Cant keep mouth shut

I sleep with a full face mask, and I have tried chin straps, but nothing has helped so far, has anyone got any remedies for me to try? I done the thing about pressing my tongue against the roof of my mouth, it didn't help. I keep waking my hubby up, and I don't like that I'm keeping him from getting a good nights sleep, I'm mainly a side sleeper. Thank you for any help you can give me.

Using a FFM means that its allowed to mouth breathe some of the time.
What is helpful is keeping the jaw closed so that leaks because of jaw drop are minimized.
So ... Instead of a chin strap, you might try a soft cervical collar. The object is to support the jaw, not to immobilize the head and neck. With the collar in place, you can still breathe if you need to but you won't get excess leaks because your jaw muscles relax and pull the mask down.

Thats what my wife says to me.

But only when I'm awake

I have the same problem .... I use a strip of sergical tape ...works good for me.

Just remember the point of a FFM is so that you can 'mouth breathe' without losing Cpap air. No other reason for it.

Julie wrote:Just remember the point of a FFM is so that you can 'mouth breathe' without losing Cpap air. No other reason for it.

+1

midward wrote:

Cant keep mouth shut

Why do you want to keep it shut?

ChicagoGranny wrote:

midward wrote:

Cant keep mouth shut

Why do you want to keep it shut?

Because my mouth feels like dried out leather when I get up in the morning.

I have that happen IF my humidifier goes dry.. I normally have it set for level 3-4.
I have yet to have the rain out I hear people talk about..

But I live in Houston.. the Humidity is almost always like a wet rag on your face anyway
I am using a PR450P, with a mirage FF mask, only been at this for less than three months,
mostly reading posts here at cpaptalk.

Best Regards,

MotorChris

midward wrote: Because my mouth feels like dried out leather when I get up in the morning.

1. Get an examination by an ENT to see if there is anything impeding the air flow in your nostrils. Enlarged turbinates or deviated septum could do this. Make sure he scopes your nose during the office visit. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1890999-overview

2. Using your tongue, put a dollop of this product high in the gums of the upper teeth. Try not to suck it out and it will lubricate your entire mouth for the night. It takes some practice to get this right. http://www.drugstore.com/orajel-dry-mou ... tid=183812

Gramps and I both use full face masks and have never solved the problem of dry mouth. He had his turbinates reduced surgically and his deviated septum corrected but still breathes through the mouth at times during the night. In just five minutes of mouthbreathing the entire mouth can get badly dry.

We both use the aforementioned gel nightly and it is not perfect but it does provide good relief.

Best of luck.

BTW, both of us tried humidifier max settings and it is still not enough to prevent bad dry mouth.

One more thing you may want to check: Your mouth will open for breathing if your sinuses are not moving air as needed. I mouth-breathed at night (due to slightly deviated septum) for many years not knowing that I shouldn't be.

After switching to CPAP my sinuses were kept open, so this allowed my mouth to shut. Perhaps for whatever reason you are still not moving enough air through your nose. If so, anyone's mouth would pop open just to get some needed air.

Good luck,
FredToo

I tried and disliked chin straps, too. I have now been using surgical tape for about a year now, and it has worked wonders and works very well for me. I use silk surgical type tape you can get off of Amazon, 2" wide. There's also a 1" wide version. If you gently pull it off in the morning, there's usually no problem. Just type something like "3M-Durapore-Silk-Tape 2 inches x 10 yards - box of 6" or the like on the Amazon site. For me, it works very well with a full face mask (FFM) -- the FFM helps prevent pressure problems if my jaw does open slightly, and the tape substantially prevents my jaw from dropping and also thereby keeps my face largely in the same "position" as I fall asleep (thereby avoiding the inevitable leaks that can occur when your facial shape changes from the point of initial placement/tightening of the mask). .

I was actually worried about not being able to breath with the tape if there was a shut-down. I've found that this set-up, however, offers very few worries:

For the silk tape, apply a 2inch wide strip vertically from a spot just above your upper lip (the indentation just below your nose) down to just under your chin (with your lips closed and your jaw in a comfortable place). As you bring the tape and press it underneath your chin, "fold" the edge back on itself (maybe a 1/2 inch or so) so that the edge hangs a bit from your chin -- makes for easier removal in case of emergency. Because it's only 2 inches wide and vertically placed, your entire mouth is actually not taped -- you can, in a pinch, breath around the edges -- and the silk tape itself I've found by accident (in opening my mouth with it being placed) will also let a little air in if you open your mouth forcefully. In short, it doesn't take too much force to maneuver or breath around the silk tape, but at the same time the tape seems to mostly keep my jaw from dropping when I relax and fall asleep, which is the whole point. [The setup also seems to work best when combined with the technique, described elsewhere on this site, of learning to relax with the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth as your mouth is closed, which "seals" the mouth from the nasal passage and helps prevent dry mouth]. (In placing the tape, I've also found it helpful to focus on firming the contact with the skin at the point below the nose and under the chin more than the lips, which seems to leave a little area of the lip region feeling less taped, if that makes sense).

ChicagoGranny wrote:

midward wrote:

Cant keep mouth shut

Why do you want to keep it shut?

Nose breathing has been said to be beneficial comparing to mouth breathing by too many medical professionals. I am not one AND I don't have anything to object with, therefore I simply take their word for it on this topic. If mouth breathing due to relaxation during sleep is rather a habit than necessity, then it should better be corrected. Sometimes jaw may drop too much, so no mask can hold the seal and therapy air starts escaping and eventually dries out mouth cavity. Looks like keeping one's mouth shut offers way too many benefits

tan wrote: I am not one AND I don't have anything to object with, therefore I simply take their word for it on this topic

I did not ask you.

I asked the OP and he has already answered.

ChicagoGranny wrote:

tan wrote: I am not one AND I don't have anything to object with, therefore I simply take their word for it on this topic

I did not ask you.

I asked the OP and he has already answered.

Still, there are many experienced people asking this same question over and over again. I just wonder what they think of the idea that breathing other than through the nose is not good (arguably).