the machine loses accurate sensing abilities.
Re: Large Leak (LL)
You have to host the image of the chart/report somewhere on the web and then link to the image.
So some sort of photo image file put on a photo hosting website with a link to it so that we can see what you are seeing.
I use imgur.com for mine and it's free. There are other photo hosting websites as well.
Otherwise what we could do is have you send the image file to my private email address and I can download it and see it that way.
Send me a Private Message and I will reply with my private email address in a PM. I don't make my private email address public.
So send me a PM here on the forum if you can't figure out the photo hosting website thing. Please bear in mind that sometimes I have time to get right on it but my husband has been very ill and sometimes I don't get on the computer all that much because I am having to take care of him.
I don't need everything that OSCAR shows you.....all I need is the stuff you saw on my reports that I posted about the leaks I had in the above link of mine. The stuff on the left side and the graphs I used on my example on the right side.
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.
Re: Large Leak (LL)
I just sent PM but it says it's still in the 'Outbox'?
Re: Large Leak (LL)
Yes it stays in the outbox until I open it and read it (which I just did) and I replied so it should show in your Sent box and you should have a PM from me.
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.
Re: Large Leak (LL)
https://imgur.com/a/MFZtkXn
I put your report on my imgur account and the link above should make so everyone can click on it and review it.
Imgur's new way of doing things I haven't figured out how to embed it yet and no time to try to figure it out. So you all get a link.
You need to quit worrying about the leaks unless they are waking you up often.
See that redline at the top of the leak graph?????? That's large leak territory and while you kiss it sometimes that's just 24 L/min which is an ultra conservative large leak territory number. Yeah you go a tiny bit above the red line but it's not very often and sure not very far.
ResMed machines can handle leaks up to 24 L/min easily and you can know that your AHI shown is likely extremely accurate. In reality the machine doesn't really start having difficulty with accuracy until you spend much time over 30-35 L/min.
Your leaks no way qualify for "off the chart" category. Your AHI is quite accurate.
"Off the chart" would be half the night up above the red line in 45 L/min or higher territory.
I do think that you might benefit from a little increase in the maximum pressure....see how you seem to go up to the max of 8 and stay there????
The machine wants to go higher but it can't and your Flow limitation graph is rather active (not horrible though as I have seen much worse). Your OAs and hyponeas might reduce a bit if you had the maximum a little higher but it isn't a critical issue if you feel you are sleeping good and feeling good.
Any special reason that you have limited it to 8?
Now if you are having aerophagia or a lot of bloating and gas if you had a higher max then it would be acceptable to limit the max because belly pain issues to deal with would trump the FLs.
So....quit worrying about leaks unless they are waking you up (anything that wakes us up is unwanted because it is disturbing our sleep and sleep is the primary goal) and consider a small increase in the maximum pressure setting.
Actually a quite decent report for the relatively short period of time you have been on cpap.
I put your report on my imgur account and the link above should make so everyone can click on it and review it.
Imgur's new way of doing things I haven't figured out how to embed it yet and no time to try to figure it out. So you all get a link.
You need to quit worrying about the leaks unless they are waking you up often.
See that redline at the top of the leak graph?????? That's large leak territory and while you kiss it sometimes that's just 24 L/min which is an ultra conservative large leak territory number. Yeah you go a tiny bit above the red line but it's not very often and sure not very far.
ResMed machines can handle leaks up to 24 L/min easily and you can know that your AHI shown is likely extremely accurate. In reality the machine doesn't really start having difficulty with accuracy until you spend much time over 30-35 L/min.
Your leaks no way qualify for "off the chart" category. Your AHI is quite accurate.
"Off the chart" would be half the night up above the red line in 45 L/min or higher territory.
I do think that you might benefit from a little increase in the maximum pressure....see how you seem to go up to the max of 8 and stay there????
The machine wants to go higher but it can't and your Flow limitation graph is rather active (not horrible though as I have seen much worse). Your OAs and hyponeas might reduce a bit if you had the maximum a little higher but it isn't a critical issue if you feel you are sleeping good and feeling good.
