Taping Dangers

[GeorgeCleveland]

Well I am coming up on my first month of CPAP therapy. To say this is frustrating would be an understatement. That said, to anyone who reads this who is on their first few days it does honestly get easier. I now have a question about tape.

I use a Dreamware nasal pillow. I have an auto machine that goes up to 20, but I have never had it past 6 or 7. I still cannot fall asleep. I have found I now actually kind of like the air pressure and that mask bothers me almost not at all. My problem now is my mouth. I am unable to relax because if I relax and am about to fall asleep my mouth opens with air pressure. I do not breath in through my mouth. At my hospital sleep study, they said I breathed though my nose the whole time, stayed on my back, did not need a full face mask and did not need a chin strap. The problem is a slept only an hour or so at the study and stayed on my back out of discomfort. I actually like to sleep on my side. Looking back, I actually used to do this before CPAP.... right before sleep I would just have a little puff out through my mouth which would kind of wake me up sometimes. I decided to try a chinstrap this week for the mouth issue.. Well the chinstrap is horrible and it does not work, So, I read comments on here and just tried tape during a nap. i honestly think with the tape I may be able to fall asleep so here is my question.... what are the dangers and side effects of tape? I am using medical tape. Also, it is put on across my mouth (horizontal) so I can force my mouth open just with my jaw if needed. It is just tight enough so my mouth doesn't "fall" open when I relax on my side. For that reason, I am not concerned about the whole asphyxiation thing with the threat of throwing up or something like that. If I tried to talk the tape would come off so I am certain it is not going to choke me and if the machine shuts off I wold break the tape gasping for air. In short, my choking threat with tape is no more than it would be with a full face mask. So, what if any are the other dangers and/or side effects of tape? Jaw problems, skin problems, etc.????

Also, just out of curiosity is it odd that the mask now does not really bother me but I cannot relax enough yet to fall asleep after only three and a half weeks? I feel like I am progressing but my doctor made it seem like I'd sleep eight solid hours night one with the CPAP. I am utterly stunned that I now kind of like the air pressure but I was diagnosed with severe obstructive apnea....... at my test I had 71 events in the one hour I slept at the hospital. Amazingly, I did not go for the study because of breathing. I was having horrible night terrors and thought something else was wrong. My doctor connected the dots and pointed out all of the night terrors dealt with someone choking me, drowning, etc...So, whenever I'd have a bad apnea my body would have a night terror that I was being suffocated in some way.

[chunkyfrog]

If you are concerned, check Chin Up Strips.
The shape and application makes mouth breathing awkward but not impossible.
Some pappers tape only part of the mouth, leaving an opening for breathing in case of a power outage.

[Janknitz]

I tape occasionally and I use just one vertical strip in the middle--enough to help my mouth remain closed, but it only covers about 1/3 of my lip surface. If I try hard I can still open my mouth, popping the tape off.

[flightco]

One night I fell asleep on the sofa and woke up about 2AM and went to bed. I taped my mouth, put my mask on , hit the start button and fell asleep. It wasn't until the next morning when I realized my machine had become unplugged before I ever turned it on but was so tired I didn't notice. I did not suffocate, I slept through the night with my mouth tapped up completely and no power to the Cpap. I really did not notice the difference but my wife said I was making some pretty weird noises; I asked that she wake me the next time. But the point is, I didn't die with my mouth taped up Using a F10 FF mask

[chunkyfrog]

Since full face masks have an anti-asphyxia valve, fully taping the mouth is OK.
With my nasal pillows, I feel safer leaving some ability to mouth breathe.

[flightco]

Since full face masks have an anti-asphyxia valve, fully taping the mouth is OK.
With my nasal pillows, I feel safer leaving some ability to mouth breathe.

That makes sense. The only reason I tape with a full face is because breathing through my mouth makes my mouth so dry I wake up several times a night