Question on Comfortlite 2 mask.

sharon1965 · Post by **sharon1965** » Tue May 01, 2007 6:36 pm

karen

nice post!! very impressive

i use the direct seal nasal pillow, #5...i find it more comfortable than the usual flanged pillows

thanks for going to the trouble to clarify for folks!

sharon1965

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Tue May 01, 2007 8:37 pm

You are more than welcome, Sharon.

I just hear all kinds of descriptions for the various interface choices, so I figured I'd go to cpap.com and see if there were some photos to help clear up the confusion.

Actually, it is quite easy to post photos here.

Click Here for Directions on How to Post a Photo

Best to you all, and hoping that we have the CL 2 figured out now!

Karen

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 01, 2007 9:04 pm

I found that I preferred the CL2's Simple Nasal Cushion to the Nasal Pillows. After several nights the force of the air was too drying and too uncomfortable. I loved the Simple Nasal Cushion not only because the rush of air up your nostrils isn't so strong and drying but also because it is shorter and smaller than regular Nasal Masks. I need the Medium Simple Nasal Cushion w/the CL2 but the Petite in the various Nasal Masks.

What I found w/the CL2 was that after a month or so the minor shifting of the headgear during the night was making my scalp sore from the changing of direction of the hair follicles and after 3 months of use some of my hair was breaking off and thinning in the area under the swivel.

I am currently trying the Respironics Simplicity and so far LOVE it as much or more than I did the CL2. Same size simple nasal cushion rather than a larger nasal mask. Lighter weight than the CL2 and a swivel that swivels EASILY and 360 degrees. The hose can be easily attached to the center head strap like the CL2 to its headgear or it can be left to run off the mask itself like most nasal masks.

The drawback to the Simplicity headgear is the center strap is toooooo long despite the velcro adjustment. This should be easily "fixed" w/two new slits cut into it for the side straps a little higher up the center strap than where they are positioned now. I'll be doing that tomorrow.

Babette · Post by **Babette** » Wed May 02, 2007 10:06 am

Hey Slinky, thanks for this info about the Simplicity! It's one I've been eye-balling online. I couldn't figure out if the tube would go over your head. They don't tell you how much the swivel swivels on the spec sheet.

http://simplicity.respironics.com/pdf/1 ... cSheet.pdf

Or else I just don't read "techie".

Anyway, I'd love to see how you rigged the tube to go up over your head. If you can get pix taken and would prefer to PM me, please feel free.

Or if anyone else has the Simplicity and has done this, do feel free to PM me with pix.

Many thanks!
Barbara

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Wed May 02, 2007 12:24 pm

Wow, Slinky! You must be psychic, as I've been looking for a new mask and this one hasn't appeared in my search.

I, too, would like to know how you got the hose to continue over the head, as that is what is discouraging me from ordering several others. I am already a tosser and turner and I know that I would be squashing the hose if it were one that went down; or, at least I think that I would.

One thing that bothers me is that the Respironics literature for the Simplicity says that one may wear glasses with the mask. However, there is a stabilizing strap going over the nose between the eyes. Unless one does Kimberley's trick for the CL 2 of flipping the glasses upside down and then threading them out from under the strap, how is that really possible? I suppose that isn't really a problem, as I use the CL 2 and read without my glasses while wearing it. (It isn't as hard as learning to look through a single microscope with both eyes open.)

The Simple Cushion on the CL 2 makes my nose cold and I cannot sleep. Seeing the similarity to the Simplicity cushion, I wonder if the same thing would happen? I am a lover of dogs but not a lover of cold noses!

The Simplicity DOES look more simple than the CL 2, and it is appealing as a nasal mask because it is small. I, too, have a problem with the nasal masks creeping into my eyes. I've recently been trying the Breeze with DreamSeal, but even this gets into the eyes at times and has to be carefully adjusted to avoid the problem.

I believe that the Simplicity would be less formidable, too. The nasal mask given me at titration was very uncomfortable and triggered my slight claustrophobia. (I'm fine in a stuck elevator. Just don't send me down a small tunnel, such as the ones used by the Viet Cong. Link to Viet Cong Tunnels )

Thank you, all--Slinky, Babette and all others--this has turned out to be a very productive thread.

Karen

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Wed May 02, 2007 12:41 pm

A simple strip of velcro wrapped around the hose and the center strap holds the hose above the head.

I haven't tried reading w/the Simplicity yet. But I would think you would have to take the mask off to put the glasses on or take them off.

As for the cold nose: turn your humidifier up a bit. I get a cold nose from a passover humidifier or if I don't have my heated humidifier turned up enough. I can't breathe in hot, humid weather so I'm not looking for warm air, I just don't want cold air turning my nose blue!!!!

For those of us who have been using the Small nasal cushions/masks, it may well be that what we really need is the Petite. I also think that those who wear upper dentures might need a shorter nasal mask than they would if they had their natural upper front teeth.

