Odd Problem

I have an odd problem. At least I think it's probably odd. I wonder if anybody can suggest a solution.

I've been using a CPAP machine for five years with nasal pillows and tape over my mouth. This worked fine for five years.

I needed nasal pillows because full face masks didn't fit me well (I'm skinny with a narrow face), and I needed tape because when my mouth opened, a jet of pressurized air roared out, waking me up. Chin straps didn't work for me.

Like I said, this worked fine for five years.

Edit: During those years, I was creating a seal by holding my tongue against the roof of my mouth with suction. The tape apparently reminded my body to keep doing this.

Occasionally over the years, I would forget to tape my mouth. Whenever this happened, as soon as I fell asleep air would shoot out of my mouth and wake me up.

Last month, after five years, something changed. I forgot to tape my mouth but I slept through the night without problems. To my surprise I realized that my body has taught itself a new trick. I can now put nasal pillows on, turn the CPAP machine on, and open my mouth -- and no air comes out of my mouth. My body, after five years, has taught itself to seal my mouth off from the airway by closing something at the far back of my mouth. This is completely involuntary. I measured the CPAP machine's output pressure and it's working properly.

Edit: During the previous five years, the seal was created by holding the tongue against the roof of the mouth with suction. This new trick is a different kind of seal in the throat behind the tongue. With this new seal, I can stick my tongue out and wiggle it and no air leaves my mouth.

I've heard of other people who can do this but I am surprised that my body learned to do it after a delay of five years.

At first I thought, "This is great! I don't need tape anymore."

Except it's not great because now my mouth and throat get so dry that I wake up from the dryness. The dryness is so bad that I have had to stop using CPAP. The dryness is so bad that it hurts.

The dryness is not being caused by moving or pressurized air. I know this because I tested by sleeping with tape and the new dryness now occurs both with and without tape. The places that are getting dry are now sealed off from the airway. The reason for the dryness seems to be muscular and neurological, as odd as that may sound. When my body creates the new seal, it's not only clamping down at the far back of my throat, but also my tongue and lips are clamping down and freezing their positions. The soft tissue of my face presses tight against my teeth and my tongue apparently stops moving. Apparently this stops saliva from getting spread around and my mouth dries out. The back of my throat is probably drying out because the new seal prevents saliva from moving past that point.

I have both a CPAP humidifier and a room humidifier but they have no effect on this because the places that are getting dry are not being touched by moving or pressurized air.

Can anybody offer advice? Thanks.

See your doctor, in case this is the result of something new.
PLEASE do not stop using your cpap.

It sounds like you have taught yourself to keep your tongue on the roof of your mouth while you sleep, which is its proper posture when at rest. Have you tried Xylimelts to relieve mouth dryness? They have been recommended as an aid by a number of forum members.

And, yes, see your doctor to ensure there's no new condition emerging.

Jean

Soothest Sleep wrote:It sounds like you have taught yourself to keep your tongue on the roof of your mouth while you sleep...

Thanks for the advice but no, that's what I used to do for the last five years. The new thing is something else and it's not happening in my mouth. With this new thing I can open my mouth and stick my tongue out and wiggle it around while the CPAP machine is on with nasal pillows, and air doesn't come out of my mouth.

I think maybe what's happening now is that the back of the soft palate is moving forward against the back of the tongue, but I really don't know.

Rumbert wrote: I think maybe what's happening now is that the back of the soft palate is moving forward against the back of the tongue, but I really don't know.

Then a visit to your medical professional is the best place to get your questions answered knowledgeably.

Good luck with it!
Jean

I too have mouth dryness and can even open my mouth using my nasal pillows mask without losing air. I too felt this was quite a feat for one who has for quite some time used chine straps, tape, and denture adhesive between my lips. My thinking is along the lines of what you said about nothing moving to stimulate salivation. I tried using OraGel for dry mouth but it was changing the texture of the mucosa between my lips and gums, so I quit. I will be watching your thread to see what products get testimonials. To be honest, I was just so glad to not have to use the items to secure my mouth that I accepted the dry mouth as a trade off, but I'm open to readdressing the issue. Good luck.

Wow, KT, there are at least two of us! I'm delighted to hear from you. You just reminded me that I once tried denture adhesive too. I had forgotten about that.

How long did you do chin straps/tape/adhesive before you acquired this new ability?

A lady at cpap.com recommended Biotene to me today over the phone but I haven't tried it.

Unfortunately I can't accept the dry mouth as a tradeoff because it's so dry that it wakes me up every few minutes, which is even worse than my UARS which only partially wakes me up every few minutes.

I'm very excited right now because I think I may have just figured out a wonderful way to solve this problem, but it may take a few days or even weeks to see whether it works. I'll keep you posted.

I like your videos.

How many years has it been?

Sheriff

xxyzx wrote:

Rumbert wrote:Wow, KT, there are at least two of us! I'm delighted to hear from you. You just reminded me that I once tried denture adhesive too. I had forgotten about that.

How long did you do chin straps/tape/adhesive before you acquired this new ability?

A lady at recommended Biotene to me today over the phone but I haven't tried it.

Unfortunately I can't accept the dry mouth as a tradeoff because it's so dry that it wakes me up every few minutes, which is even worse than my UARS which only partially wakes me up every few minutes.

I'm very excited right now because I think I may have just figured out a wonderful way to solve this problem, but it may take a few days or even weeks to see whether it works. I'll keep you posted.

I like your videos.

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a lot of us have dry mouth without the mouth being open

Somehow, I can't imagine you ever keeping your mouth shut.

Seems to me that someone stating when they can or cannot imagine is more than likely not a lie.

There is not a shred of truth in your knowing what libtardsunite can or cannot imagine. Unless you have a window into the mind that is unknown to science.

My Dr (Board Certified Pulmonoligist and sleep DR) says he has trained his tongue to stay on the roof of his mouth. Really? Says he will show me next time---

So saying that one cannot imagining your mouth being closed is propaganda? What the heck kind of brainwashing is that?

What's out of the context of asking how you are interpreting libtardsunites statement and trying to understand where you are coming from?

All part of the grand haluccination.