Need help with F20 Airfit leaks (elbow?)

[jaytee80]

I've only been on treatment for about 6 weeks now.

I have a recessed jaw, a big skinny nose, and I'm a mouth breather... making mask fitting a problem.

I started with an Evora FFM, but the fit is not quite right, and I have problems with it:

1. The L size has nostril openings too large for my skinny nose, but accommodates my jaw better. It leaks pretty bad with air shooting up the side of my nose. So that's not usable.
2. The S/M size is kinda usable, but really uncomfortable, giving me sores at the corner of my nose. 
3. Also, the frame seems to squeeze my nostrils shut and it feels like I'm congested 100% of the time, even when I'm not. Nose breathing even once is not possible with this mask.


So I went to a local store and tried the F20 airfit (they didn't have an airtouch in stock). On the machine in the store we pumped up the pressure to normal for me (10ish), and I had no face leaks. We tried M and L cushions, and L seemed to work best for me. I could put side pressure, and still get no leaks around the nose or bottom.


I get home, and notice it's making a lot of noise. Still I can't detect any airflow around the side to indicate a leak, but the elbow is super noisy and the flaps seem to only kinda work. This is the same elbow we used in the store, btw, no idea why I'm having issues now.

I run the mask fit function on my 11 autoset, and it says to adjust no matter what I do. I've tried for 2 nights now.


Using the mask, my only complaint is the elbow is really loud. The mask is comfortable, my AHI is like 0.4, and I actually feel like I'm getting better sleep.

But... leaks are nuts. Like LL is 99%, median rate is like 45. 

Also, OSCAR is showing that the pressure rarely gets above the min I have set. My med pressure on the evora is like 9.something, and with the F20 it's just stuck at 6.

Does this mean the leaks are so large the machine isn't doing it's job, but still low AHI somehow?

I've got another QuietAir elbow that should be here to test tonight.

Any advice? Is this an intolerable situation due to the leaks, despite feeling better and low AHI?

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[jaytee80]

The new elbow isn’t helping much… We’ll see what Oscar says overnight.

[cdplatt]

I'd question the AHI data with a leak rate that high.  If the problem persists, you might want to take your equipment back to the store and let them assess it for you.  Don't assume that just because you're a mouth breather you must stick with a full face mask.  Chin straps and/or mouth tape may allow you to investigate a wider variety of masks that are less affected by face conformation and less prone to leaks.

[jaytee80]

So I had some success last night.

I swapped in a M size memory foam cushion. But the leak test still failed and I almost gave up.

But after some fiddling, I found the elbow to frame fit sucks. A ran some teflon tape around the elbow where it inserts, and boom no more leaks.

Got through the night with this setup, leak rate 8-14 except for a few spots.

So after way too much money, I have a working over the nose FFM setup I can alternate with the hybrid for when my skin gets too irritated below my nose. It seems to leak a little less than the evora, but just barely.

[SideSleeper]

I use the AirTouch F20 and get very low leaks, but the AirFit is impossible to use--mask doesn't fit right and leaks. The Ai Touch has to be used fairly tightly--more so than the other type full face masks I've tried--and failed.