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I have been wearing a mask with just nasal pillows for at least 6 months. I have been beyond happy and LOVE my cpap. I had a gastric bypass last week and now I wake up with my mouth open every night. Can anesthesia do this? I was sooo comfortable and was getting so much rest now I am miserable again. Has anyone else had this problem??

It can cause centrals - not sure about mouth breathing, but I could see it happening, maybe. can you wear a chinstrap until you're off of the meds?

WolfTa2 wrote:I had a gastric bypass last week and now I wake up with my mouth open every night. Can anesthesia do this?

During my sleep study, I took an Ambien. The sleep tech came in and put a chin strap on me since my mouth was hanging open. That surprised me since I don't usually have an open mouth issue.

Since starting on CPAP therapy, I have not used a chin strap, and have not had issues with leaks, nor other symptoms (such as a dry mouth in the morning) related to having an open mouth.

So - in my case, a sleep aid seems to have caused me to open my mouth that one evening.

Do you have a data capable machine? Can you confirm whether or not you are seeing more leaks in the data than you were before surgery?

John

I kind of go on and off with the mouth breathing. Sometimes illness will cause it and other times it might be stress. I simply keep some tape or a chinstrap handy when the 'ol mouth goes agape and dries out.

So I am still having issues I have tried my old full face mask which did not work at all. It leaked everywhere. I tried 2 different sizes of the quattro FX and that leaks constantly. I am giving up hope on ever sleeping well again. The chistrap doesnt not keep my mouth closed all the time. What do you do with the tape? Tape your mouth shut? I am getting more and more exhausted everyday and it's effecting my recovery.

WolfTa2 wrote:The chistrap doesnt not keep my mouth closed all the time

How much of the time are we talking about? Short periods of time or half the night?

WolfTa2 wrote:What do you do with the tape? Tape your mouth shut?

Yes, tape the mouth shut with a tape that offers enough snugness to remind the mouth to stay closed but easy enough to open the mouth (like with a big yawn) or for removal.

When talking about mouth breathing and chin straps and thinking about taping........I always felt it was best to evaluate just how bad the leak is and then discuss options.

My mouth doesn't stay shut all the time. I know this because I wake up in the middle of the night with mouth open and dry but when I go look at the reports there may be a good size leak at that time and they may be minimal indications that I was mouth breathing or not leaking at all. One night I might have some leaks but sleep right through them and see the next day that I had 10 minutes in large leak but the rest of the night the leaks , while ugly, were well within the machines ability to compensate for the leaks. I don't wake up with the leaks...I sleep right through them and I am not going to worry one second about a few minutes here and there where the leak was less than perfect.