Amara View Mask

[adej3d]

Hello Guys,

I just recently started using cpap and was provided this mask due to sinus problems and nose getting congested at night randomly/sometimes. 

Ive tried wearing the mask during the day while reading/tv/playing games and as well the last few nights but has not gone well at all.

I cannot even fall asleep with this thing on. The mouth area feels like im wearing a plunger on my mouth/lip areas and air constantly blows to my eyes. Ive adjusted and readjusted the mask. I dont particularly see or feel any leakage and have ran the mask fit test a few times on my Airsense 10 machine. I read on here people saying they dont even feel the mask?? But its crushing my lip area no matter how loose or tight it is.

Thoughts?!

Thanks!

[Gary1of2]

I have had same problem with it. I am now using respironics f20. Like it.

[Homerec130]

My wife has an Amara View and has a lot of leakage. It even wakes me up from time to time. She also has issues with the materiel in the headgear providing skin irritation and such. The other thing she doesn't like is the attachment points for the mask. You have to essentially refit the mask every time you put it on as the clips go on at right angles and then snap into place. My Quatro FX mask uses bayonet clips so you don't have to do a refit every time you put it on. She has tried one of my Quatro FX masks and doesn't have the issue with the headgear. Her respiratory therapist is supposed to be coming by with a couple of other masks for her to try. She has to use an FFM as she is a mouth breather. 

Good luck finding a mask that works for you. That is the hardest part.

Homer

[adej3d]

hmm,  im not a mouth breather unless my nose gets congested. I am not sure if i can call and get a different mask since its only been 3 days. But if i cant even fall asleep with this, its not even getting to a point where its functional.

[OpalRose]

If you used a local DME, they should work with you and let you try a different mask.
Call them and make an appointment.

If they don't work with you, try some of the online suppliers from the list at top of page.
Most have a 30 day return policy. You may have to pay for return shipping though.

[Gideon]

Read the Mask Primer.  It includes a strategy for trying masks.  Basicly it is to go from the least intrusive (pillows, many here use ResMed P10 pillows at a wide variety of pressures) to nasal, to FFM (Full Face Masks).

The Mask Primer should give you a lot of ideas.

[PoolQ]

I have tried several masks and settled on the Amara View as my favorite (no pressure on the bridge of my nose) and I cant use nose pillows. The amara view is a challenge to adjust.

tighter is not always better, this thing likes to "ride" on the silicone flaps. turn on the air, lift the mask slightly off your face, set it back down. The seal area will inflate.
sometimes instead of tightening the top or bottom straps to stop a leak, you need to loosen the other side instead
you can get the mask to rock back and forth on your cheek bones, not good for sealing it
the flap by the breathing hole is supposed to go flat against your upper lip and not flat against the underside of your nose
your nose sits in a little cup with the end of the nose area just covering the tip of your nose. when it inflates the nose cup inflates from the sides to "capture" your nose, it does not seal upwards against the bottom of your nose

Love the mask, but it does take some work getting used to it

[Gary1of2]

Thanks to PoolQ. I have tried for who knows how many times and hrs seems like to get this mask to stop leaking until i tried the way you suggested. Tonite will be the firstnite with it.

[CTcentrals]

It may simply not be the mask for you, but I really like it.  It took a bit of fiddling to get it adjusted properly and I also had it crushing the tip of my nose, compressing the sides of my mouth, blowing in both eyes, you name it. Now, it fits well and feels good.  

A couple of thoughts:

The top strap pulls the cushion up towards your nose and can push it up tight against or up towards the bridge, which can cause nose pain and pulls the rest of the cushion away. Nose tip should just be lightly against the edge of the cushion with air slots below the nose.

The bottom of mine fits just between the top of the chin/jaw bone and against the lower part of my teeth, should feel a natural indentation in most cases.

Upper-side straps tighten against the side of the nose. Too tight and the air blows up into my eyes.

Lower-side straps tighten against the corners of the mouth. 

They each needed to be adjusted properly all together to work right and not cause pressure or blowing somewhere else.

The sizing templates I tried were all useless, said I needed a small to medium cushion when the large was the most comfortable and effective.  Everything else I use is medium. It could be the cushion size is too small for you.

Or the mask itself may be too small.  They advertise one size for all and different cushion sizes, but they do have a larger mask size available.

What really helped me was watching fitting video, especially noting the finger spacing between the straps and face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp02l4r6Je8


Best of luck finding the right fit or mask. It can take awhile.

[trish6hundred]

Hi adej3d,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hopefully, you will find a mask that works well for you; as you are finding out, it’s the most challenging part of this whole thing.
I had trouble with the Amara View no matter how I adjusted it; it kept blowing in my eyes, so I sent it back.
Don’t be shy about asking to try different masks ‘till you find one that you like.
Good luck to you on your CPAP journey.