First night using the Wisp

Last night was my first night moving from the Pilairo to the Wisp. I felt like I had a hard time sleeping with it and I tweaked it and it did leak pretty often. Nothing major just enough to leak into my left eye like crazy. Getting used to the sound of the vent on it was a struggle as well. Comfort wise after having it on about an hour and a half it was nowhere near as soft as I had thought it was. This was also the first night using my Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset. Right now it is set from straight CPAP. I used Sleepyhead just a few mins ago and checked my data for the first time. My AHI was 0.57 which I think is awesome! I can see on the report where the mask awoke me a couple of times and I am curious on sleepyhead it shows me snoring very often. When I had the machine on last night it was much more difficult to breathe with than the Pilairo. I thought to myself I hope I don't snore with this mask. I don't know if I actually did or not. I will ask my wife. She may not know either since she was able to get to bed before me last night. There was a lot of times with this mask when I was trying to sleep where I felt like I wasn't getting the air I needed. I guess because with the Pilairo is just blasts straight to the nostrils and with the Wisp it doesn't. I don't know it could just be something I have to get used to. I am just not sure I love the Wisp. It was not as comfortable as I had hoped. I keep looking at the Swift FX Nano and thinking "Man that thing looks soft". So it may be that I request from my DME to give that one a try and also give the Airfit P10 a try while she has to order the Nano. That way I will have given some different masks a chance. She did give me 2 extra nasal masks with the Wisp so that I was awesome. I know I can sleep with it so it is nice to have even if it isn't "The Mask".

I also did want to share when I did my sleep study they had me wear the Optilife... Wow I hated that mask... So much so wrong with it for me. The sleep technician at the lab said it was one of the best masks ever manufactured... I would have to disagree for me. He did give it to me so I do have it as a back up mask as well. I have tried wearing it at home and man does it leak like crazy for me and the vent is SUPER loud on it and it is soooo uncomfortable for me to wear. Anyways, I thought I would throw that in there as well. So I am going to give the Wisp another go tonight and Sunday night and if I still feel the same about it I am going to visit the DME again Monday and go from there.

Thanks for reading my ramblings and if you all have any suggestions or stories you would like to add please do!

The Nano might (stress the might part) be a little softer than the Wisp but not by much. It might seem a little softer because there isn't as much tension on it as there is with the Wisp and the more headgear thing.
I wasn't able to use the Wisp due to a couple of issues but the Nano I actually used for a week to test it out.
That's saying a lot for me because I am strictly a nasal pillow mask user. I kept the Nano for a "just in case" thing but returned the Wisp because I simply couldn't get good sleep with it.

Have you tried the ResMed AirFit P10 nasal pillow mask like I use (see link in my profile)?
It's pretty much silent in terms of vent noise and I have to put my hand about an inch from the vent holes to even feel the air flow. It's a pretty sweet little mask and if you haven't looked at it I suggest that you do.

The Optilife...yeah, it kinda sucks. I used that for my titration study as well and that was over 6 years ago. Brought it home with me and gave it away to someone on the forum who really liked the Optilife.
I don't know how long it had been out there before I started therapy but the improvements on the nasal pillow masks are leaps and bounds better than the Optilife IMHO.

What was your prescribed pressure? What did the DME set your APAP pressure at?

I have tried the Airfit P10 on at the DME and it is a mask that she knows I may want to move to next I chose the Pilairo Q over it that day and I do like the Pilairo it just has been a love hate relationship that I may just need to give more time I don't know. If the weekend doesn't get better with the Wisp that is my next move along with ordering the Nano for a try. I am in that first 30 days window where I can try masks and I want to try what I can during that window and if I have a few in the "just in case" pile I am really ok with that.

I am not set up on using an APAP right now. I requested the Autoset for the data capabilities from my doctor because I want to be able to keep an eye on my therapy. So right now I am on a set pressure of 12 with a 5 minute ramp just so I can get laid down and adjusted in the bed before it goes full blast.

Use the mask swapping time to your advantage. It never took me very long to figure out if a mask was at least worth working with. I think the record is maybe 30 seconds and that was because after 30 seconds of initial seal I simply never could get the darn thing to not leak horribly. I never even made it to the sleeping part. A lot of people only get 1 mask swap in that first 30 days...if you get multiple swaps allowed..use them. You can always go back to an earlier choice if you want to.

Pugsy wrote:Use the mask swapping time to your advantage. It never took me very long to figure out if a mask was at least worth working with. I think the record is maybe 30 seconds and that was because after 30 seconds of initial seal I simply never could get the darn thing to not leak horribly. I never even made it to the sleeping part. A lot of people only get 1 mask swap in that first 30 days...if you get multiple swaps allowed..use them. You can always go back to an earlier choice if you want to.

Every mask they put on me so far hasn't had any major leaks and the DME said I was very easy to fit a mask. That is fine, but some masks are just not comfortable AT ALL! Right now when it is coming to the first 30 days I was told at the DME that I didn't have to swap anything meaning I just have to try it and if I don't like it I can keep it because they would just have to dispose of it.

