Air in my very dry mouth

[Kathiellew]

I have the wisp mask and it has been a pretty good experience so far. I gave up on chin straps and follow the "tape-the-mouth-closed" method. And though this keeps my mouth closed, it doesn't prevent my throat from relaxing. And therein lies the problem. I wake up several times a night because my mouth is so extremely dry I can't swallow. When I take the tape off my mouth air just shoots out. This has just started in the past week or so and doesn't feel right. Any suggestions? Kathie

[dave21]

It sounds like the pressure you have is too high coming out of the machine or that the humidifier you have isn't generating warm air. Is the air cold or warm? Not having warm air (e.g. cold air) will dry up your mouth/throat.

I don't have problems needing to tape my mouth shut but do find some times if I've had a few whisky's before bed or just have a bad night i open my mouth and yes it will dry up. Other times I find that if I wake up and I feel like I'm blowing bubbles but its air coming out of my mouth, I check the machine to see what the pressure is. It's usually because i've had a few apneas and the pressure of the machine has increased to a higher level I can't tolerate.

Not sure if any of that helps but that's what I usually find.

[Pugsy]

The tongue is not keeping that back door closed to prevent the air going down the airway from entering the mouth.
It's fairly easy to keep the tongue in place to block that back door while we are awake but when we go to sleep the tongue gets lazy and falls down and opens the door.
It's hard to train the tongue to stay in place so that it keeps the doorway closed. You can try by keeping the tongue in the roof of your mouth during the day. Mine has go to the point it stays there pretty much all the time now.
That is what you need to do though...train the tongue to stay in place better while asleep.

In the meantime....what humidifier settings are you now using? Are you using a heated hose? I wonder if the air in your house is now drier with colder weather and furnaces being used? I don't know if an increase in humidity will help or not. Might be worth a try though. It's hard to keep the mouth well hydrated from just the humidity coming from the humidifier because the oral cavity is just simply so much larger. That's why even full face mask users will complain of dry mouth even with maximum humidity being delivered. The machine just can't keep up.

[Sir NoddinOff]

IMO, there's only one product for dry mouth, Orajel dry mouth mouisturing gel:

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/orajel-o ... 1-5-oz-gel

A little dab works all night and helps protect your teeth from decay... there's no sugar in it, plus it tastes minty and pleasant.
As a side note: I'd avoid all the popular Biotene products, they just don't cut it and certainly don't last all night. Biotene recently changed their formula and it's totally weak. I tried it and who wants to get up repeatedly at night to reapply some dry mouth gel? When I used to use nasal pillows and tape my mouth, Orajel was a good solution for dry mouth. Not to be confused with their line of cold sore preparations.

[Kathiellew]

Thanks for the replies. Last night I turned the humidity from 2 to 4 (out of 5). My hose is is not heated.

[Sleeprider]

All the leakage from the mouth and taping points to the fact you're a full face candidate. With both the nose and mouth covered, there is no pressure differential and you will be free to breath nasally or orally. Have you tried FF? I understand there are drawbacks, but it's there for precisely this reason.

[Pugsy]

Did the increase in humidity last night help at all?
If it did then a heated hose might help because the heated hose offers a little more moisture at the maximum than the maximum without the heated hose.
Without the heated hose the default humidification system is the "new humidification system" which uses sensors and typically doesn't put out (or use much water or heat) even at max setting. I have used the PR S1 both ways...with and without the heated hose and I happen to prefer an need maximum humidity and the heated hose lets me get more moisture.

There's also Classic Mode available on your machine even without a heated hose. It will use more water and deliver higher moisture content. Chances of condensation will of course increase but it's something that can be tried that doesn't cause any money.
The upgrade kit to change the machine over to being heated hose capable costs $75.
To go to Classic mode all you have to do is make a little change in the clinical setup menu.

I have no idea if any of this will help or not but just tossing out ideas.