Quattro - 2 fixes

frapilu wrote:Could someone help me find instructions for Rested Gal's panty hose and knot? I tried looking in that "Our Wisdom" light bulb but I can't seem to find any of those great posts Rested Gal had put together.

Thanks.
France

Check out the first post at the above link. There are 3 links in that post - one shows pictures of some of the ways Rested Gal uses the pantyhose tights and the third link contains another link to the double knot method of tying.

Mindy

Hi Mindy,

I'm sorry, I don't know if it's my PC but I can't see any links at all in your post. Could you either post it again or pm me?

Thanks
France

I had the photo here but it disappeared so here is the link.


http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd26 ... teflon.jpg

Mindy

Mindy,

In your previous post, you had mentioned "Check out the first post at the above link. There are 3 links in that post - one shows pictures of some of the ways Rested Gal uses the pantyhose tights and the third link contains another link to the double knot method of tying.". The picture you just posted just shows your mask with putty and teflon tape, which is great to see but it's not what I was expecting to get. What I'm hoping to find is how Rested Gal uses the panty hose and how she ties a knot in them.

Thanks
France

France,

I don't know what happened to my links - why not just use the search box and type in the following:

pantyhose tights double knot

I just tried it and the third or so result points you right to one of Rested Gal's posts with the links.

Mindy

Mindy, hope I'm not driving you crazy, but I've never dissassembled the Quattro before, so as I see it, to place padacheek flap you have to separate the cushion from the frame, put the PC flap between them, then snap back together again. Is that easy to do, just squeeze the 2 blue clips on each side and pull apart, then snap back together again? Thanks for your help and photos. BTW, the Mack's didn't work last night, made the leaks worse so had to remove them, readjust mask a hundred times and of course that set hubby up for a bad night of leaks and restlessness. Oh well, we're still in the experimental stage but we're not giving up. Things will get better!! Dori

DoriC wrote:Mindy, hope I'm not driving you crazy, but I've never dissassembled the Quattro before, so as I see it, to place padacheek flap you have to separate the cushion from the frame, put the PC flap between them, then snap back together again. Is that easy to do, just squeeze the 2 blue clips on each side and pull apart, then snap back together again? Thanks for your help and photos. BTW, the Mack's didn't work last night, made the leaks worse so had to remove them, readjust mask a hundred times and of course that set hubby up for a bad night of leaks and restlessness. Oh well, we're still in the experimental stage but we're not giving up. Things will get better!! Dori

Hi Dori,

Sorry to hear the Mack's didn't work. I think we're all different and what works for one doesn't work for all! You've got it right about how to place padacheek flap. The first time I took my Quattro apart I was shaking in my boots about putting it back together. Once you do it a few times it's really not bad. Putting the frame and cushion back together is the easiest part

And yes, things do get better - just don't give up! I switch among several masks so that when one drives me nuts I can give it a rest and deal with a different set of challenges It can be very frustrating - I personally believe that the mask is the most difficult part. So far I've found that I use those darn pantyhose tights legs for almost every mask to stabilize it for when I thrash around at night. btw, they are not legs of regular pantyhose but of the slightly heaver "pantyhose tights". They are just stretchy enough but not too much. Many of us owe Rested Gal for some good nights of sleep.

Mindy

I an intregied with these modifications to the mask. I am wondering about how often you clean the mask. I try to wash my mask each morning. If I were to make these modifications would I need to redo them each day?

Guest wrote:I an intregied with these modifications to the mask. I am wondering about how often you clean the mask. I try to wash my mask each morning. If I were to make these modifications would I need to redo them each day?

When I use the Quattro, I clean the cushion daily and the rest of the mask weekly. The padacheek is very easy to put on and take off and the pantyhose tights are separate - similar to the idea of a headband but a bit stretchier and easier to fit. I don't find them bothersome in the cleaning process.

Mindy

Thanks Mindy. I'll try the search. I'm definitely with Dori, super worried about taking the mask apart so we'll see about that because I just got my padacheeks nose bridge protector last night and it occasionally took to flapping against my nose so I suspect I'll have to wedge it between my cushion & mask too

France

frapilu wrote:... I just got my padacheeks nose bridge protector last night and it occasionally took to flapping against my nose so I suspect I'll have to wedge it between my cushion & mask too

France

If I remember correctly, Karen had instructions to trim the part that covers the nose bridge (carefully!) if needed. I found I did need to.

Mindy

I've been using a Mirage Quattro full face mask for awhile now and have not had problems with the elbow, but have experienced leaks in the past.

I've also found the information on this thread to be innovative (to say the least) and helpful and thought I might add few discoveries of my own.

