Respironics Wisp - First Impressions

[Acroflyer]

Wisp arrived today. I was surprised it arrived so soon. Cudos to sleepsolutions.com and Canada Post for getting it to me in one day at no extra cost. Total cost was $115.00. I'll spend tonight sleeping with it but here are some initial impressions.

I'll begin with comfort, fit and ease of use. I'll conclude with other impressions.

It was pre-assembled with the medium cushion. I wore it while trying differenct sleeping positions. I used the Resmed S9 Autoset Mask Fit feature to test for leaks. I didn't have to tighten it much to eliminate leaks. The cushion felt softer and more comfortable than the Quatro and Swift FX. The cushion maintained its seal when I shifted from back to side to tummy. However, the exaust blew into my eye while on my tummy. I tried the small cushion and no exaust in my eye but a little tigher feel and less comfort than the medium. No leak with the small. I'll have more to say about comfort and fit after I tried it one or two nights.

Ease of use is a no-brainer. I am not mechanically inclined, nor do I follow line drawings that well. Line drawings are mostly what you get for instructions. The mask and its parts are so intutive that one could almost manage it with eyes closed. Sorting it out may have been a little harder had I not watched the few Respironics videos. What I like most is ease of connecting;disconnecting the tubing. It snaps in very easily and comes off very easily after gently squeezing the two protrusions. The straps are unique in that you can either assemble'disassemble them by using a button type of snap or threading them through an eyelet.

I can slip on a pair of glasses without disturbing the mask. I can also separate it very easily from the hose if I have to get up. It feels very comfortable on its own without the tubing. Speaking of tubing, I like that I can slip the tubing through a slit at the crown of the headgear so I can wear it overhead, attached to my Hose Buddy.

I like that the mask comes packaged in a hard clear sealable plastic bubble inside a sealable clear plastic bag. The whole package including the mask and parts appear to be well made and designed. Material and workmanship appears to meet or exceed the highest standards I've seen.

I'll attempt to answer queries and will report more after spedning a night or two with it.

[Bon Bon]

This sounds very promising. I can't wait for it to go on sale here.

Thanks for the review! I look forward to your updates.
Bonny

[SnorkelPuss]

I can't wait for this mask. What's taking them so long? I feel like there will be a big rush to buy when it first comes out.

[chunkyfrog]

Did you get the fabric frame or the silicone?
I'm curious about the fabric.

[Acroflyer]

I have the fabric frame. Love how it feels when I'm wearing it. It seems like it will stand up to a lot of wear. It doesn't leave marks or indents, even while sleeping on my side. It's amazing how loose I can adjust it while maintaining a good seal.

I define a good seal as zero leaks and no air noise escaping the mask while using a pressure at least 50% more than the maximum I need 95% of the time while sleeping on both sides and tummy.

I was able to maintain a good seal with the Swift FX medium pillows and medium Quattro FX. However, the price was redness around the bottom of my nostrils with the FX and indents in my cheeks with the Quattro. I couldn’t get a good seal with the Elan but I may try the small pillow, depending on how those of you who have it are rating it. Absolutely no marks or indents after I found the Wisp sweet spot. Finding it was very easy. Once found, it can be locked in by using one of the snaps (I called them buttons in my last post) to attach/detach the mask. The snaps are easy. Just pull to detach and push to attach.

I also stated that air went into my eye from the medium cushion vent. Thus, I attached the small cushion. The small cushion was pinching my nostrils a little too much for my liking so I wore the medium to bed. I don’t know what happened the first time to cause vent air in my eye but the air flowed down and out as one would expect. No air in my eye, a nice comfortable fit, a good seal, and, here’s the best news of all. My AHI was lower than I’ve ever seen it; much lower.

I’m not drawing any hard and fast conclusions about the overall effectiveness of the Wisp relative to other masks I’ve used because I’ve only used it for one night and another unusual event occurred. Would you believe I wore that mask during my last two hours of sleep with the S9 NOT running? I know I got up to pay Uncle John a visit, went back to bed, re-attached the tube and went back to sleep. Did I not push the S9 ON button hard enough or did I later turn it off without removing the Wisp? I suspect the former but can’t say for sure. I woke up, found breathing difficult but forced my mouth to stay closed. I was able to breathe better than I could with the Quattro under similar circumstances. However, to give the Quattro its due, it appears to have a fail-safe device where the air stops for a moment if you try to breathe without the machine pumping air. Perhaps if that were the case with the Wisp, I would have waked up sooner and pushed the ON button again. Who knows?

