Has anyone had success with the Quattro FX?

ameriken wrote:I'm an intense side sleeper and have used the FX for 7 months now (with a padacheek mask liner) and have had no problems. One thing that helps is the pillow and pillow position. You can order a buckwheat hull pillow (amazon) and you can make a little depression with the hulls where the mask goes and that way the pillow isn't pushing on the mask. In any case, I no longer have a problem with any pillow, I guess I got used to how to sleep with the mask on so that it doesn't leak any more.

that did it for me, buckwheat pillow, DIY mask liner, and elestic tucked under the lower straps to pull the mask down the face off the bridge of the nose, where these side sleeping leaks occurred. I'm ony on 4.0 pressure though.

NotSleepingBeauty wrote:I am trialing the Quattro FX from CPAP Library. I like it a lot but I am having issues with leaks. I watched a video this morning and think I am putting it on incorrectly. Hopefully I can get it right.

So I will start with the FX at night and when I can't stop the leaks I put on my Mirage Quattro FFM. Well now that mask feels huge on me. I wear a small, but think I may need an x-small. I am going to the DME on Saturday to be fitted for something else. I want the FX to work.

Any success stories?
NSB

So far this mask has had the best results for me.
I've got a medium on 11, and normally am either a side, or stomach sleeper. To keep the mask from resting against the pillow and leaking, I just have another pillow folded in half under my head, so that the mask is just in front of it.

I didn't feel like adjusting my mask all night again last night, so I used my mirage quattro, went straight to sleep on my side and slept through the night.

I have a few more things that I plan to try with the FX before I make a decision. The lack of the forehead bar is very appealing.

Peterg, can you explain a little more about your elastic trick? I am having trouble visualizing it.
Thanks,
NSB

I really liked the Quattro FX when I got it a week ago, slept like a baby the first night. Second night my pressure crept up to the 10 - 12 cmw range the last 2 hours of sleep and I started to wake up every 1/2 hour or so with leaks. Not bad ones like I had with the Ultra Mirage when I used to be at 18 cmw just felt like rolling leaks near my check to nose area. Just enough to wake me up. After a couple more nights like that I went back to my Activa and I am sleeping well again. I am convinced once the pressure gets above 10 the Quattro FX has issues on my particular face because of its shape and the build up of oils the longer the night goes on. I have been laid up for the last couple of months and due to the lack of mobility I have added about 10 pounds. I am hoping once I return to work next week and resume a more active lifestyle I can get back on my weight loss program and when my weight is lower the pressure needed to control my apneas tends to be lower. Then I will retry the Quattro FX and I think I will have better success with it.

I am only at a pressure of 8. If I can't make it work, I can't make it work. I want it to work though.

I absolutely love the Quattro FX. I've been on the hose for a few months now and have tried nasal pillows (Swift FX, GoLife for Men v2), too much leak. I then tried a nasal mask (Mirage Activa LT) - worked great when I wasn't congested but I had to wear the bloody thing so tight that it was uncomfortable. Finally, I went to Full Face masks. My first mask was too small for my head and my DME brought three other masks over. I tried the Quattro FX and, bang, it worked. My leak numbers have been low, last night was 0. The fact that it doesn't have a stabilizer on the forehead is a real plus. I've also found it to be very stable when I turn from one side to the other during the night.

The thing that really helped was using the ResMed tool that is provided in order to determine the proper size of the mask. The large fits me just fine.

Best of luck with it. I hope your experience is as good as mine.

One other thing I forgot to mention: Before I put the mask on, I fire up my S9. I find I get a much better seal that way. I mention this because the instructions say to put the mask on first, then start the unit. I never got a good seal doing that.

So, put the mask on while it is attached to the running CPAP, eh? I would have never thought of that. Do you place it on standing up and adjust laying down?

NotSleepingBeauty wrote:I am only at a pressure of 8. If I can't make it work, I can't make it work. I want it to work though.

I wanted it to work as well, and thought how great it would be to get rid of the forehead supports too. Unfortunately I had massive leaks with the FX no matter what I tried. Went back to the Quattro and am pretty much leak free. It took a long time to fight with getting the Quattro right, and I still have a love/hate relationship with it, but it seems to work better for me. I think it has a lot to do with your face structure, apparently I need the forehead supports to even things out. Luckily I only have to wear the thing when I'm asleep!

NotSleepingBeauty wrote:I didn't feel like adjusting my mask all night again last night, so I used my mirage quattro, went straight to sleep on my side and slept through the night.

I have a few more things that I plan to try with the FX before I make a decision. The lack of the forehead bar is very appealing.

Peterg, can you explain a little more about your elastic trick? I am having trouble visualizing it.
Thanks,
NSB

a half inch piece of elastic under the chin, pass it through each side of the lower mask strap and bring around to tie loosely below the chin. stops the mask creeping up the bridge of the nose. noone else on this forum as mentioned this trick, so I guess its only for me. the tie below the chin is 3 times and the elastic comes off itself when I take the mask off, so its loose but firm.

another tip in these forums (which I havent needed to try) is to check for leaks with the machine running at the maxximum pressure it will need to run at, makes sense to stress test at max operating level.

I get it! Thanks.

I've yet to get a working FX. I started with a Medium, now I'm using a Small. The small leaks less for me, but it still keeps me awake at night. Last night I slept without it and I think I actually slept better than I normally do.. and I have an AHI of 81! I think the 18 is what's doing me in, I don't even bother using ramp due to it not wanting to seal properly at the higher setting.

I think I'm going to have to try something else. I really wanted this to work for the lack of the forehead support. I wear glasses, so that means I won't put it on until I really am ready to go to sleep.

Namlehse wrote:I really wanted this to work for the lack of the forehead support. I wear glasses, so that means I won't put it on until I really am ready to go to sleep.

There are several more full face masks that don't have a forehead support. The ones that are the best for out of the way of glasses are the 2 masks that have nasal pillows on top of a mouth area that is similar to the mouth area on a ffm. The forehead brace on a mask gives me a headache and asthma is currently preventing me from using nasal pillows so I have spent a bit of time researching masks.

You cannot beat the Quattro full face mask. I have tried the FX and its just to complex to get a good seal where as the Quattro is about as hardy as they come, it will put up with everything including going to bed for a read. I have even put my mask on over my glasses and the Quattro performed just as good as always. For me there is no other mask that comes close to this little beauty.