Any special reason that you have limited it to 8?
Now if you are having aerophagia or a lot of bloating and gas if you had a higher max then it would be acceptable to limit the max because belly pain issues to deal with would trump the FLs.
So....quit worrying about leaks unless they are waking you up (anything that wakes us up is unwanted because it is disturbing our sleep and sleep is the primary goal) and consider a small increase in the maximum pressure setting.
Actually a quite decent report for the relatively short period of time you have been on cpap.
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.
Re: Large Leak (LL)
Thanks Pugsy for that detailed response. Being a relative newbie, I am grateful for any advice and recommendations I can get from you veterans!Pugsy wrote: ↑Fri Nov 13, 2026 1:43 pmhttps://imgur.com/a/MFZtkXn
I put your report on my imgur account and the link above should make so everyone can click on it and review it.
Imgur's new way of doing things I haven't figured out how to embed it yet and no time to try to figure it out. So you all get a link.
You need to quit worrying about the leaks unless they are waking you up often.
See that redline at the top of the leak graph?????? That's large leak territory and while you kiss it sometimes that's just 24 L/min which is an ultra conservative large leak territory number. Yeah you go a tiny bit above the red line but it's not very often and sure not very far.
ResMed machines can handle leaks up to 24 L/min easily and you can know that your AHI shown is likely extremely accurate. In reality the machine doesn't really start having difficulty with accuracy until you spend much time over 30-35 L/min.
Your leaks no way qualify for "off the chart" category. Your AHI is quite accurate.
"Off the chart" would be half the night up above the red line in 45 L/min or higher territory.
I do think that you might benefit from a little increase in the maximum pressure....see how you seem to go up to the max of 8 and stay there????
The machine wants to go higher but it can't and your Flow limitation graph is rather active (not horrible though as I have seen much worse). Your OAs and hyponeas might reduce a bit if you had the maximum a little higher but it isn't a critical issue if you feel you are sleeping good and feeling good.
Any special reason that you have limited it to 8?
Now if you are having aerophagia or a lot of bloating and gas if you had a higher max then it would be acceptable to limit the max because belly pain issues to deal with would trump the FLs.
So....quit worrying about leaks unless they are waking you up (anything that wakes us up is unwanted because it is disturbing our sleep and sleep is the primary goal) and consider a small increase in the maximum pressure setting.
Actually a quite decent report for the relatively short period of time you have been on cpap.
Do you think changing pressure to a let's say 7-9 to try tonight?
Actually, one of the masks I used in my 'search' that got the best numbers, was the F&P Micro. The only problem is, after trying the top of the head hoses vs the front hoses, the front hoses are a little more hassle for us side sleepers, rotating from side to side during the night.
Of all the top hose masks I've tried, the N30i with the Medium Pillows are the most comfortable for me and are giving me decent numbers. Actually the last few nights, before last night, I was averaging near 1 in the AHI graph!
I've been using no EPR and also, something someone in the Apnea Board introduced me to was Lanolin!!! WOW!!! What a blessing. I put a little just inside my nostrils, around the outside of the nostrils, across the middle between the nostrils, and just below the nostrils on my upper lip, and I have zero sorness in the mornings whatsoever!!!!
I also have been using the Myotape, and tried Somnifix for a couple of nights, but the Somnifix is shifting on me and not working out very well.
I'm not suffering any dry mouth with the Myotape so I think I'll keep using it.
Re: Large Leak (LL)
Worth a try and might be all you need. Just watch that top max pressure line to see if you get stuck up there again.
A little bit of getting stuck isn't that big of a deal but you don't want to stay up at the max anymore than you have to.
And yes, finding the right mask is probably the hardest part to all this therapy and what works well for one person may not work so great for the next person. I have tried those masks that have the hose attaching at the top....I hated them. LOL go figure but that's the life of all masks...lovers and haters.
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.
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