I'm at a fairly high pressure (20 cm h20), and I think that contributes to the gravity of the leaks I've experienced ... so I know from experience that being creative is a necessity if you are going to get a good nights rest.

First thing I discovered with the Mirage Quattro is that the frame is only designed for a life expectancy of 6 months, and the seals were designed for a life span of 3 - 6 weeks (I'm very lucky if I get more than a month from a seal).

I also found that no matter what I did, I could not get a good seal or a comfortable nights rest using the Mirage Quattro headgear, so I've put together a hybrid of sorts by using a Respironics Comfort Full Gel headgear with the Mirage Quattro mask. All that is needed is to swap out the two lower clips and it works like a charm and is very comfortable.

I've also found that the use of chapstick at the pressure I'm using is a no no ... the chapstick has a tendency to bleed onto the seal and contribute to mask leak problem, same thing goes for the type of soap you use to was your face ... if it is not of the right type it will leave a micro residue and bleed off onto the seal causing all kinds of leak points.

I use a custom fabric cover for the supply hose and this reduces the rain out immensely, plus it diminishes the medical look of a surgical hose at the bedside and is comfortable to the touch.

Now for the kicker ... even after all the adjustments I've mentioned above, I would still experience leaks, mostly in the later half of the night or early morning, or found myself having to adjust headgear tension multiple times through the night to stop the obvious leaks. Not to mention that the arousals due to the leaks was not letting me have a complete nights rest. I felt the overall problem was a lack of evenly distributed pressure to all surfaces of the Mirage Quattro ... after a few trials and errors I discovered that by using a pair of panty hose worn over the headgear and head served the purpose and applied an even pressure across the entire mask which reduced my leaks to near zero! I can now use a lighter tension on the headgear, and the panty hose not only provides an even distribution of pressure, it keeps the Mirage Quattro from moving around on my face when I move ... it also allows the exhaust port to breath adequately. I do have an oxygen feed going into the Quattro and I'm sure that helps matters as well. I know this is really an odd solution for clearing up Mirage Quattro mask leaks during the night, but then again, what is the price for a good nights rest? And it is a solution that really works! So now that I know the solution works, I'm currently looking for a more graceful way to gain the same results ...

I hope that these ideas I've presented may be of help to some of you who may be reading this ... I'm going to give some of the other solutions presented on this thread a try as well ...

My hat is off to all of you who have contributed to this frustrating problem ... maybe someday the manufacturers will come up with a better solution ... but I guess we can only hope for that, in the meantime, necessity truly is the mother of invention ... ...

My husband will be trying the Quattro he just got and he now uses the UltraMirageFF. Can you explain a little further about the pantyhose, exactly how it is worn over the head and mask. What has to be cut, etc. I just can't picture it. Thanks for the help. If you can post a photo of the setup, that would be great.

DoriC ... I haven't made any modifications to the pantyhose, as for a pic ... mmmm ... I hadn't thought about doing that so I don't currently have one, but that would probably be a good idea even though it probably looks really ridiculous ... ...

I use a pair of light support hose, which seems to be a little stronger than ordinary pantyhose. Once I am laying down and have the Quattro in place and the CPAP on, I then slip the waistband of the pantyhose starting in the front, at my forehead (I use the forehead adjustment nob to hook the waistband onto and to secure it while slipping it over my head to the back) to the back of my head then carefully slide it down over the Quattro to reduce risk of damaging the pantyhose. I slide it all the way down and over the elbow of the Quattro in the front, and down to the lower strap of the headgear in the back. The end results would be that you look like a rabbit with floppy ears when you are done ... ... like I said, I'm sure it's a sight to behold, lucky for me I don't look in the mirror at any point during this process ... or after ...

So once you have the pantyhose on, it would cover your entire face and mask ... the net result is an evenly distributed pressure across the entire mask and for me that allows me to loosen the headgear a little ... it also keeps the mask stationary and reduces the movement of the mask from me moving in my sleep ...

I've not had a problem with the pantyhose covering the exhaust ports, at the pressure I'm using (20 cm H2O) it vents well, but I suppose you could trim away the section of the pantyhose that would cover the exhaust ports if the venting became a problem. I also am using oxygen which is coming in through one of the built in ports on the Quattro (the square like seals located onder the elbow) so this probably helps with any CO2 that might build up ...

I'll see what I can do about getting a pic of the getup ... ... I hope that helps ...

Wow - that's very creative Based on my experience with the Quattro that sounds like an excellent solution ... and yet another use for pantyhose

Thanks for sharing that - I will try that soon.
Mindy