Dry Mouth and Throat

[sokolich]

Hi:
I am new to your forum. I hope someone can guide me in the right direction.
My doctor switched pressure a while back on my CPAP which is an Aria LX model. My mask is a ResMed Mirage Activa Nasal and a Fisher & Paykel HC150 Humidifier. Ever since I have been trying to adjust the humidity on the humidifier. I turn the heat up and I get all kinds of water in the mask and hose. My mouth and throat is dry whether it is turned up or down. I am sleeping terrible again, waking up several times during the night and in the morning if I do sleep fairly well I feel like my mouth is covered with cotton.

Is there anything that I can do? I have heard that this can happen if you are breathing through the mouth. I always was a mouth breather. Could it be the mask or is it the humidifier?

Thanks for your forum!

Scott Sokolich

[rested gal]

My mouth and throat is dry whether it is turned up or down. I am sleeping terrible again, waking up several times during the night and in the morning if I do sleep fairly well I feel like my mouth is covered with cotton.

Is there anything that I can do? I have heard that this can happen if you are breathing through the mouth. I always was a mouth breather.

It certainly does sound like you are breathing through your mouth while sleeping. Besides making your mouth so dry, that will also wreck your treatment as the air from the machine isn't going where it's needed, to keep your throat open. It's not the mask or the humidifier doing it to you...it's the fact that you breathe in and out of your mouth while sleeping, instead of getting treatment air through your nasal mask.

The Activa is a wonderful mask, but it doesn't cover your mouth. If you breathe through your mouth, you're missing treatment completely.

You need to either use a full face mask (like the ResMed Ultra Mirage FF - covers nose and mouth) or figure out a way to get the mouth breathing stopped...IF you are able to breathe through your nose during the night. Some people get so congested when lying down for awhile, that they really can't breathe well through the snout while sleeping, even with heated humidification.

If' you're able to breathe through at least one nostril or the other, you might want to try what many of us resort to...to stop mouth air leaks and mouth breathing. Tape. Or a DIY mouthguard. Or the Nose Breathe dental device which works on the same principle as a DIY mouthguard.
Do a Search on this message board for any of those words to turn up discussions about them.

I doubt that a chinstrap, which is almost surely what the DME would try to sell you or give you, will stop the problem since you say you've always been a mouth breather.

[dsm]

RG has this very well covered.

Re Nose Breathe device, try that later if nothing else works. It is quite an expense & for some of us perennial mouth breathers, hasn't succeed in stoping us opening our mouths.

Chin strap such as the ruby red, may help a bit but most chin straps are in general terms a failure for most folk.

Good luck

DSM

[Guest]

You will find a number of places on this forum where I ( BARNABY)have written about this problem. I have tried to reduce the dryness by all the settings on the heated humidifier ,a chin strap and the taping of the mouth too. Now my pulmanologist today told me to reduce one the the meds that I have been taking before bed. (Cadura) I think it is called. It will not be easy to locate the problem that is causing the discomfort.
But it is a different thing with each person...so keep reading your replies and see what works.

[sokolich]

All:
Thank you so much for the info! I have a call into my therapist for some answers. I think that I may ask for a full face mask though! It sounds like the way to go with me. I will also check the forum for other posts as well.

Thank you!

Scott

[Sleepless on LI]

Sokolich

One thing to keep in mind. If your humidifier turned up helps, but you can't stand the "rain out," there is always the Aussie heated hose to help with that http://www.sleepzone.com.au/. I don't personally own one because I rarely use my hh, but the people who do swear by it. It's $89 and you have to buy an adapter to convert it to the type of electric we use here in the US at Radio Shack. But if you need high humidification, this is suppossed to be your answer.

I think RG got it right when she said it sounded like mouth breathing. If that's the case, there are many ways to stop it, although the best would be to try to train yourself to keep the tip of your tongue behind the top front teeth and kind of curve the tongue towards the roof of the mouth. If you try that while awake, you'll see you won't be able to breathe through your mouth. Others have successfully trained themselves to do that, but it's of course an individual thing.

Good luck.

[DWhitledge]

I have aheated humid. with a full face mask and I have the same problem, I am a mouth breather that is why I have the full mask. I still have the problem of waking up with my mouth, toung and throat so dry it almost burns? I do not see the problem of water build up in my hose or mask even on the higest setting. Is there a way to tell if the humid. works properly? a measuremant I can watch for?

[Apnea1]

I understand why it is suggested that mouth breathing is the problem, but if I open my mouth when I'm asleep with the nasal mask on, the rush of air wakes me up and is extremely noisy and uncomfortable - surely it's not being suggested that I'm still mouth breathing and I'm sleeping through that? Like the other writer, I have turned the humidifier up, down and off.

[knightlite]

Sounds like you either need a hybrid mask that has nose pillows and covers the mouth, or a full face mask such as the mirage quattro . As for the water in the mask -get your machine lower than the mattress, then put a hook on the head board above your head for the hose to hang on . Use something springy like a girls hair scrunchy to fasten hose. You can order a hose hanger from amazon - about ten dollars - they are good but I still fastened that to the headboard. The resulting loop drains the water out of the hose to the humidifier.
If your bedroom is extremely cold you can use a hose cozy or get a heated hose kit. Hose cozys are nice in the cold .
If you need a longer regular hose cpap,com sells 18 inch short hose and swivel couplings to connect it .
And training your tongue to stay on the roof of you mouth during the day really helps a lot of people.
I use a pad a cheek mask liner for comfort and it removes mask moisture, reduces leaks , keeps your mask clean , and they are washable many times over. But you need to find the right mask first, your dme should be able to help in the first 30 days.