high leak rate

I just have no clue what is wrong here, or what has changed. This is with the quattro mask. I got a brand new cushion for it. I'd been using this mask maybe 4 or 5 months. The leak rate with a similar pressure was around 20 for the night. Now it's up to 40. My AHI was half that before too. Could the mask itself be broken somehow? I did drop it a couple times on the hard floor. The spinning wheel at the top came apart but other than that it doesn't seem to be cracked or broken. I just don't get it!

Did you check the "Vent Flow Rate" graph in the mask's user manual?
According to that graph, the Quattro typically has a similar VFR to the UMFF.....and at a pressure of around 10 to 12, the VFR IS about 40. A leak rate of around 20 sounds WAY too low for your pressure settings.

Have you done the "Teflon tape fix" to the elbow yet? That dropped the leak rate in mine after it started leaking around that elbow.


Den

Oh yeah now that I think of it, the teflon tape I had on there is when it was at 20. I took it off and it went to 30, but has been steadily creeping upward for the last few weeks. I suppose I could put the teflon tape back on. I thought that the chart said the leakrate should be around 30 for this pressure, but now I can't find that little booklet.

nobody wrote:Oh yeah now that I think of it, the teflon tape I had on there is when it was at 20. I took it off and it went to 30, but has been steadily creeping upward for the last few weeks. I suppose I could put the teflon tape back on. I thought that the chart said the leakrate should be around 30 for this pressure, but now I can't find that little booklet.

You can download it from this link. Graph is on Pg. 7.

http://www.resmed.com/en-us/products/se ... _multi.pdf


Den

Thanks, I guess it's not that high then. Dunno why I'm having so many more apnea events tho

nobody wrote:Thanks, I guess it's not that high then. Dunno why I'm having so many more apnea events tho

Compared to.......?

Could be any number of things. If you re-tape the elbow, see if that makes a difference. If not, then raise your minimum pressure. It appears that quite a few of your apneas are sudden ("frank") events where your machine doesn't have time to respond to them (pressure is lower than where it needs to be).


Den

That's just weird. It was well below 1.0 for months, with pressure at 8.5-10. I'd only see a couple flags on there at the beginning and at the end, usually never anything at all through the middle/bulk of the night. I have no clue what's changed. Maybe the apnea has just got worse *shrug*

nobody wrote:That's just weird. It was well below 1.0 for months, with pressure at 8.5-10. I'd only see a couple flags on there at the beginning and at the end, usually never anything at all through the middle/bulk of the night. I have no clue what's changed. Maybe the apnea has just got worse *shrug*

I think you'll find that the longer you're "on the hose" and reading your reports, the more patterns you'll see through the years. I've found this true with using straight pressure (CPAP mode)......and one of the reasons I prefer that mode......I can see variations in my numbers over periods of time.

Den

Oh ok, maybe I just shouldn't worry about it too much then. I still feel like I slept well last night and so far today I don't feel any more tired than usual.

I don't see much wrong with your report. In fact it is very good. You AHI is quite good. It may be higher than you have had with more OAs, but sometimes we all have nights like that --sometimes 2 or 3 in a row and then things settle again.

An AHI of 1.6 is great. I know you said you have lower AHI usually. I usually have an AHI below 1 but, once in a while I will have an AHI just over 1 for some reason. If it's just over 1 (even if it's 2 or 3) I wouldn't worry. Wulfman has assured you that your leak rate is fine and, the leak line does look pretty good.

Nothing in this report to be concerned about right now. I suppose if it stays there or keeps going up and you begin to feel unrested, you could try raising the minimum pressure 1 cm but I think it is too soon to consider that.