My plan going in was to get the Quattro FX mask as a back up as soon as I was eligible for a new mask which was June 1. Finally got the mask and headgear June 15 and was only able to keep it on for about 2.36 hours with AHI of 1.1. June 16 used it 7.43 hours, AHI 2.3. June 17 3.09 hours, AHI.6. June 18 4.04 hours, AHI .2. June 19, 7.29 hours, AHI of 5.0. June 20 and 21 I switched back to the nasal pillows with good results.
When I use the nasal pillows mask, my pressures are set at 5.8 and 12.6 with EPR set at 2 and full-time and, with the exception of nights with congestion, I got great results. The pressure through the night would go up and down depending mostly on the flow limitation but usually was between 6 and 10 over the course of a night. With the Quattro FX, I noticed that the pressure rose fairly quickly up to the maximum of 12.6 and pretty much stayed up there through the night. This results in a problem when I am breathing through my mouth where the pressure fills my mouth with air and my cheeks blow up like a balloon. This results in the mask leaking and my waking up. So, on June 18, I lowered the top pressure to 10.6 to see if I could breath through my mouth OK. I only lasted 4 hours with a .2 AHI waking up when the pressure was at its highest. The next night, with the top pressure at 10.6 I slept 7.29 hours (was able to control the mouth breathing to a slow intake and exhale preventing the mouth from blowing up) but got an AHI of 5.0 which is by far the worst I have ever had since I started. So I put the pressure back to the 12.6 level and again experienced the mouth blowing up like a balloon. Then I switched back to the pillows mask and returned to my normal good results.
So, the questions are 1) Is it normal for your mouth to blow up like that with a full face mask? 2) Is there a way to stop it from doing that? 3) Is it normal for the pressure to go up to the max and stay there with a full face mask? 4) Has anyone else experienced this kind of result in using the Quattro FX mask? And, 5) Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thank you