Dry Mouth

[izzyb]

I have been waking up a lot lately with my mouth so dry I can hardly open it. This is not the norm for me, although it has happened on rare occasion. Can this be anything other than simply mouth breathing?

Thanks.

[woodworkerjunkie]

Or, it could be that the air is drier than normal and you may need to turn up your settings on your humidifier. During the humid part of the year, I will hardly use any water at all out of the tank, but, in winter when the air is real dry, I will use a full tank every night. If I don't fill the tank full before going to bed, i will have a super dry mouth in the morning. I have to pry my tongue away from the top of my mouth were it is stuck!

[Pugsy]

Medications can cause dry mouth.

Also if you happen to be experiencing any extra nasal congestion for some reason, you might be mouth breathing more than usual. So while it is mouth breathing...maybe mouth breathing more than usual going on.

And as mentioned..maybe your humidifier setting needs adjustment. If your room air is drier from less humidity in the incoming air...that can make dry mouth symptoms worse.

[izzyb]

You are probably right. I have severe dry eyes and they are a lot worse in the winter due to the low humidity. I did turn my humidifier on 1 the other night (it is usually on 0 because anything else seems to make me stuffy??). I may need to turn it up more and see if that helps. And "I have to pry my tongue away from the top of my mouth were it is stuck!" Yes.
izzyb

[izzyb]

Also if you happen to be experiencing any extra nasal congestion for some reason, you might be mouth breathing more than usual.

As I mentioned above, turning my humidifier up seems to make me stuffy, so I usually keep it on 0. I have never understood this. I would think warmer would be better.

izzyb

[Pugsy]

I cringe every time I see someone say they have turned off the humidifier and use only passover mode.
I tried a setting of 1 once....horrible, horrible nasal/sinus symptoms...had been using a setting of 3.
Couple of times forgot to fill the water tank and ran out...return of same symptoms...so I know that my nose doesn't like dry air at all.

But I know there are people like you who find that the added humidity does the same thing to them as less humidity does to me.
It's just a matter of what it takes to make your nasal mucosa happy.
It's not so much the amount of warmth in the air as the amount of moisture in the air.
In the summer I use the heated hose set to really cool temps but leave the humidity setting on high...in the winter I warm up the air with heated hose but still use the same max humidity setting.

With non heated hoses...to get more humidity in the air we have to add more warmth to the water but warming the air itself isn't the primary objective...it's just a byproduct of increasing the humidity because that's the only way to add more moisture...warm up the water more.

[Julie]

If you also have dry eyes as you said, you may have Sjogren's ('show-grens') syndrome, related to arthritis, so I'd ask your MD about the possibility of that.

[izzyb]

Pugsy, I don't think I've heard of heated hoses. Not sure what that is all about.

Julie, I have been tested for Sjogren's. I don't have it. I think the Bi-Pap has made my dry eyes worse. It started getting noticeably bad about the time I went on Bi-Pap. My gender and age probably has a lot to do with it also. Having plugs is the only thing that makes it bearable. Tests show I have a very low amount of tears and poor quality of tears.

[izzyb]

Pugsy, one more thing. About the meds. I take Klonopin to help me sleep. (Yes, my pulmonologist originally prescribed it for me.) I usually only take 1/2 of a 1 mg tablet if I take it at all. But the last couple of weeks I have been taking 1 mg nightly. That might be what is going on with the dry mouth. But it isn't every night that I have it, so I don't know. I would think if that was it, then my eyes would be worse than usual, too.

izzyb

[Pugsy]

Often when we have a problem it is maybe a combination of things that add up to the problem...
like maybe your meds and dry winter air. Maybe that is what is going on here with you.

Heated hoses...you are using a M series machine if I remember right? The newest machines have a heated hose and a humidification system that is not dependent on heat applied to the water as sole source of control of humidity.
Your M series machine doesn't offer those integrated humidification systems. You only have heat control going to the water.

With these new heated hoses we have more options for optimization of humidity.
The temperature of the air going to the mask can be adjusted from warmer to cooler without changing the level of humidity being delivered. More comfort all around.
Especially useful for someone like me who needs high humidity levels to keep nasal mucosa happy.

[sleepytime70]

Trust me and get a chinstrap, at least try it they are not expensive....

[izzyb]

Pugsy, yes on the Bi-Pap machine. I realized my mask was incorrect though. I haven't been here in a long time, so I changed that. I don't want my machine to die and have to buy another one, but that new-fangled machines sounds good.

sleepytime70, I have a chinstrap, but I don't use it. It never seemed to stay in place. I might pull it out and try it again.

[chunkyfrog]

Diabetes can also contribute to this problem.
My extreme dry mouth diminished to reasonable levels after several weeks of keeping my blood sugar under control.
Previously, I had no success with chin straps, taping, full face masks--you name it.
Now I keep water handy, and the dryness is not so bad.

[library lady]

In the summer I use the heated hose set to really cool temps but leave the humidity setting on high...in the winter I warm up the air with heated hose but still use the same max humidity setting.

Pugsy, you and I have the same machines. I haven't seen separate settings for hose and humidifier. Where do I find those? I would love to keep my humidifier set higher. My DME set it at 3, and I've turned it down to 2 to conserve water use as the humidifier runs dry every night - it still runs dry. I've noticed that the hose doesn't get as warm now, and I'd like to turn it back up but I worry about the effect on the machine. I too have a dry mouth every morning but I am getting used to it, and it's better since I started using breathe-right strips to make it easier for me to breathe with my nose, therefore less mouth breathing. I will stay with this, as my AHI has gone down from 11 to <5, so I know that this is helping.

[Pugsy]

I haven't seen separate settings for hose and humidifier. Where do I find those?

They are in the clinical set up menu...and available only with the heated hose plugged in. I mention this because some people where trying to set the 2 available choices and they had a heated hose but it wasn't plugged into to the humidifier as it was being dried out....so they couldn't understand why they weren't getting the 1 through 3 option for humidity.

2 separate setting choices...
One for humidity 1 through 3..
and one for temperature 1 through 5.
Once you are out of the clinical set up menu the little knob on the blower unit that you can turn will only affect the air temperature...you can't change the humidifier setting when not in the clinical set up menu.

If the only change you have made was turning that little knob when you were outside of the clinical setup menu...all you did with that change from 3 to 2 was lower the heated hose air temperature (assuming you have the heated hose).
Or if you were in the clinical set up menu and you didn't see the 2 choices...either your heated hose wasn't plugged in or you don't have one.

For people who have a 60 series machine and are unsure if they have the heated hose or not...
Heated hose has one black end where it plugs into the humidifier....regular hose is white/gray on both ends.