I was at first turned off by this mask because it seemed heavier than other similary sized masked. The mask is heavier because the gel is dense (compared to a light weight form or other comfortable material). I quickly got over this - it was very comfortable to wear throughout the night. It was definately a nice mask to wear after my previous mask pinched me in areas around my nose and upper lip.

This mask is also more customizeable than some other masks. There are two places that you can adjust the mask so that it better forms to your face. The gel also coforms to the your face, so it is easy to become attached to this mask.

If you are looking for a mask that is simple, comfortable, and will last you a long time, I definately reccomend the ComfortGel CPAP mask.

The Respironics ComfortClassic was my first CPAP mask I used after I had been diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. I had picked this mask because:

• It was a very light mask. Since I was not used to wearing a CPAP mask, most of the other masks felt heavy on my face. The ComfortClassic felt significantly lighter than other masks. I had thought that if I had something heavy on my face, I would be discouraged from using my CPAP, and would have bad habits from the start. I was glad I could easily transition to using my new equipment with this new mask.
• The mask was very, very simple. There are not a lot of adjustments you can make on this mask. I did not want something that I would need to fiddle with to get it right - I just wanted to put my mask on and sleep.
• The mask did not leave marks on my face. I was self conscious about this when I first was told that I had sleep apnea.

Other good reasons to get this mask are:

• It has been around for a while. There are a lot of neat, new masks being sold, but this one has been popular for several years.
• Since the mask is so simple, it relatively cheaper than other masks.
• It is a quite mask. It does not whistle while you breathe out, like some other masks.

I eventually changed to a different mask, since the recommendation is to change them every 6 months. (Your insurance might cover this).

Some reasons I stopped using this masked on a daily basis:

• After testing several other masks, and having experience with wearing the mask nightly, I had found that I wanted something more customizeable.
• The forehead gel pads on the top of the mask had ripped. Luckily, these can be replaced.

However, I was very glad to use the ComfortClassic. I still wear this mask when I travel, because I am not worried about losing any small parts for it (since it is constructed so simpily). I would definately reccomend this mask

In this short video clip, Dr. Craig Schwimmer defines obstructive sleep apnea , tells us the health consequences of having sleep apnea, and tells us who is at risk.

Schwimmer describes the event cycle of a person who is sleeping that has obstructive sleep apenea: Soft tissue in the back of the throat collapses the airway, and prevens the sleeper from breathing. The brain notices that there is less oxygen in the blood stream, and the person wakes up. This can happen several hundred times a night.

In the long term, these nightly cycles cause significant strain on heart an lungs. People with sleep apnea are at greater risk for having high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks, and several other cardio vascular diseases.

Studies have shown that up to 5% of the population may have sleep apnea. Signs of obstructive sleep apnea include:

• Loud, habitual snoring
• Gasping for air while sleeping
• Poor quality sleep - usually wake up not feelign well rested
• Trouble concentrating during the day
• Having headaches in the morning

People who are most at risk for having sleep apnea are:

• Men
• between 40 and 60 years old
• and are overweight

Traditionally, sleep studies have been done in facilities to determine if someone has sleep apnea. Now, sleep studies may be done at one’s home.
You can find out more information from The Snoring Center.

This is a short clip about a man who is going into a sleep study. You can really see how unhappy his sleep is making is life… and how excited he is after making a step in the right direction by going forward with a sleep study. Through the sleep study, the neccesary data can be collected to diagnosis someone with a sleep disorder. After the diagnosis, treatment can begin, and people like Nick will enjoy higher quaility life.

….Ugh, so happy. No more waking up in the middle of the night, twenty times to pee… No more dry mouth… No more more heart burn… No more BREATHE, BREATHE… Ughh.
Can’t wait to get up and feel refreshed in the morning… Don’t have to feel exhausted all day. Can’t wait. Ohh. Pretty excited…

This short video clip is a public service announcement from American Sleep Apnea Association.
From the video:

[person snoring in background] Oh No… another sleepless night
The snoring. Then the silence.
When will he take another breath?
[snort] If you know this sound you may know a person with…. sleep apnea.
It can be life-threatening.
Get that person to a doctor, or a sleep specialist for treatment

Sleep Apnea
It is no way to sleep.
It is no way to live.

American Sleep Apnea Association
888-293-3650
www.sleepapnea.org

I was very excited when I learned that Michael Breus, Ph D. had published a book. Breus is the sleep expert on the popular site WebMD, an has other sleep sites Soundsleep Solutions and The Insomnia Blog.

The Sleep Doctor really deserves credit for giving us practical suggestions for better sleep in Good Night. Often when I read books about health improvement, I feel like the author is a doctor writing for the audience of another doctor. Those types of books have a lot of wonderful information - it is too bad you have to go to med school to understand it, and even then it may not have an application in your life. The Sleep Doctor’s book is not like that - it is gives doable advice, and quick hints on getting better sleep.

This is an excellent book if you are not familiar with sleep health because Breus discusses the most common sleep disorders, as well as the common things that disrupt your sleep. Even if you are well read in sleep health, Breus includes latest healthcare discoveries and makes hard concepts easy to understand.

The book starts off with discussing the most common causes of sleep problems, and gives us a solution to those problems. For example, the sleep problems caused by having young children, by smoking, using caffeine, stress, and business needs. What I really like about Breus is that he does not try to make us sacrifce the rest our lives in order to have perfect sleep. He is not going to tell you not to have your Starbucks fix, or convince you to quit smoking. He realizes that people do not have perfect conditions, and he encourages to break down a big problem (never feeling well rested) into smaller problems, and make small adjustments in order to get maximum results.

After these quick fixes, the Sleep Doctor goes into depth about why sleep is so important, and the pontential results of not getting enough sleep. This leads us into the best part of the book - your own 28 day program to getting better sleep (the full title of the book is Good Night: The Sleep Doctor’s 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health). At this point Breus is like a personal sleep coach, encouraging you to use what you had learned in a 4 week schedule. He provides simple, but effective tools for judging our performance, and pushes us to develop better sleeping habits. I am about half way through the program, and I am already experiencing great results.

The last part of the book recognizes there are times when good habits may not be enough, or are not right at a point in time. He briefly presents medications, and other sleep aids that may help us as a last resort.

Overall, and excellent book. I definately reccomend that you buy this book, or check it out at your local library. Breus also has information on his website Soundsleep Solutions.