New User = New Mouthbreather

SailorBoy · Post by **SailorBoy** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 11:41 pm

Hello forum!

Well, I got my brand spankin' new prescription, GK420 and ResMed nasal pillow. I'd suspected apnea for a while and guess what? It's severe, or so says the RT. 36 events per hour and a pressure of 12 prescribed.

I'm excited about not being sleepy for the first time in 10 years!

The device and mask are comfortable and I sleep well except for the mouth-breathing. Okay, it's mouth-leaking.

Several times a night (and tonight will be nite 3) i wake up to desert-dry mouth slightly open venting precious air.

I am hoping that I'll train myself to shut my trap. (Lawyer, what are the chances?) and I've ordered a humidifier from CPAP.com in case that helps.

Whatchall think? Once a leaker always a leaker, or is it a case of newbie blues? Other than the mouth thing, I'm liking it!

Michael

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:16 am

Hi SailorBoy,

Some people do find that eventually they stop mouth breathing at night or leaking air from between the lips. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones!

Others find it to be a never ending battle. I worked for months at trying to "train" my tongue to maintain an airproof seal inside the mouth. No go. I finally went back to the quickest, most surefire way to stop mouth air leaks...tape. Here are some links to topics you might find interesting:

Mar 04, 2005 subject: Breathing through mouth a bit with CPAP mask on nose

Feb 18, 2005 subject: Keeping Mouth Shut When Asleep

Feb 09, 2005 subject: Respironics Chin-strap??

Dec 27, 2004 subject: taping mouth shut?

Sounds like you're taking to all this gear well...that's great! Good luck!

SailorBoy · Post by **SailorBoy** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 9:20 am

Thanks for the references! I had found some, but not all, of them.

Night 3 saw less mouth leakage. I am hoping that the humidifier and a possible switch from straight cpap at 12 to apap (of course, i need the MD's permission) may do it. Otherwise, I am looking speculatively at full masks and/or duck tape.

littlebaddow · Post by **littlebaddow** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 10:02 am

SailorBoy wrote: Night 3 saw less mouth leakage. I am hoping that the humidifier and a possible switch from straight cpap at 12 to apap (of course, i need the MD's permission) may do it.

I'm not aware that I had a serious problem with mouth leakage, though I did wake up a few times an notice it was happening in the early weeks. I did, however, suffer from a very dry throat and mouth when I first started, using a cpap set at 10cm without a humdifier.

Both probelms dissappeared when I switched to an auto with heated humidifier, so in my book (which of course is not written by a medical professional!) you're on the right track.

NeurosurgeryNP · Post by **NeurosurgeryNP** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 10:12 am

SailorBoy -

I am a newbie too - 1 week on now. I too, had bad problems with mouth leakage. I am using a heated humidifier. I have found that an Ultra Mirage FF mask works well for me. I have been using an Activa nasal mask but only a couple of times this week. Give a full face mask a try - you may like it.

Jen

Georgia Hosehead · Post by **Georgia Hosehead** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:21 pm

Hi, SailorBoy! Goodluck with stopping the mouth venting. I've been on [url=viewtopic.php?t=1702]CPAP[/url] therapy for over 2 years now, and wake at night and at get up times with dry mouth. I've just started using an APAP to see if I really needed the 13 pressure all night. APAP is set 7-13, and I've had (so far) less cases of dry mouth. I still use a chin strap with the [url=https://www.cpap.com/productSearch.php?query=resmed]ResMed[/url] [url=https://www.cpap.com/productSearch.php?query=activa]Activa[/url] mask. The full face masks (4) that I tried ,all leaked severly. So, I believe that the combination of APAP, [url=https://www.cpap.com/productSearch.php?query=activa]Activa[/url], and chin strap works the best for me. Hang in there! Its only gets better! Georgia Hosehead

SailorBoy · Post by **SailorBoy** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:16 pm

I am sure you are all breathlessly awaiting word of my most recent night.

Good news! Sleeping with a pillow up against my chin (not that different from my normal sleeping mode) kept my pie-hole shut and the air inside. There was -- i think -- only one brief open-mouth incident.

I have ordered the silverlining software and hope to use it to tell with greater precision what happened in the night. Maybe I'll get real wild and stream my sleep data to the web.

Or maybe not.

littlebaddow · Post by **littlebaddow** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:26 pm

SailorBoy wrote: Sleeping with a pillow up against my chin (not that different from my normal sleeping mode) kept my pie-hole shut and the air inside. There was -- i think -- only one brief open-mouth incident.

Is that a first for a lawyer

Seriously, it's good to hear you're adapting to the equipment. I found getting the software reinforced the sense of improvement I was feeling, extra reassurance that the treatment was having the desired effect. Let's hope it's not too long before you start to feel a real improvement.

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