Extremely Dry Mouth w/ FFM

[rasz]

Hi guys. I'm using the ResMed Airsense 10 Autoset w/ an F&P Simplus mask. I'm just getting into my second month of therapy. I'm on 15.0 - 20.0 for pressure. Humidifier is set to 7 and hose is set to 82 degrees.

I have always had a bit of dry mouth with the machine but its been manageable. About 5 days ago I noticed a spike in mask leakage on MyAir and an insane increase in the level of dry mouth I was experiencing. This is not normal dry mouth; my bottom lip has been literally stuck to my bottom teeth. It's an incredibly uncomfortable feeling as you can probably imagine. I just had the mask cushion on the Simplus replaced and it's helped somewhat but the problem is still there.

So I suppose my question is can this level of dry mouth be due to the humid air escaping through the leak in the mask? If so, what mask liners would people recommend for the Simplus? I don't want to use oral products like Biotene gel if I can avoid it. I'm open to any constructive advice at this point!

Thanks!

[Pugsy]

Has anything changed with the nasal congestion level to maybe increase the need to mouth breathe? Allergies? Meds that might dry the mouth?

It's doubtful that a large leak is affecting the moisture level in the hose air UNLESS your leak is so bad that therapy itself is impacted and you are having a lot of apnea events and mouth breathing gasping for air. That's a stretch though. Air in the mask goes out via the bad seal...not much chance of drier room air crawling into the mask via bad seal because it would be like trying to swim upstream.

More likely the extra dry mouth is from extra mouth breathing brought on by something different or something that has changed in your life.

If you can't blame it on meds side effects...most likely the fix is to not mouth breathe as much and that's easier said than done.

[Okie bipap]

I used the Simplus mask for several months with pressure of 20 - 25 without any problems. I found I could not get more than three months use out of a mask cushion. I used liners cut from an old, well-used tee shirt. I also used the same pressure with the Amara View mask. With either mask, I have found that using a soft cervical collar does a pretty good job of keeping my mouth closed which helps with the dry mouth.

[rasz]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm actually not on any other medications. I breathe through my nose when I am falling asleep/active through the day but when I fall asleep my mouth will open no matter what I do. I was using the F&P Eson nasal mask with a chinstrap the first two weeks of my therapy and it was completely ineffective. The Simplus has been far more effective and I have enjoyed using it, despite it leaking from the nose area and into my eyes fairly often.

The mask seal tab on MyAir is showing leaks between 60 and 100 L/min of air since this all began a few days ago which I understand that anywhere over 24 L/min is not good. Prior to this I was only having leak rates of between 2 and 5 L/min. This is the only thing that has changed since I started showing the symptoms of extreme dry mouth.

[Pugsy]

Maybe time for a new mask cushion??? Maybe an extra thorough cleaning??
While some people can gets months and months out of a cushion there are some people who aren't so lucky for any number of reasons.

Leaks between 60 and 100 L/min...that's really bad and bad enough that the machine could be missing apnea events if your AHI is low.

The big leak needs to be fixed anyway...whatever the cause...then see if the dry mouth issues go away at the same time.

[rasz]

Mask cushion is actually brand new. It lowered the leak rate significantly, to it's lowest of 59 L/min but it still remains a significant leak. I was wondering if anyone had ideas on what to use for a liner? If you were to cut up an old T-shirt would you just line the contact patch of the mask with it?

[Pugsy]

I think OkieBiPap has a pattern for homemade DIY mask liners.
I will see if I can find it.

Also...make sure that there isn't a leak somewhere else besides the mask area by doing a test while awake.
Check all the connections and put the mask on and turn on the machine and use it for about 15 minutes while awake and you hold the mask to make sure that there is no leak.
Then use available software and look at the leak graph to see if there is any excess leak going on. It should show no leak at all but sometimes it will if there is a leak elsewhere in the circuit...bad connection or hole in the hose or something.
Do you know about the software? If not.. https://sleep.tnet.com/equipment

[Pugsy]

Mask liner pattern

http://montfordhouse.com/cpap/diy-cotton-mask-liner.pdf

[NadiaK]

I also have a terrible time with dry mouth. I use a FFM as well and once I fall asleep my mouth falls open. I have had some success with using Xylimelts. I bought them at my local CVS. They are like these disk shaped tablets that adhere to your gum line. They do help to lubricate the inside of the mouth.

[ajack]

I had dry tongue with bad leaks on a FFM, because I mouth breathe.
you need to stop the leaks and keep your whole mouth inside the mask. chin strap/neck collar etc.

this might help
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... re_success
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... ask_Primer

[hobbs]

Micro-pore tape.