Dry Mouth - Recently Started

[JCWarrior]

I've been on CPAP almost 5 years. Within the last couple of month's, I've been experiencing major dry mouth.
I use nose pillows but I do not sleep with my mouth open.

My medications haven't changed.

For years, I've kept my heat setting at 68F. Since getting dry mouth I've been experimenting with settings between 74-80F and still no change.

Any ideas?

[ChicagoGranny]

I use nose pillows but I do not sleep with my mouth open.

5 minutes or less of air slipping out through the lips can cause an extremely dry mouth.

Also, have you changed any medications recently?

[Pugsy]

It takes very little mouth breathing to dry out the mouth in some people.
Like CG says...even 5 minutes can do it.
Some people just get dry mouth easier than others even with no change in anything. We don't always maintain the same hydration levels sometimes.
My mouth dries out super fast...and it can happen with just a little mouth breathing.
Here's a report where I circled known awake mouth breathing at the end of the night...and it doesn't always result in a big massive leak either.
I happened to wake up mouth breathing and decided to continue mouth breathing (it was a gentle exchange of air and not a tornado out the mouth) just to see what it looked like when I knew for sure I was mouth breathing. I wanted to see what it looked like on the leak graph. It didn't look nearly as exciting as I thought it would.

[JCWarrior]

I use nose pillows but I do not sleep with my mouth open.

5 minutes or less of air slipping out through the lips can cause an extremely dry mouth.

Also, have you changed any medications recently?

I haven't been using Zyrtec or Flonase regularly as I was before.
Other than that, no changes.

[JCWarrior]

It takes very little mouth breathing to dry out the mouth in some people.
Like CG says...even 5 minutes can do it.
Some people just get dry mouth easier than others even with no change in anything. We don't always maintain the same hydration levels sometimes.
My mouth dries out super fast...and it can happen with just a little mouth breathing.
Here's a report where I circled known awake mouth breathing at the end of the night...and it doesn't always result in a big massive leak either.
I happened to wake up mouth breathing and decided to continue mouth breathing (it was a gentle exchange of air and not a tornado out the mouth) just to see what it looked like when I knew for sure I was mouth breathing. I wanted to see what it looked like on the leak graph. It didn't look nearly as exciting as I thought it would.

So (without seeing my SleepyHead results) do you think the leak shown on my graph was probably from mouth breathing?

[Pugsy]

So (without seeing my SleepyHead results) do you think the leak shown on my graph was probably from mouth breathing?

No...I didn't say that. I can't form an opinion one way or the other.
I can't even tell by looking at the leak graphs if the leak is mouth breathing or not unless the person tells me that they had their lips taped shut all night and the tape didn't come loose.
What I am saying is that it's possible that small mouth breathing leaks can cause dry mouth.
To know for sure if mouth breathing is involved or not the lips have to be sealed to eliminate the possibility of mouth breathing causing the problem or not.

[ChicagoGranny]

I haven't been using Zyrtec or Flonase regularly as I was before.

Do you think the result might be a little more nasal congestion leading to some mouthbreathing or mouth leaks?

[Jeffh129]

I've been on CPAP almost 5 years. Within the last couple of month's, I've been experiencing major dry mouth.
I use nose pillows but I do not sleep with my mouth open.

My medications haven't changed.

For years, I've kept my heat setting at 68F. Since getting dry mouth I've been experimenting with settings between 74-80F and still no change.

Any ideas?

Why would you turn the heat up ? It would be drier then cooler air.

[Pugsy]

Why would you turn the heat up ? It would be drier then cooler air.

The warmer the air the more moisture the air can hold on to and not allow the release of that moisture in the form of condensation.
Cooler air is the drier air.
If someone is wanting more moisture in the air they will often have to increase the hose air temp so that they don't get condensation in the hose and mask.

[JCWarrior]

So last night went much better. Here's a couple of things I changed - not sure if it made the difference but....

1) My mask (nose pillows) seemed to have some kind of mild leak in the area near the vent. I could not figure out where but I could hear it, and so could my wife.
I changed back to an older mask (same model) that I kept for a spare and there was no leak. Same head gear (strap). My leak rate on sleepy head looked much better as well.

2) Even though my nose is clear, my left nostril feels a little restricted - like it's slightly swollen. I bought some Breath Rite strips and this help that issue.

Much less (near normal for me) dry mouth last night.

[zonker]

So last night went much better. Here's a couple of things I changed - not sure if it made the difference but....
Much less (near normal for me) dry mouth last night.

thank you for coming back and telling us how it went. i get tired of seeing a thread here about, well whatever, and the original poster with the question never comes back to let us know.

good work!

[JCWarrior]

So last night went much better. Here's a couple of things I changed - not sure if it made the difference but....
Much less (near normal for me) dry mouth last night.

thank you for coming back and telling us how it went. i get tired of seeing a thread here about, well whatever, and the original poster with the question never comes back to let us know.

good work!

Thank you!
I appreciate the help.

Dry mouth was better but had quite a few arousals.
Been dealing with some anxiety and a broken ankle. Have to wear a big ol’ CAM boot.
Makes for les than pleasant sleep.

[zonker]

Thank you!
I appreciate the help.

Dry mouth was better but had quite a few arousals.
Been dealing with some anxiety and a broken ankle. Have to wear a big ol’ CAM boot.
Makes for les than pleasant sleep.

i would imagine so. i have been extremely lucky in my 64 years in that i haven't broken a bone yet!