New Mask Size

[b360155]

Agree...personal experience is the only way to find out what's best for you. It does sound like your situation might be similar to mine though. I started with a medium but felt the sides of it were awfully close to the corners of my mouth so I demoed a large. The large didn't fit me at all as the bottom part was just barely staying on my chin and any movment would cause leaks so I went back to the medium. If you haven't viewed the fitting videos on YouTube or the ResMed site, I'd suggest you do so as the Quattro FX is fitted a little differently from other masks. One of the main things I found is that the mask sits "mid-bridge" on your nose, about where the boney portion is. I think many people that have leak issues with the Quattro FX near their eyes are placing the mask too high on the bridge of their nose. When the mask inflates with air and is fitted correctly, it "floats" on your face and is very comfortable. One other tip that works well for me is that I place a finger on the mask just above the elbow when I turn my unit on. This allows the air to inflate the cushion evenly as you slowly remove your finger from the mask. I've gotten it now to where most nights my 95% leak rate is zero or very close to it.

[312capri]

Thanks it sounds like we're having similar problems... The medium would work if not for my lower lip sliding out...the large sits on the bridge of my nose which is too high! My respiratory therapist provided me with a sample ResMed "Gecko" nasal pad... My rewards for solid sleep and awakening feeling so much better and not fighting to stay awake all day mean I will solve this mask problem one way or another!

Thanks for your continued support!

[312capri]

Well after two nights I am finding the larger mask is not working... while I haven't reviewed the SD card data I find I am waking up with the upper strap immediately below my eyes and overall the mask is just overwhelming. I'll retrieve my medium size mask on Monday!

Everyone have a great weekend!

[312capri]

The size large was seemingly overwhelming so I retrieved my previous medium size mask and have tried it for two nights now. both nights I've been awakened several times by the large leak created when I totally relax and my mouth falls completely open. It breaks the lower mask to chin seal and leaks like a sieve. While the large size mask seemed to overwhelm my entire face it didn't leak when my mouth dropped open... Today I'll see if my DME supplier will allow me to exchange back to the large... I thought about trying to use a chin strap but would prefer to keep it simple, besides there's already enough stuff on my head and face.

It sure is sleepy out this morning

[b360155]

The size large was seemingly overwhelming so I retrieved my previous medium size mask and have tried it for two nights now. both nights I've been awakened several times by the large leak created when I totally relax and my mouth falls completely open. It breaks the lower mask to chin seal and leaks like a sieve. While the large size mask seemed to overwhelm my entire face it didn't leak when my mouth dropped open... Today I'll see if my DME supplier will allow me to exchange back to the large... I thought about trying to use a chin strap but would prefer to keep it simple, besides there's already enough stuff on my head and face.

It sure is sleepy out this morning

Maybe you need to do some "chin ups" to strengthen your jaw muscles to keep your mouth from falling open! That's never happened to me with the medium. Maybe if you just tightened the bottom straps a little bit???

[312capri]

Gosh B36 I've got them so tight they almost strangle me... I believe the problem is my "big mouth" both literately and figuratively!

Everything is fine i.e. no leaks and several hours into my sleep the muscles totally relax and my mouth falls wide open... it just breaks the lower seal and I wake up enough to push the lip and seal back into place...

[b360155]

Not to confuse things further, but if your DME is as cooperative as you say, then you might want to see if they'll let you trial the Respcare Innomed Hybrid mask. It's a full face mask but instead of the mask going over your nose and mouth, you just have a mask that goes over your mouth and then you have pillows that go into your nose. One other feature is that it has a built in chin cup and that might help you keep your mouth from falling open. I loved the concept of the hybrid mask because it's less obtrusive, but I was never able to get a good seal on the nose pillows and those leaks would wake me up. So, that made me go back to the Quattro FX.

[312capri]

When I stopped by my DME's office today they let me keep the medium and gave me my large Quattro FX back. She also told me that Quattro wants to ensure customer satisfaction and they would send her a "sample" to replace the medium mask. She has also provided me with a Gecko nasal pad and suggested I try that with the larger mask... Her next suggestion was to give me what she referred to as the Avatar mask... When I ask about it she told me it was a ResMed full face mask. I remember the technician showed me one during my titration phase and it was scary looking! I'm going to try the larger mask for a few days and then download my SD card data into SleepyHead. I know the pressures and the mask leak data is in the manual so I can net-out the gross leak data from the mask. I've seen my AHI values in the 4's when there where not any major leaks... with leaks they are running in the 6 range...

So much of this is empirical in nature... although the included Quattro sizing tool indicates I need a large mask! I know I am going to make this work!

Again thanks for all the help and support... this blog is wonderful...

From a fellow "Hose Head"

[312capri]

Not to confuse things further, but if your DME is as cooperative as you say, then you might want to see if they'll let you trial the Respcare Innomed Hybrid mask. It's a full face mask but instead of the mask going over your nose and mouth, you just have a mask that goes over your mouth and then you have pillows that go into your nose. One other feature is that it has a built in chin cup and that might help you keep your mouth from falling open. I loved the concept of the hybrid mask because it's less obtrusive, but I was never able to get a good seal on the nose pillows and those leaks would wake me up. So, that made me go back to the Quattro FX.

I don't think I could stand the nose pillows... I once had to cotton balls stuffed in my nose for a while and I hated the feeling! But thanks for the suggestion!