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Wed May 02, 2007 3:24 pm

Thanks for the help, Slinky.

RE: Cold nose with Simple Cushion

I had my humidifier WAY up, and still got the cold nose accompanied by rainout. I did not dare to turn it up to the max, for fear that my problem would have been solved in a manner contrary to my wishes. (I know how to survival float in a body of water, but not in a Simple Cushion. )

I am not the only one to have noticed this cold nose--raised humidifier--rainout dilemna, either. A few others have commented that they shared that experience!

This is a wonderful forum, though. Where else can one find such intelligent, informed and experienced xPAPpers?

Best,

Karen

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Wed May 02, 2007 3:40 pm

Hmmmm. I live in mid-Michigan. I keep my CPAP on a nightstand level w/my bed. I generally either take my hose under the covers w/me or if I am using a mask w/the hose over the head I put it behind my pillow. I've never had a problem w/rainout but I sure have had the COLD nose!!! I actually for some time this winter had to disconnect my integrated humidifier and use a Fisher & Paykel HC 150 stand alone heated humidifier because it could provide more warmth and thus more humiditiy.

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Wed May 02, 2007 3:59 pm

Uh, Slinky--I live in Mid-Michigan, too.

I used a lovely hose cozy this winter and sit the machine/humidifier on an overturned plastic bin which is about 6" off the ground. Then, the hose is directed over my head before it reaches down to my CL 2.

I had my humidifier set at 6 over the winter, and had turned it up for the Simple Cushion. I now have it set at 5-1/2 which leaves a few droplets in the mask, but seems to be the maximum in humidity for the weather and the ability to breathe.

Oh, well, we needed SOMETHING to discuss.

Best,

Karen

Babette · Post by **Babette** » Wed May 02, 2007 4:09 pm

Thanks Slinky! Being a bonehead, I didn't immediately see that a bit of velcro would do the trick, but now I totally do. HOMER SLAP!

I have my machine on a nightstand that is about 1 foot higher than my head. Should I be lowering it? I have a very tall bed, so finding a nightstand that I could reach comfortably was a chore. I ended up putting a tall 6-drawer "lingerie chest" next to my bed. Works great for water and stuff when I'm sitting up and reading. It's a bit of a stretch when I'm laying down. I compromise by bringing my alarm clock into bed with me. There's plenty of room for it to just sit beside me where another pillow would be, and it doesn't get in my way.

But the CPAP is on the "nightstand" and the hose comes down, and right now is going behind my pillow, along the bed-headboard join, and up to the machine. I found hanging it over my headboard noisy - and I'm worried about waking my neighbor - we share a bedroom wall and a very elderly duplex and can hear everything.

So anyway, thanks for the Simplicity tips, and should I move my CPAP machine lower than my head?

Thanks!
Barbara

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Wed May 02, 2007 4:15 pm

Moving your machine and humidifier is really up to you, but many of us keep it at least a bit lower than our heads. My RT told me to put it on the floor. Routing the hose higher than the head helps to prevent rainout. There are many ways to do this--a frame, a Command adhesive hook, and many others. Search for this topic if you like.

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:04 pm

Yep, what BirdShell said about keeping your CPAP lower than your head if you have problems w/rainout. If you're not having rainout problems and things are convenient for you as is - why bother to change things?? The Great NW is pretty humid, isn't it? And rather mild temperatures? Or am I thinking of the wrong area of the Great NW?

Yeah, BirdShell, I know you are in mid-Michigan too. And not that far from me so you'd expect the weather and humidity to be pretty much the same. Of course, I'm a real pansy and HATE being cold so I keep my house relatively warm. I haven't been to the Flint area all winter to get ahold of you about "doing lunch".

Babette · Post by **Babette** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:07 pm

I live in the Dark, Scarey Part of the Great Northwoods - Lakewood, WA. The Inuit have 300 words for Snow - we have 300 words for "Damp and 60 degrees".

So far, the rainout appear to be located only in my nasal pillow assembly - not the tubing. And I think that's a breath reaction, not a humidifier-caused thing.

So, maybe I'll leave it where it is for now.

Muchas Gracias, Merci Beaucoup, and Thankee Kindly!
B.

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:10 pm

And that pillows only "rainout" could be really thin, loose snot.

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Thu May 03, 2007 12:28 am

Slinky wrote:
Yeah, BirdShell, I know you are in mid-Michigan too. And not that far from me so you'd expect the weather and humidity to be pretty much the same. Of course, I'm a real pansy and HATE being cold so I keep my house relatively warm. I haven't been to the Flint area all winter to get ahold of you about "doing lunch".

No problem at all, Slinky--especially since I thought I was supposed to come to you! (See, great minds DO think alike! ) Talk to you soon.

Meanwhile, I'll just watch the same news shows on TV and hear about your area. And, you will hear about mine, too.

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