First night on Oral mask. Anyone have any tips or tricks?

[blakepro]

Okay, so a few weeks ago, I purchased the oral mask that is on cpap.com

Its the mask that only uses your mouth. (not nose and mouth)

The reason I got it was so I could still use cpap therapy when I get a sinus infection and my nose is all blocked up. (I have had terrible experiences trying to sleep with sinus infections and having all the mucus pushed down my throat and into my lungs where I end up getting a respiratory infection) The thought here is that I can bypass my nose, and just breathe through my mouth all night using the oral mask.

I knew what I was getting into before I purchased the mask. I read about the problems different people have had trying to use this type of mask, but felt like it would be a good solution for when I'm sick. Well, last night, I couldn't sleep because my sinuses were blocked up, so I decided to give the oral mask a try.

I cranked the humidity all the way up on my PR System One Pro and after a little while of getting used to the new mask, I fell asleep. I woke up about 4 times during the night with a tremendously sore throat and a very dry mouth. I dint mind the dry mouth, but the dry throat was very difficult to endure. I had to get up, take off the weird mask, and drink some water to try to get everything feeling okay again.

So, it was a pretty rough night sleeping, but I have absolutely no chest congestion which is great because I feel fairly certain, that if I had used my nasal mask, it would have pushed the crud down into my lungs.

Anyway, does anyone else use an oral mask? if so, do you have any tricks or tips you could share with me? One thing I wish I could do is make the air more humid. I already have the machine cranked up as high as it goes but I feel like if it were more humid, it would make for a much better nights sleep.

Any help/suggestions anyone can offer would be very much appreciated.

Thanks everyone!

-blake

[KengEsq]

Blake,

I've used the Fisher & Paykel Oracle 452 oral mask which is the only oral mask of which I am aware so I assume that is the mask you used. I didn't have the same results as you described using my ResMed machine and humidifier. I also found it was most comfortable not using the strap but still remained in place without any leaks. My problem was it casue a sore on the inside of my mouth. I keep it handy in case I might need it again.

[harry33]

nasal or sinus irrigation often stops sinus infections

you need to check the humidifier water level to see if its working properly

[blakepro]

Yeah, its the oracle mask.

The water levels go down quite a bit in the water chamber each night so I think its working properly, and it does a great job with my nasal mask, but it just seems like it just wasn't enough to handle what my throat needed.

The cpap.com website states the following about the mask:

Heated humidification is required with use of the Oracle 452 Oral Mask due to the CPAP air bypassing the nasal airways which normally moisten the air. With higher CPAP pressures, even a heated humidifier may not provide adequate moisture, especially for patients who also take medications that dry the mouth.

If the CPAP pressure is low enough, the Oracle is a good alternative to a full face mask, especially for people with nasal blockage, either from chronic congestion, deviated septum or other type of tissue blockage.

So... I took a decongestant last night, that may have contributed to the dryness... I also am at a pressure of 10... so I'm not sure if that qualifies as "higher CPAP pressures" It seems like it would be about the middle since my machine is capable of pressures from 4-20.

Anyway, I did a sinus irrigation last night and it seems to be helping the sinus problem, but I've always had sinus infection problems even before cpap treatment began 5 years ago. Seems like if I could figure out how to make this work better, it would be a good solution for when I'm sick.

Thanks for the responses so far. I appreciate them.

[williamco]

it depends on the pressure you use. if you use relatively high pressure, your cheek will blow up with every inhale which was painfull for me after a while.

I love the fact of no leak at all, and easy skin contact, as well as no straps at all. however for the dryness issue I tried biotene products (gel) to keep the mouth moist. try that it might resolve the dryness issue with you if everything else is working

[blakepro]

The biotene gel sounds interesting. Do you think that would help with the throat dryness too?

So what do you do? just sort of coat your mouth in this gel and then try not to swallow? Sounds like it could take some getting used to!

[williamco]

its for dry mouth and throat too as it creates more saliva in your mouth
just wipe small amount on your tongue, if you add too much your mouth will be drooling from too much saliva