Breeze or comfort lite 2?

Just need your good advice . . . I'm planning to get Respironics comfort lite 2 or PB Breeze with nasal pillows, but I'm still confused of which mask to buy for my PB420E. I know both are equally excellent, but sharing your experience will help me decide wisely. Also, since I'm using a 6-foot hose with sensor line tube for my unit, I wonder if, by extending the length of the sensor line once the Breeze or comfort lite 2 is connected to the main hose, it will enable my PB420E to function more effectively. Advance thanks for your input.

I never used the breeze, but saw it at the DMEs, I didn't care for the hard plastic and metal on the head gear. I love my CL2!!

alsarnac wrote:I'm planning to get Respironics comfort lite 2 or PB Breeze with nasal pillows, but I'm still confused of which mask to buy for my PB420E. I know both are equally excellent, but sharing your experience will help me decide wisely.

alsarnac, each person's experience and preference for one or the other of those two very good masks will be different. Here's my take on the two:

I used the Breeze for about a year. Liked it very much. At that time, I slept exclusively on my side...changing from one side to the other often through the night. Any time I tried to sleep on my back, the Breeze tugged upward uncomfortably on my nostrils, or shifted outward and downward at the nostrils, causing leaks. I found it unacceptable for sleeping on my back, but very good for sleeping on either side and for "active" (toss'n'turn) sleeping.

The Breeze's hose guide was improved over a year ago; however, you'll still see product descriptions talking about the "new" Breeze. The so-called "new" Breeze has been out for a long, long time now. Even though that "new" Breeze was improved with a virtually unbreakable hose guide in front, the shell that holds the nasal pillows still is reported by some people to be apt to leak at the seam which holds the two halves of the shell together. I believe that can be patched very easily at home.

I always used a homemade strap with both the original Breeze and the "new" to keep the nasal pillows steadily in place.

Removing the entire back portion of the Breeze can make it perfect for sleeping on one's back as well as sides. I did that with my Breeze, reattaching the backpad to top of head with plastic cable ties (zip ties.) A poster nicknamed "puffing billy" did the same removal, and used another mask's headgear:
Aug 02, 2006 subject: Modified Breeze with CL2 Strap

Between the two masks "as is", I personally prefer the ComfortLite 2. Very good for sleeping on either side and back. But even with the CL2, I added the good old homemade strap to steady both the nasal pillows and expecially the "simple cushion." An added strap across the front of many masks can do wonders to prevent the slight shifts that can lead to leaking. The added strap doesn't have to be tight at all. Just "being there" is enough to stabilize many masks, much like holding our fingers lightly up against the front of a mask to stop a leak.

A plus in favor of the ComfortLite 2 is that it comes with all three sizes of two options for nasal interface. I chose the nasal pillows and "simple cushion" for my two options. Liked both (with the homemade strap added, of course, to prevent leaks.)

With the Breeze, you have to choose from among various sizes of nasal pillows. I'd suggest for men -- Large or Extra Large. For women -- Medium and Large. Either gender, if I were going to choose just one size to order in nasal pillows for the Breeze, it would be Large, even if you have a small nose. The "Large" pillows are very smushy soft. Nasal pillows should do most of their sealing on the outside of the nostrils, so erring on the side of "bigger than necessary" is generally better than getting nasal pillows that are too small and would have to be crammed up into the nostrils to seal against leaks.

alsarnac wrote:Also, since I'm using a 6-foot hose with sensor line tube for my unit, I wonder if, by extending the length of the sensor line once the Breeze or comfort lite 2 is connected to the main hose, it will enable my PB420E to function more effectively.

Since Puritan Bennett designed both the Breeze and the 420E, and PB never issued any caveat about using its autopap with the Breeze, I don't think you'd gain any additional effectiveness by extending the length of the 420E's sensor tube up through the connector tube of the Breeze or the Comfortlite 2...or of any mask which uses a connector tube between mask and main air hose.

Why not try them both?

Got my breeze set up (fine tuned) after about two weeks use for afternoon naps. Used gaffers tape to hold (fix) the head gear frame adjustments. The first thing I did was wrap a few turns of tape around the hose where it goes through the guide because the guide was not holding the hose firmly enough. This interface amazes me, has a great light fit with very little leaking, wiggling my nose usually stops the leak. Unlike rested gal, I have not experienced any problem with back sleeping, but then I rarely use the breeze for more than an hour or so at a time. Have used both the pillows and the dream seal with good results.

Recently got a Comfort Lite 2 and am still experimenting with it. So far I have switched out the elbow-swivel for a straight hose-swivel, otherwise had to hang my feet off the foot of the bed. Still making minor adjustments.

I'm impressed with how individual a thing the choice of masks is. The mask that works well for one person appears to not work well for another.

Having said that, I preferred the CL2 to the Breeze on the basis of comfort. Both gave about the same AHI, but the Breeze was hard on my nares, especially when I tried to sleep on my back (as I often do).

I've since discovered that I seem to be a full face kind 'o guy.

Rested Gal wrote:
[A plus in favor of the ComfortLite 2 is that it comes with all three sizes of two options for nasal interface. I chose the nasal pillows and "simple cushion" for my two options.]

When I got my ComfortLite2 I only got two sizes of two options for nasal interface. I also chose the nasal pillows and "simple cushion". Should I have gotten all three sizes? Thanks.

I tried both.

Rested Gal, has summed it up very well - note though that RG is an innovator and was willing to modify the Breeze.

I found the one fault that bothered me with the breeze was the stiffness of that band going over the head. It does cause the mask to move in unnatural ways that are not desirable.

The CL is ok but far to fragile. The CL2 is an improvement & is IMHO easier to wear than both the CL & Breeze.

Good luck

DSM