Difficulty Breathing/ResMed Mirage Quattro

[GoodGuyGoneBad]

Hey All:

I have been diagnosed with Sleep Apnea about two years ago but I could not afford a machine. I met someone who had sleep apnea but lost a lot of weight and no longer needed his. He gave me a ResMed Escape S8, HumidAire 3i and a Marage Quattro Full Face mask. Although I have not had it calibrated (I will in the next day or so as I found someone to do it free), I tested it out for a few minutes.

I noticed it was hard to exhale to the extent that I think there's a problem. There appears to be nowhere for the exhaled air to escape. I can easily breath in air from the cpap machine hose. However, when I exhale there is nowhere for the air to go except through the side face/mask seals. However, a little bit of air exits through the pin holes above the nose on the mask. This cannot be normal.

Upon closer inspection, there's a rubber flap-like (elbow) valve in the mask just above the hose connection. This flap opens when the cpap is on and when inhaling. However, when exhaling it opens further and closes a different air hole directly above it where (I presume) the exhaled air should escape.

Questions:

Is all exhaled air suppose to exit through the pin holes above the nose ridge on the mask?

Is this a problem with the flap-like (elbow) valve?

Does anyone have this problem with their ResMed Mirage Quattro mask?

Dose anyone have the same cpap/mask or experienced this problem with another machine or have any advice.

[ElleCee]

Hi,
I have the same set up as you. Does your machine have EPR? and if so, is it on? This makes exhalation easier as the pressure drops when you breathe out.
The mask sounds about right. The air is expelled though the tiny pin holes sort of above your nose, the amount depends on the rate the machine is set at. When giving a higher pressure the air escape is greater.
The elbow flap thing is there so that if the electricity fails you can still breathe normally.
I hope that helps?

Lorraine

[GoodGuyGoneBad]

Hi,
I have the same set up as you. Does your machine have EPR? and if so, is it on? This makes exhalation easier as the pressure drops when you breathe out.
The mask sounds about right. The air is expelled though the tiny pin holes sort of above your nose, the amount depends on the rate the machine is set at. When giving a higher pressure the air escape is greater.
The elbow flap thing is there so that if the electricity fails you can still breathe normally.
I hope that helps?

Lorraine

Thanks for the reply Lorraine,

I am not sure how to determine if I have EPR. If I do, it's definitely not activated. Another website said only the s8 elite (or II) has EPR capability. I just can't believe anyone could have used this machine as it is. I get a headache after using it for three minutes. It must be a configuration issue. I guess when I visit the technician, he'll adjust it to eliminate the problem.

But...the good news is that the elbow flap is working as designed.

Again, thanks for the reply.

Bill

[petemcarthur]

Bill,
Does your machine have a ramp function? This starts the pressure low and gently increases to full, if your machine is set high and you are getting the full blast as soon as you switch it on this could be causing the problems.
Pete

[GoodGuyGoneBad]

Bill,
Does your machine have a ramp function? This starts the pressure low and gently increases to full, if your machine is set high and you are getting the full blast as soon as you switch it on this could be causing the problems.
Pete

Hey Pete,

It has a ramp-up feature. But even during the ramp-up it's hard to exhale.

[petemcarthur]

Hi Bill,
Sounds like you need to talk with a professional about this. I find it is difficult to exhale for the first few breaths then it all becomes easy. We're all different of course. Am I right in thinking your machine is a manual CPAP? In that case you need to get to your correct pressure.

Pete

[shuckie]

Hi GoodGuy!

Hello and welcome to the forums!

I've had a look on the ResMed site at http://www.resmed.com/us/products/s8...ml?nc=patients and cannot see any reference to EPR anywhere in the description or specification, nor does EPR appear to be printed on the CPAP itself according to the image. I have the S8 Escape II (which does have EPR) along with the same mask as you.

Were you told what pressure settings you needed when you were diagnosed? If so and you know how to access the Clinical menu of the CPAP you could try lowering the starting and maximum pressures gradually to see if this makes it easier to breathe. There may also be an undocumented EPR funtion available via the Clinical menu, and if so you may want to try gradually altering the EPR setting(s) to something more comfortable.

With regards to the mask, most of the air you exhale goes out of the pinholes, and none should be leaking out of the seals assuming you have the straps and wheel adjusted correctly. You may have been tempted to over tighten the straps to keep the mask sealed to your face, whereas the secret it to tighten the straps just enough to keep the mask in place.

