mouth breathing problem solved

I am new to cpap therapy and feel uncomfortable wearing full faced masks. For the past 4 months I have tried a lot of different masks. I have finally found one that I can live with, it is the Airfit P10. I thought that I was not a mouth breather but discovered I indeed do breath out of my mouth sometimes as my AHI varies a lot. I tried the chin strap but found it uncomfortable and it did not stop the air from escaping from my mouth. I researched the mouth taping and by taping vertically it did lower the AHI. Although the vertical mouth taping did work I did not feel totally safe using this method. I also had the problem of the air escaping my mouth via cheeks "puffing".
Watching a football game the other day I found my solution. I purchased a football type mouth guard which covers the outside of the lips something like a baby pacifier. This solved my mouth breathing problem and it can be removed quicker than the tape method.

That's great news for you, JimC.

It seems that once we accept the idea that we are going to make cpap work, it's just a matter of determination until we find all the solutions. Though I don't know if this would be possible without the feedback and structure of someplace like cpaptalk?

I really love the sharing of ideas here and the innovators that keep pushing for new and better solutions. Thanks for sharing what's working for you.

I've come to think that I really got lucky to have started cpap in the time of the dreamwear mask. It still seems major to have this mask on every night but I think it is very very easy compared to the masks of the past?

I am astonished how quickly my mind and body have adapted to cpap. It's fascinating to me.

I am coming down with the flu and last night got up and drank way to much nyquil.
In my drugged sleep my mind/body knew (remembered) that it WANTED CPAP. I woke up with my dreamwear in my mouth sucking on it for air since my nose was totally closed.

I pondered on THAT little scenario for quite a while this morning.

WHOA.

Is the mouth guard something like this:

JimC wrote: Watching a football game the other day I found my solution. I purchased a football type mouth guard which covers the outside of the lips something like a baby pacifier. This solved my mouth breathing problem and it can be removed quicker than the tape method.

If the mouth guard is like the one posted by Avi123, it appears to present an unimpeded path for mouth breathing; how does this solve the problem? Do you tape over the ports?

I do tape over the open ports

Thanks for the suggestion. I've never see one of that type before, but my football days were long ago. Yes, I could see how you'd need to tape the ports.

For others considering chinstrap vs taping vs mouthpiece: I've never had that tight/bulky problem with the original Ruby Chinstrap, they are only about 1/8 inch thick and made for open cell foam. Look for the manufacturer name Carefusion.

https://www.amazon.com/CareFusion-Ruby- ... chin+strap

Sir NoddinOff wrote:Thanks for the suggestion. I've never see one of that type before, but my football days were long ago. Yes, I could see how you'd need to tape the ports.

For others considering chinstrap vs taping vs mouthpiece: I've never had that tight/bulky problem with the original Ruby Chinstrap, they are only about 1/8 inch thick and made for open cell foam. Look for the manufacturer name Carefusion.

https://www.amazon.com/CareFusion-Ruby- ... chin+strap

I find two minuses with this item:

1) It's too sweaty in the summertime
2) The material is not smooth enough