Extreme dry mouth and throat

[arbie63]

I am new to the forum and have been using a CPAP, ResMed Auto set, with a H5i heated Humidifier S9 series with nasal mask for the last 2 1/2 yrs. In the beginning it was great. I felt so much better but lately I'm waking up with my mouth and throat so dry that it is difficult to open without feeling I'll tear the roof of my mouth. It has a humidifier which I use with distilled water, humidity level set at 5.5. Any higher and I get condensation in the tubing with whistling. I'm waking up feeling unrested even after 8 hrs. I've tried a chin strap which I hated, a full face mask which I tolerated poorly because of air leaks. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I joined this forum for support so I'd appreciate only positive, helpful feedback, which is what I would give to you. Thanks.

[hades161]

I have the same setup and I also get that a little in my Wisconsin winters. I have found 3 things that help.

1. I use a hose cover on my heated hose. http://www.padacheek.com/PAC_Hosecover.html
2. I got into the habit of slipping the hose between the sheets with me long before I got a heated hose and still do it.
3. A Separate hot mist room humidifier. For the really bad spells of dryness in the winter. I paid 50$ for mine 3 years ago but you can get whatever by searching humidifier on amazon.

I put on a hose cover to help keep the hose insulated even though its heated, condensation can happen at 6.0 which I do run at from time to time. I also still sleep with the hose under my blankets to help keep it warm and stop condensation. Between the 2 the hose stays warmer and it does have to heat up as much. I like cooler air as apposed to warm or hot muggy air blowing at me via the mask but rain out can happen.

On the REALLY dry days and when I have to run my humidity at full on my machine I don't much like it. So I bought a heated home misting humidifier, the kind they would run when you were really sick as a kid. This lets me lower the AutoSets humidifier to a more comfortable setting.I keep my room door closed and run the unit. Normally after 1 fill of the gallon or so sized water container has run out on high a few hours before bed I refill it and run it on low all night and it takes care of all the dryness. I use both a Mirage Quattro FFM mask at times and the Swift FX mask. The pillows can give me dried on bloody nose in the morning if the humidity is to low. And the mask can really dry out my mouth at times. Ether way by doing these things or a combo of them, I have little to no rain out nor pooling of water in my hose and feel good when I get up.

As to the whistling I can run at 6.0 or max setting and My pressure ranges as high a 18 and I get no whistling. I would take the hose off and check it for leaks by filling the hose with water and plug one end with your finger keeping the water in the hose and then put the other end on your lips and blow. If any water jets out you must replace the hose. Then clean it and let it dry before using it again if not.

Lastly, one other area people forget about is their medications. Check your medications and see if any of them cause dry mouth as a side effect. If you have a medication doing it then humidity in the room nor the humidity put out by your AutoSet is going to help, you might need a change in meds, a mouth Spray, or some other solution to the dry mouth. Talk to your doctor about the dry mouth in that case.

Good Luck !

[Pugsy]

You are likely mouth breathing a lot now (for some reason) and doing it enough that no amount of added moisture to the humidifier will help.
Are you using the climate line hose? Or standard hose?
Heated hose might offer the ability to use more humidity without rain out but since you use a nasal mask...it won't get into the mouth enough to help and besides..if you are mouth breathing to a great extent then you are losing valuable therapy.
Do you have the software to see if you are showing much leak?

Choices are limited and you have tried some of them already without success.
Tape
chin strap
Polident strips
or anything you can do to keep the mouth shut.

Or Full face mask of some type. Even full face mask users complain of dry mouth though if they are doing a lot of mouth breathing. Therapy pressure isn't lost though.

Adding Biotene mouth wash (and other Biotene products) to help replace moisture might help somewhat.

So use the software to see if the mouth breathing is showing up as major leak...if so..gotta get mouth closed some how.
If software shows no huge leaks (sometimes it doesn't have to be a monumental mouth breathing leak to dry the mouth) then perhaps adding sometime like one of the Biotene products will help.

You are reporting not feeling so great after 8 hours of sleep. My first suspect would be therapy pressure loss and I would be looking at my data first and foremost. If leak is bad...the machine can't sense the events to even properly flag them. So a huge leak with low AHI is meaningless.

[arbie63]

Thank you for the many helpful suggestions. I do have a cover on my hose, do cover the hose with my bed covers, have had the card read regularly with what appears to be great results, have gotten a new hose, have tried the dry mouth tooth paste and mouth spray, not showing any leaks, and very few incidents of apnea incidents. I will try the room humidifier and try again keeping my mouth closed. Maybe a different chin strap that would be more comfortable. Right now that's all I can think to do.

[hades161]

Best of luck =) Sounds like you got it covered =)

[soundersfootballclub]

i have been dealing with dry mouth issues lately as well. A suggestion from my dentist was to buy tablets that you stick in the back of your mouth which dissolve throughout the night to prevent dry mouth. I haven't tried them yet. I forget what they are called but I saw them in a box right where the Biotene dry mouth products were stacked over by the toothepaste aisle.

[hades161]

Its an idea, but I sure would hate to inhale one or have one blasted down my throat via an air flow of 16cmh2o

[arbie63]

I would also be leary about putting anything in my mouth that could later become an obstruction to the airway. It surprises me that a dentist would suggest something like that.

[Slartybartfast]

[snip] I'm waking up with my mouth and throat so dry that it is difficult to open without feeling I'll tear the roof of my mouth.
[snip] I'm waking up feeling unrested even after 8 hrs.

You're lips are coming apart during the night on expiration (puffing) or both inspiration and expiration (mouth breathing). And because pressure is escaping your mouth, your airway is not being maintained at an effective pressure, so you're still experiencing obstructive apneas which means you're not getting restful sleep. It doesn't have anything to do with room humidity of humidifier setting on your machine.

Commonly, folks use a chin strap (which I see you've tried) and/or tape. Nose-breathing is something some folks have to train themselves to do. Once you do so, it will become automatic, and the sound of air escaping your mouth will awaken you.

Try a different pillow and a different sleeping position. Eventually you'll stumble upon something that works for you.

[Wulfman...]

I am new to the forum and have been using a CPAP, ResMed Auto set, with a H5i heated Humidifier S9 series with nasal mask for the last 2 1/2 yrs. In the beginning it was great. I felt so much better but lately I'm waking up with my mouth and throat so dry that it is difficult to open without feeling I'll tear the roof of my mouth. It has a humidifier which I use with distilled water, humidity level set at 5.5. Any higher and I get condensation in the tubing with whistling. I'm waking up feeling unrested even after 8 hrs. I've tried a chin strap which I hated, a full face mask which I tolerated poorly because of air leaks. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I joined this forum for support so I'd appreciate only positive, helpful feedback, which is what I would give to you. Thanks.

Has it occurred to you that you may be going the WRONG way with your humidifier setting? Too much humidity can actually close off nasal passages and cause more mouth-breathing........which means more dry mouth/throat. It doesn't matter if you have a full face mask.......mouth-breathing causes dry mouth.

Try turning it down or Off and do nasal cleansing before bedtime. The cool air may actually keep your nasal passages open and allow you to keep your mouth closed. Also, practice holding your tongue to the roof of your mouth.......that will help seal the back of your throat and allow the air to travel down your airway from your nose to your lungs.

If you have Diabetes, that can also be a possible cause of dry mouth.


Den

[hades161]

It doesn't have anything to do with room humidity of humidifier setting on your machine.

For me at least, the numbers don't reflect leakage. So yeah for me it was room humidity. I don't have to run the room humidifier 24/7 normally just a few nights out of the week if temps drop really low outside.

Without data, all I was doing was giving general things to try that I personally found helpful.