Assuming you can lower the pressure the starting pressure, put the mask on and start the CPAP then lie down on your bed, as the mask will fit to your face differently lying down as opposed to sitting up. Adjust the straps and wheel so that the mask seal feels as though it is floating on your face like a hovercraft. Either wait for the pressure to ramp up or stop the CPAP, reduce the ramp time to zero, then start the CPAP and lie down while you wait a few seconds for it to reach maximum pressure. Adjust the straps and wheels again if necessary to stop any significant leaks. Assuming that your maximum pressure isn't too high you should now be able to breathe without having an arctic gale blowing in your eyes!

Best of luck getting this sorted and please let us know how you get on.


Regards

shuckie

[gvader]

Hey All:

I have been diagnosed with Sleep Apnea about two years ago but I could not afford a machine. I met someone who had sleep apnea but lost a lot of weight and no longer needed his. He gave me a ResMed Escape S8, HumidAire 3i and a Marage Quattro Full Face mask. Although I have not had it calibrated (I will in the next day or so as I found someone to do it free), I tested it out for a few minutes.

I noticed it was hard to exhale to the extent that I think there's a problem. There appears to be nowhere for the exhaled air to escape. I can easily breath in air from the cpap machine hose. However, when I exhale there is nowhere for the air to go except through the side face/mask seals. However, a little bit of air exits through the pin holes above the nose on the mask. This cannot be normal.

Upon closer inspection, there's a rubber flap-like (elbow) valve in the mask just above the hose connection. This flap opens when the cpap is on and when inhaling. However, when exhaling it opens further and closes a different air hole directly above it where (I presume) the exhaled air should escape.

Questions:

Is all exhaled air suppose to exit through the pin holes above the nose ridge on the mask?

Is this a problem with the flap-like (elbow) valve?

Does anyone have this problem with their ResMed Mirage Quattro mask?

Dose anyone have the same cpap/mask or experienced this problem with another machine or have any advice.

Hi,

There's nothing wrong with the mask, that's exactly how it is supposed to function.

The "pin holes" on the top of the nose piece are the exhalation holes, when the machine is running there will be a constant flow of air from there which is perfectly normal.

The flap on the elbow joint which you are talking about is a safety valve which lets you breath in the event of your machine failing while you are asleep. When your machine is not running then the rubber flap hangs down in the tube and this allows air to come in through the holes at the top of the elbow joint, when the machine is running then the flap is pushed up against the side of the tube and blocks these holes.

If you are having problems with exhalation then it will either be:

• - The pressure of the machine is too high for your needs
• - The machine does not have EPR (highly likely if it is more than a couple of years old) which means that it will feel harder to exhale
• - You just aren't used to breathing out while hooked up to a pump.
• - Any or all of the above

You really need to have the pressure prescribed by a professional before you try using it.

[tallishbloke]

probs with quattro mask

Hi goodguy

I am sorry to hear you are having difficulties - Gvader described the issue with the mask 100% correct - there is nothing wrong with the mask by the sound of it. Most full face masks (those covering both nose and mouth) have broadly speaking a similar design with a built in safety valve.
This seems to be a classic case of buying / borrowing second hand equipment which has not been tailored to suit your needs possibly causing the difficulties. Seek some expert face to face advice!
The other issue may be mask fit. it is crucial to have a good mask fit with no major difficulties to ensure the airflow does not feel like a "wind-tunnel"

Good Luck
TB

[ElleCee]

I presume my answer to the first post is invisible then?
Or is it complusory to repeat what others have already said?

[gvader]

I presume my answer to the first post is invisible then?
Or is it complusory to repeat what others have already said?

No, it's not compulsory. I simply read the question and answered it. My humble apologies for daring to try and help someone without first reading the entire thread.

[Warhorse8]

i've had the exact same problem as the thread start has with my quattro, and I think the culprit may be a bent elbow assembly. you can see in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q81ftpqKlw4 that the valve closes at the top when you inhale but is supposed to stay open upon exhalation for the air to escape. on my malfunuctioning one it stays shut when exhaling which is why its not working right. i tried replacing jsut the valve and it didnt work so i ordered a new elbow assembly i will let you all know if this fixes the issue