Open Mouth Question

[sadurbin]

I have a question about opening my mouth with no air leaks. I've ben using CPAP since March, and have noticed that I can open my mouth, and even talk to my wife, without having an air leak. I use either a swift FX or LT, and my pressure is 11-15.

Is this normal, or am I doing something wrong?

[Pugsy]

I don't know how normal it is but I can do all that and even do a big yawn and not lose any air.
It's a matter of shutting off the back of the throat. I can't explain how I can do it but I can do it. It took a while to be able to talk so that someone could understand me though. Now things stay shut so solidly that I have to make a specific choice to get the back of the mouth/throat wherever/however I get it sealed..to open to let air get into my mouth. In other words it isn't easy for me to relax whatever I am doing and it's more than just tongue position.
At least while awake. Now once I go to sleep I see evidence of probably some air exiting the mouth but it doesn't wake me up...rarely gets to large leak territory so I really don't care.

[sadurbin]

Thanks Pugsy

It didn't bother me much until the other night, when I did yawn, and no air came out. So I stuck out my tongue with my mouth wide open, and no leaks, so I decided to ask on here.

This is my first post on here, but wanted to say, that I started out with an AHI of 94.7, 91.7 OA, and 3.0 Hypopneas. The doctor had me on a pressure of 12, which kept my AHI down below 15, but rarely below 10. After 2 months, I adjusted my machine to APAP, and set the pressure to 10-14, and my AHI stayed below 10, and usually around 6 or 7. I printed reports from sleepyhead, and took them to my doctor, and showed him what I had done. He was happy with my changes, but wanted me to bump it to 11-15, and now I am consistently below 5.

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone on here for supplying me with much needed info and advice. I now sleep great, and never run out of energy at 2:00 pm, like I used to.

[icipher]

your results are so much better than your initial study. Congrats.

In regard to your question, I can also talk with my mask without causing a leak.

[sadurbin]

Thanks icipher

I had my sleep study on a Thursday night, and felt so good on Friday afternoon, that I called my sleep doc, and ask if my follow-up appointment (which was supposed to be 2 weeks after my sleep study) could be any sooner. He said that he had just gotten my results from the lab but hadn't reviewed them. I called again on Monday, so he changed my follow-up to that afternoon. I met with him on Monday (3 1/2 days after sleep study), and walked out with my machine that day. I have used it every night, and can't imagine sleeping without it.

My wife also loves it, as I used to snore terribly, but now, my wife says I don't make a sound.