Tongue Problem

[Bilbosax]

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So I got my shiny new Airfit P10 nasal pillows last night. Put them on around 9:30 and made some settings changes and read a book to slow down my mind. I fell asleep around 11pm, and you can tell from my flow rate that my breathing was really stable and good while I slept from 11pm to midnight. But then it happened, I discovered that when I start to sleep deeply, I can't keep my tongue pressed against the roof of my mouth, it slips back. This quickly leads to my cheeks puffing out, my lips separating, and a jet of air blowing out of my mouth. Zooming in on my leak rate from 12:24 - 12:40, my tongue slipped and broke seal 7 times in 16 minutes. I knew that I had no idea how to stop this, so I simply got up, and switched back to my Simplus full face mask to ensure that I would get at least some sleep, and then ask you guys about it in the morning. You can easily see that my breathing was much more controlled with the nasal pillows than when using the full face mask.

So any ideas how to prevent your tongue from breaking the seal and falling to the back of your mouth? I was given a really cheap and flimsy chin strap by the DME, it is literally a 1 inch band that wraps around your head and is hard to keep in place, so I for sure have to replace this ASAP. But it hadn't slipped when I woke up.

What are the most common ways that people deal with this problem? How do you keep your tongue from slipping and air from escaping your mouth when you use nasal pillows?

[zonker]

What are the most common ways that people deal with this problem? How do you keep your tongue from slipping and air from escaping your mouth when you use nasal pillows?

the most common way is to tape your mouth. but i find this solution to be appalling. i use this method instead-

viewtopic/p1089718/viewtopic.php?f=1&t= ... s#p1086296

works a treat for me.

good luck!

[LSAT]

Why do you have a problem sticking to the Simplus if that works for you?

[Pugsy]

Time and experience will help retrain the lazy tongue.
During the day make a point of keeping the tongue planted in position.
So that the position becomes more second nature.
Search the forum for “chipmunk cheeks” and various ways to reduce that annoyance. Common complaint but it can be dealt with.
No easy quick fix that I know of though....bummer.

[Bilbosax]

When I really think about it, my original post kind of seems like a silly question. If we had the ability to keep our tongues from falling to the back of our throats, we wouldn't have apnea now, would we?

@LSAT, in the end, the Simplus may turn out to be my best option. But I drool often in the mask and find it disgustingly uncomfortable, and my nose itches a lot, so I either have to take off the mask to get to the itch, or I have to jam a finger up under the mask to scratch it, and by the time this is done, I am fully awake. Also, my breathing just looks more controlled when I wear the P10 than when I wear the Simplus. But, in the end, I may have no choice but to just stick with the Simplus. I realize that this is a possibility.

After reading the forum posts, I am thinking of a two-part approach. First, I think that I will get this chinstrap to ensure that I keep my mouth closed
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/premiu ... -mouthleak

And then I bought some micropore paper tape from CVS today to tape my mouth shut. I know that my cheeks will still puff out if my tongue slips, but hopefully this will be enough to get my tongue trained. I have a really large tongue, I don't know in the end if it will fully cooperate, but I am going to give it a try.

Does this sound about right, or are there other things I should consider? Since I am new to this, please let me know if other chinstraps are more effective/comfortable.