Love/Hate Relationship with Mirage Quattro FFM..Help!

Hello Good Hose People,
I know the Mirage Quattro FFM has been discussed but I am just too cranky to look for it and I need some input. I have used this mask for over a year now and for most of that time, I have been fine with it. Especially once I got the comfort gel pad to save my nose.
Also, I know everyone has their bad nights with masks. I get that. But lately those nights seem to be gaining the upper hand. I just CANNOT get the **** thing to feel comfortable, even remotely so. Everything seems to hurt. It feels too tight. I loosen it. I hear the sound of a large, very flatulent beast. I tighten it again. It hurts. I loosen it again (flatulent beast returns and I feel air blowing in my left eye). Never my right; it has a vendetta against my left eye, the one with really poor vision, of course.
Okay, I am rambling. I know some folks hate this mask. Am I becoming one of them? I know I have to have a full face mask because I am a serious mouth breather. Pretty word picture, isn't it??
Has anyone out there changed from the Mirage Quattro to another full face mask and found happiness? Oh, and just for the record, I am on track with liner replacements so I do not think that is the issue. Also, I cannot afford a new mask right now, so this is, in many ways, a useless post. Like other folks, sometimes I just need to vent. And today is one of those days. Thanks for reading, if you stuck with it this far.

Jeanette

Have you tried the Remzzz liners? You can also just make them out of old tee shirt material if you want. I found it makes wearing my quattro way more comfortable and without leaks too. I can tighten the mask down if I have to and it doesn't kill my face

islandboy5150 wrote:Have you tried the Remzzz liners? You can also just make them out of old tee shirt material if you want. I found it makes wearing my quattro way more comfortable and without leaks too. I can tighten the mask down if I have to and it doesn't kill my face

I have not tried those, so that is something to look into. I think I recall reading something here about how to make them out of tee shirts. I will investigate this; thank you very much!

newhosehead wrote: Has anyone out there changed from the Mirage Quattro to another full face mask and found happiness?
Jeanette

Been there, done that.

All of this rings true today.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34880

Hope this helps.

carbonman wrote:Been there, done that.

All of this rings true today.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34880

Hope this helps.

Yes, it does. Thanks, my friend.

Hi Jeanette, I'm a complete rookie at CPAP, having only started Dec 2010, but I saw your post about the Mirage and just had to stop and vent, too, lol. My DME was getting sick of hearing from me and I went through six other masks after the Mirage looking for a better fit, and sadly, now am back to the original Quattro Mirage FFM again.

One thing that helped me immensely was not tightening the mask too much. It sounds so counter-intuitive, but the cushion does need to inflate to seal and when I had it crammed down on my face too snugly, it couldn't seal and would leak like a sieve.

I made the T-shirt liners and they worked fairly well, but just last week I bought a full face liner from Pad-a-Cheek which was especially designed for the Quattro. (Karen sells other liners for other masks, too.) I am so pleased with the liner; my leak rates are quite low now and the microfiber liner is much more comfortable to wear between the mask and my face.

Since using the Pad-a-Cheek liner for five days so far, I'm very impressed; my leak rates are very low now. Of course who knows what the future holds? I'm still hopeful there's something better out there, somewhere. I hope you find a new FFM that works comfortably!

I have been very impressed with the Pad - a - cheek leak strap. It has allowed me to loosen the mask strap a great deal and the leak strap just holds everything in place. I have been using it for about a week. I have had it for a while but was reluctant to having to use one more damn thing on my face at night (mask, strap covers, liners, nose pad - you name it - I seem to use it!).
The leak graph has levelled out to almost straight now that I have been using the leak strap.

The enemy of good is better. My mask can be lived with but Carbonman has planted a seed. I now have a plan!

I can recommend the Quattro FX full face mask. I changed to it from the Mirage Quattro FFM and have found it to be a good thing.

Have a look at the thread on it.

I can only use the Quattro successfully when I use the pad-a-cheek ff liner.

trytryagain wrote:I can only use the Quattro successfully when I use the pad-a-cheek ff liner.

Thanks for the info! I really really cannot afford a new mask right now so I think I am going to try the liner. It is good to hear it works for you.

Jeanette