I am hoping that I won't have to try too many more masks. The Airfit P10 is next on the radar while she orders the Nano for me to try as well. After trying all of these hopefully I will have found a mask that I will like. I have the Wisp with 2 extra nasal masks so that is a 3 month supply on it. Which is how often my insurance will replace the whole headgear and all. I can get a replacement mask every month, but all new headgear every 3 months. So I don't think that is too bad.

I don't get headgear until 6 months and since my DME doesn't do the mask packages without headgear that I could do at 3 months, I don't get a new mask until 6 months but I have found that time frame is more than enough for me to get by.
Nasal pillows themselves I could get 2 a month but I just don't need them that often. Right now I am on 9 months on a single nasal pillow. I have always been lucky in that way..no matter which nasal pillow mask I have used I get months and months of use.

My DME lets me have 60 days though (even now after all these years) to try a new mask but with them I have to return the unwanted mask just so they can throw it in the trash. Since your DME lets you keep the masks...you can always go back to an earlier choice. Win win situation.

I have tried almost all the nasal pillow masks out there with the exception of the Respironics GoLife. Just never got around to testing it out. Some I could use if I had to but others are "better" for me.
I was that way with the Pilairo...I could use it but I didn't like it well enough to make it my primary mask.
The one size fits all pillow just created a larger presence on my face in general and since one of my preferences is less on my face it just came up a bit short when compared to the Swift FX which I was using at the time.

Sounds like you will be the same way....have a couple (or more) that you can successfully use but will end up with one that you like the best and it will be your primary mask.

Thanks for responding. I am going to keep trucking and trying. I don't like having tons of stuff on my face, but I will do what I have to. So I spoke with my wife and she said I did snore with the Wisp. I didn't snore with the Pilaro. I know that doesn't mean much but I thought last night I felt like I could with it. Like I wasn't getting as much air as normal. So just a difference in masks.

CaptainRaven40 wrote:

I am hoping that I won't have to try too many more masks. The Airfit P10 is next on the radar while she orders the Nano for me to try as well. After trying all of these hopefully I will have found a mask that I will like. I have the Wisp with 2 extra nasal masks so that is a 3 month supply on it. Which is how often my insurance will replace the whole headgear and all. I can get a replacement mask every month, but all new headgear every 3 months. So I don't think that is too bad.

Soon you can start your own DME

I tried the Wisp both ways. The fabric frame was a complete disappointment,
but the clear silicone frame clung to my face and supported the cushion so there was very little pressure around my nose.
I do NOT recommend the fabric frame. If you have the fabric frame, try to get the silicone frame instead.

I do have the fabric frame with the silicone on the sides. So here is what happened today. I went today to speak with the DME and the therapist was out for the day working in people's homes. So I was unable to get anything from her. So I went to the other side of town to the same DME just a different store. The therapist was in there and she was the person who initially set me up but was filling in at the other store. I spoke to the people out front first and they told me that my insurance would not cover another mask. Which is not what I was told up front. Not a shocker with what all I have read about a lot of DMEs. So they let me talk to the therapist and I told her I was having issues with the wisp which I am. It keeps leaking into my eyes and I have tried adjusting it like crazy. She is very sweet. I told her I wanted to move to the Airfit P10. She said all she had was the for her with the pink band that it was very popular and hard to keep in. Which I believe. I asked her what the different between the for her and the other was. She said the color of the band and the for her can accommodate a smaller nasal pillow as well. She said that is all. I said I don't care if it's pink. She looked at me and said here just take this one then and I am not going to enter it in to the system because your comfort and therapy is what is important to me. Wow. I was stunned. She said if I stayed with that one to give my normal therapist a call and tell her that is the mask I need supplies for. So I ended up with the P10. Yay! So is the for her and the other the only differences she said? Thanks everyone! Hopefully between the Pilairo, Wisp and the P10 I can get by.

The pink headgear is what comes in the "for Her" package and that package should have 3 sizes of nasal pillows in it...XSmall, Small and Medium.
The other color is the blue/gray and comes with the Small, Medium and Large nasal pillows.

Some people have said that the pink headgear is about an inch shorter/smaller than the blue headgear.
I happen to own both and I measured the headgear and mine weren't really any difference...or maybe 1/8 of an inch but other people say an inch to an inch and a half difference (pink being shorter).
Doesn't really matter as long as it will fit you.
If it seems a little snug...it will stretch a little.

If the nostrils get tender...get some Lansinoh lanolin ointment/cream (baby aisle of most stores) and apply just a little to the nostrils at bedtime. Anything more than very minor tenderness means too tight or wrong size.

Thank you Pugsy! Always a wealth of knowledge. I laid down with the mask for about 20 minutes this afternoon to give it a little trial and it seemed to go well. We shall see tonight. My next stop is to cvs for some of that ointment to get some help/relief with it. I am loving being a part of this community so far and I feel great knowing I am doIng what I can and to help my therapy be the best it can be.