CPAP failing due to dry mouth

[satsumass]

Hi, I'm a CPAP newbie, just about six months in. It's been up and down, with the treatment working, then not working, then working, and now it's not working again. I am using a Quattro FX nose/mouth mask and have a SystemOne CPAP set at 16.5 with CFLEX 1. This is my first winter, and even with my humidifier set to 5, i am waking up in the middle of the night every few hours with a bone dry mouth (and have a runny nose essentially the entire day). The dry mouth was an issue in the summer time but not bad enough to cause me to wake up. It's gotten so i'm lucky if I get 2-3 hours of CPAP use a night, and I can't sleep more than 5 hours and it's pretty choppy. I have lost 10 lbs since the summer which I think has helped, but I'm being forced to use my oral appliance which I'm not convinced works as well.

Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with dry mouth? IS there anything I can add to humidfier, any other humidifers that work better, etc.?

I have also tried a nasal pillow mask, but found that I had to tape my mouth shut (and even then mouth would fill up with air) and that i had a fairly high leak rate...and would get nasal irritation and sneeze basically all day, so nasal pillows were out.

Any advice on mask changes or other tips would be really appreciated

[Jay Aitchsee]

Even though you have a full face mask, you may still need a chin strap to prevent mouth breathing which leads to dry mouth. The FFM provides therapy even if you mouth breath, but it won't prevent dry mouth.

Jay

[Pualani]

I have the same problem. I did find that Veramyst was causing my mouth to be excessively dry so check your medications for side effects.

I have found the face mask liners to be very helpful. Not sure if that is what they are called. Someone here sells premade ones but I took an old clean soft T shirt and cut triangles out of them to fit my mask and another triangle for my nose and mouth. I can then stick my finger in to scratch a nose or straw to sip water without taking the whole thing off.

I can't use any mouthwash with alcohol and like Closys without putting in the mint flavoring. Hydrate during the day.

I was using the veramyst because my nose is always blocked. Using saline wash at night helps for a while but as soon as it gets blocked, I can't breathe and the mask comes off. If I open my mouth my cheeks puff up!

[herefishy]

Sent you a pm.

[xenablue]

The best way to avoid dry mouth is to train yourself to keep your mouth shut. It's more a problem of the air escaping out of your mouth, not just mouth breathing, so a FFM isn't a solution.

Rest your tongue just behind your top teeth - this creates the best position to keep your mouth closed. It took me 2 years of using a chinstrap to achieve success, but most people can train themselves much quicker.

Cheers,
xena