A bit hopeless (updated)...

NickD25 wrote:Update:

I'm now using a Quattro medium. I don't feel leak like I used to BUT I just feel awful in the morning. As I'm writing this, it's been my worst morning since I'm on CPAP. The mask barely leaks but I feel like trash. Just using my LCD screen, I can see my AHI going up since switching mask. It's a real bummer, especially with Christmas coming around the corner and the fact that I won't see my DME until the 26th-27th... I'll try to loosen up the straps a little.

Also, I woke up last night sleeping on my belly with my mask on!! I was face first in my pillow! It never happened (or I wasn't concious about it) when I had my other face masks. I only remember going on my side and then getting wake up by the leaks.

This is definitely not a good day...

I've been there. So sorry! It stinks that the nature of applying a mask to human faces is such a difficult task. Hang in there. You may find you'll come up with a solution faster than your DME : ) Having said that, I'm now wearing a mask that I first refused and then after many failures decided to give a shot. It works for me. My mask rarely works for others though.

While on one hand what works for others can help us determine masks that are made well and made to fit a wide population,on the other hand doesn't mean they will work for us.

I'm always on the lookout for tips that will lead me to the perfect FF mask that I have to wear when my allergies act up. I search through the forum to see who has similar issues and then see what mask works for them. I'm still looking all these months later.

Best wishes and keep in touch.

So sorry to hear what happened, Nick!

These pesky masks are not fun .....

Mindy

jqp wrote:People kept telling me to make the straps looser... which was rediculous... the second I loosened them, the thing would lose it's entire seal and blow air everywhere. The only way to make it seal was to crank on the straps. It sealed, but hurt.

For fun, I bought a Small Quattro on cpapauction.com for $50.

BINGO!

It works like a champ now. No more leaks, and the straps aren't so tight it hurts.

Wow!

I seem to be having much the same trouble as you and Nick. I have a drawer full of various masks, all leak like crazy. I used to put up with a medium-shallow UMFF, then got a medium Quattro and improved things a bit (once I applied the teflon tape - ResMed actually sent me a replacement frame saying I must have gotten a mask from before a design change, but the new one leaked just as much).

I normally blow either out the bottom under the corners of my mouth, or at the sides if the mask shifts on me. I too have to crank down the straps because applying them as instructed guarantees a massive blowout (15 cm).

Part of my problem with strap tension is when it's tight enough to seal when I first lie on my side, I sometimes then drop my head and the straps go slack. I just bought a PAP-Pillow; that seems to help hold my head in place (I've been trying to figure out how to modify the straps so they only grip my skull).

The measurement utility on cpap.com agrees with my DME that I should take a medium Quattro, but if I can pick up a small size cheap that may be the ticket!