In closing, I felt it prudent to auto-titrate with the Wisp. I also set the S9 Mask setting to Nasal Ultra rather than Nasal Mask. I don’t know if one or the other makes a significant difference. I’m open to guidance. In the meantime, I’ll continue to let the S9 decide for me since I got such great numbers with the Wisp.

[RogerSC]

Do you have facial hair? How do you think that a mustache would affect the mask? Would you grow one (if you don't already have one) to check it out for me (just kidding *smile*)?

[kaiasgram]

I'm curious about the description of the Wisp:

The Wisp nasal mask is a combination nasal CPAP mask and pillows type CPAP mask. Enjoy the comfort and performance of both technologies together in one easy to fit and easy to manage CPAP mask.

I looked at the video but can't see, what is the nasal pillow part?

[Acroflyer]

The most I can say about facial hair is I don't have any but leaks tend to happen after wearing this and other masks for 4-6 hours. Perhaps facial stubble (mine is pretty coarse) is a contributor. I'd like to stay focused on the Wisp so I may speak about this issue in another thread.

I was confused about the nasal pillow description too. The cushion has one triangular shaped hole that sits over the nose, not just the nostrils like nasal pillos. It sits about half way between the tip of the nose and bridge. It rests above the upper lip. It covers the nose on both sides.

Two more good news items to report and two bad.

The first is the headgear doesn't bunch up my hair so I no longer look like I had my finger in a light socket when I get up.

The second is last night was the first night I had a very low AHI and, less centrals than OA's and H's. My numbers appear to be going back to when I was originally titrated by the sleep tech using a Remstar with A Flex and Swift FX.

Now for the bad news. There's a sore where the mask rests on my nose. I'll preface this by saying that area is very sensitive and prone to sores caused by slight irritation. The sore started the first night so I loosened the mask. Good seal so I was good to go.

Mask didn't bother the sore area on my nose while wearing it last night but woke up a few hours later with sore nose and leaking mask.It's as though the mask loosened on its own. Adjusting it didn't stop the leaks. My only option was to tighten both straps. I wore the Quattro for the remainder of the night as it doesn't come into contact with the sore spot. I've yet to decide what mask I'll wear tonight and what I'll do about the sore spot if I choose the wisp. I have decided that I'll roll over to the elan small cushion thread, give it a read and possibly order one for those times when my snout is too sensitive for the wisp.

[WPGCRAZN]

Where did you buy the Wisp? There is no web site for sleep solutions.

I also live in Canada, so I'm hoping I can find one of these as my current mask needs replacing. I don't have much of a bridge, so I need smaller mask designs like this that contact the nose lower than the bridge.

[Ron4443]

I have used the Respironic Wisp Mask for about 2 months and am generally happy with the fit of the nose piece but very disappointed with the head gear.

The head gear fits well and is comfortable but the method of disconnecting the straps to take the head gear off is a real problem. There are two plastic clips - one either side and in order to remove the head gear one of the clips must be snapped off from the fabric strap. My first head gear has lasted only 6 weeks or so before the hole in the fabric side piece broke and I was unable to attach the clip. I returned the Wisp to the dealer and was given a new one under warranty and at the same time noticed the demo mask in the showroom and this was broken in the same way mine was. When you look at the fabric strap and the plastic clip you can see that this will not last and I fully expect to return mine to the dealer in a couple of months for another replacement.

[RoRo]

RogerSC,
I use the Wisp and have a moustache. It is now my primary mask, very comfortable and good seal. No large leaks even going from side to side..

[chunkyfrog]

Which is more flexible: cloth or silicone?
Which is more durable? (somebody had one break)

[hyperlexis]

Which is more flexible: cloth or silicone?
Which is more durable? (somebody had one break)

Is the "cloth" one a silicone headgear wrapped in the fabric or is it a totally different construction? I have yet to see a Wisp in person.

[JO'M]

Which is more flexible: cloth or silicone?
Which is more durable? (somebody had one break)

More flexible - cloth
More durable - silicone

I found the silicone to be very heavy against my face.

[Acroflyer]

I too experienced the headgear fabric ripping problem. It appears that the ripping is likely to continue if I get a replacement. I may throw good money after bad by returining it for a replacement. If I do, I'll only wear it if I can't use one of my other masks.

Since it ripped on the right side where I do most of my sleeping, I would not recommend this mask to a stomach or side sleeper.