flyingwithoutwings wrote:And yes Stormynights, pressing my fingers to my face next to my nose does cause stuffiness. Never realized that. Does that mean I need a bigger nose mask?
If you are like me it means you need to avoid any mask that puts pressure on that area of your nose.
Here's what happened to me with the Wisp.
I have long known that the traditional nose masks were too heavy and the pressure caused congestion so I have avoided them.
I thought the Wisp might be light enough not to be a problem so I gave it a try. Initially I didn't have the congestion issue when I put it on and thought it might work...so I attempted to use it one night.
I fell asleep just fine but during the time I wore it I woke up at least 6 times totally congested. I would pull the mask away from my nose and the congestion pretty much immediately cleared up in just a few seconds...so I kept doing this for probably 6 or 7 times and finally got tired of the sleep disruption and took that mask on and put my trusty Tap Pap back on and slept like a baby for the rest of the night.
Now I thought that I had spent most of the night with the Wisp on but to my amazement when I looked at the software reports I only managed 86 minutes with it. It sure felt longer than that.
So the Wisp went back to the DME. I hadn't really expected to keep it but I didn't think it would be such a dismal failure for me. I thought maybe it might work for me in some situation but 90 minutes of horrible sleep and congestion (I just don't do well if I can't breathe through my nose) told me that it wasn't going to work for me.
It fit fine...didn't leak..and a different size wouldn't have made any difference. It's just the way my nose is or does in response to even the slightest pressure up on those nasal turbinate areas of the nose.
Now if you generally like the idea of the Wisp and the cushion...ResMed has just released not long ago the Swift FX Nano..it's a cushion and I was able to successfully use it for several nights. It's either just light enough or touches the nose in a slightly different area...that I don't get the congestion at all with it. So that might be an option for you to consider.
No mask should present the difficulties you are experiencing...there are too many different masks that a person can try. Once you told Stormy that the slightest pressure on your nose causes congestion...I felt that you are probably more like me and I don't know if you will have consistent good luck with the Wisp. When you had the one good night I thought maybe it would work but now with what has happened and what you say...I don't know if it is a consistent workable mask for you.
I do wish you still had the nasal pillow mask to try because I think that there is/was a good chance that the difficulties you experienced with it were more from the humidity being too low than it was from the mask being the problem. What you described with your nasal pillow trial was exactly what I experienced when I chose a too low of a humidity setting...and now that you say that the congestion is generally lessened at the higher humidity setting...that makes me wish you could try the nasal pillow mask again.
Too bad the DME probably trashed them when you returned it. They can't do anything else with them but toss them in the trash.
Here's what the Nano looks like if you are curious. The nice thing about it...the nasal pillows for the Swift FX will fit the headgear..despite what ResMed wants to officially say...I know because I tried it and it works fine.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... dgear.html
If your DME has the Nano (it's new and some won't have it yet) and will let you try it...I have some extra Swift FX nasal pillows and I could let you have one of them to try with it....So you could revisit the nasal pillow Swift FX. I really think that they are worth revisiting if you liked them at all. I think that the original humidity level you were using with them was the main culprit for your issues you had at that time.
This mask journey...that's the hardest part of all this cpap therapy IMHO. Finding the right mask that's suits our own individual needs. No one should have to "settle" on something that doesn't pretty much satisfy all your major needs. No mask is ever totally perfect but we need the pros to out weigh the cons by a considerable margin. Congestion is a "con" that is totally unacceptable to me. That's why I didn't spend any more time with the Wisp...there are other masks out there that don't do that so why waste my
time. I actually prefer the Tap Pap...see link in my profile as my number one mask. I do these experiments with the other masks just to get the experience and figure out things so I can offer help with them. I can probably successfully use several masks but have my main "go to" mask being the Tap Pap... I recently tried the Respironics Nuance Pro...nasal pillow mask..very similar to the Swift FX. It's workable..more pros than cons for me and the one main con (side straps a little too close to my eyes) is not a total deal breaker. So I can successfully use the Tap Pap, the Swift FX, the Swift FX Nano cushion, the Nuance Pro, the Aloha (very nice stable mask), the Pilairo, the Swift LT and even the Opus 360. My own personal preference for "less stuff on my face and head" dictates the order of my preferences but in terms of sleep...I can successfully use these masks. Each one has a little different pro and con situation. My pros might be your cons though...and vice versa...so I can't say for sure which one might suit your needs the best. I always tell people to look closely at the various models and if something looks "interesting" then if they can do it...try it.
That's what I do...if it looks interesting and workable...I try it if I can. If it doesn't look interesting then I don't bother. It might work great for someone else but it doesn't look like it would work great for me...so I don't try it.
The Wisp...looked interesting and I thought it might work but it didn't. It's still a great mask but just not for me and my needs.
The Swift FX Nano looked interesting and I thought it might work..and it did. I actually kinda liked it considering it was such a difference from what I have been using for over 4 years. It was a failure for some people though. All masks fit into the trash for one person and treasure for another person and before anyone can expect to know for sure what category it will end up in for them is they need to try it. We can only go on other people's experiences so far...in the end we have to try it to know for sure.
The Wisp is a great treasure for a lot of people but for me it was simply trash. It was the first real failure of any mask I have ever tried. I would still recommend it though...as long as someone doesn't tell me the slightest pressure on their nose causes immediate congestion.