3 week newbie with a leakage question
First of all, so glad you are all here for i would be lost without you. I have a ResMed Elite and wore a ResMed Swift FX nasal pillows for her last night and i had 30.0 L/M and from what i understand is that anything under 24 is not good. Another thing i don't understand is that the Elite machine mask fit feature had a smiley face on it. Now that should mean good, so why the 30.0? My AHI was 0.3 and assume that is ok? All help will be appreciated. Thank You.
RE: 3 week newbie with a leakage question
The smiley face shows up whenever your 75% leak rate is less than or equal to 24 L/min. In other words, as long as you are leaking at a rate of less than or equal to 24 L/min above your mask's intentional leak rate at your pressure setting...ResMed engineers do not believe you are leaking at a rate that is sufficiently high to compromise your therapy and the green smiley shows up on the machine LCD Sleep Quality report.
You have to realize that your 95% percentile leak was At and BELOW 30 L/min for 95% of the time and higher for the remaining 5% of the time.
So we don,t how long it stayed at 30, it could be just for a minute. If interested to find out more details, you can download the software
Here is the link how to obtain the software
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...n-3-16-SP1
Its not a problem if sleeping right through and not bothered by leaks but if you,re constantly awaken to fix the leaks than all leaks large or small have to be fixed and kept under control. Chinstrap is an option if you find yourself having problems with mouth breathing or and mouth leaks.
RE: 3 week newbie with a leakage question
A mask leak of 30.0 L/M seems high. Under 24 L/M is better and would normally cause the happy face icon to appear. I use a Swift FX, and my leakage is 10 L/M and my AHI is .1 at average of 11 cm H2O. Your AHI is good at .3.
Did you just change your mask to the Swift FX? If so, you may need to adjust the mask type in your machine to the "Pillow" setting, and make sure that the type of hose that you are using is also correct; i.e.: climate line or standard.
There should be no air escaping around the pillows of your mask, only out of the exhaust port in the front. If there is air leaking around the pillows, try pulling the pillows away from your nose and allow them to re-seat in your nostrils, or you may try loosening the straps a little as if they are too tight they deform the pillows. Failing this, try a different pillow size to see if you get a better fit.
Good luck!
RE: 3 week newbie with a leakage question
Your leak doesn't sound too bad, and you're getting the smiley face...
It takes time to develop the skill and experience to get the best mask fit. Keep doing what you're doing, trying to get the fit right each night. Good luck and welcome.
08-22-2012, 12:25 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-22-2012, 12:26 PM by lonnieb.)
RE: 3 week newbie with a leakage question
My leaks are different each night ,last night was not good but i didn't work on it much and my AHI was 1.1 the highest i have had before this was .08 but the mask was to loose when i went to sleep,i will do better tonight.
RE: 3 week newbie with a leakage question
You are doing fine at three weeks in. Im a hardened 8 week user now and appreciate what you are going through, and your results are still way out in front of mine (lowest AHI=0.5, typical in the 1-1.5 range).
Stick at it and it will likely become easier with time.
09-21-2012, 07:54 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-21-2012, 07:58 AM by Moriarty.)
RE: 3 week newbie with a leakage question
(08-22-2012, 06:21 AM)jodiramm Wrote: .....I have a ResMed Elite and wore a ResMed Swift FX nasal pillows for her last night and i had 30.0 L/M and from what i understand is that anything under 24 is not good. Another thing i don't understand is that the Elite machine mask fit feature had a smiley face on it. Now that should mean good, so why the 30.0? My AHI was 0.3 and assume that is ok?....
Hi Jodiramm
I am not fully familar with the Elite so I can't say for certain that the follow comment is correct - but I think it is...
There are two leak parameters:
One is sometimes called the Intentional Leak Rate and is the leak rate of the mask design. If you look on page 5 of the User Guide that came with the FX you will see a graph and a table that show that a pressure of 9cm H2O will carry an Intentional Leak Rate through the exhaust port in the mask of about 30. That number varies a bit from mask to mask but is about right for most.
The other is the rate reported by the machine. This is usually the Total Leak Rate which is the sum of the Intentional Leak Rate of the mask PLUS the Unintentional Leak Rate of the seal.
I am guessing that the Smiley Face is because your machine knows to expect an intentional leak rate of thirty so its measure of a Total Leak rate of 30 means you have no leaks due to a poor seal.
Your excellent AHI would support that as well so
from me.
Cheers
David
edit - I have just realised that I said what Zonk said more or less..... just worded differently.
RE: 3 week newbie with a leakage question
PRS1 machines report Total leak (intentional plus unintentional leaks)
The S9 (AutoSet and Elite) report unintentional leak ONLY and define bad leak anything above 24L/min
The machine designed to subtract intentional leak from total leak
Its important to select the correct type of mask so the S9 can do its calculation based on the mask intentional leak rate
