Dry Mouth Saga

[erynfaith]

I live in Southern Arizona... it's dry. Super Dry. All year long.

had to get that it out there. I have my humidity settings all the way up but not the temp. Warm air makes me feel uncomfortable so I had to sacrifice the warmth that would give me more moisture. I'm using an Amara View mask and have no leaks most nights and the nights I have light-med leakage it's usually because I slept on my side most of the night. I use Xylitol melts every night. I usually run out of water about 5-6 hours into the night good thing most nights I only sleep 5-6 hours due to my work schedule. but I still wake up with my mouth so dry that I feel like it's prying my lips apart to take a sip of water. I know I'm not going to be living here too much longer but I'd like to find a solution if there is one. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Pugsy]

Why is the mouth dry....are you doing a lot of mouth breathing because you just have to mouth breathe because of nasal congestion issues?
What medications do you take?
Do you have dry mouth issues during the day?

To even stand a chance of fixing a problem you first have to try to identify the cause of the problem...which isn't always so easy to do and then the fix is sometimes either not available or hard to do also.

So what is causing the dry mouth in the first place?

[ChicagoGranny]

I use Xylitol melts every night.

Is the Xylitol melt still active in your mouth when you wake up? Or, does it all melt away before the wakeup?

[zonker]

I use Xylitol melts every night.

Is the Xylitol melt still active in your mouth when you wake up? Or, does it all melt away before the wakeup?

it's the miss marple of cpap!!

seriously, that's an excellent question.

[ChicagoGranny]

it's the miss marple of cpap!!

seriously, that's an excellent question.

Half of genius is asking the right questions.

[ChicagoGranny]

I'm a half-wit.

[erynfaith]

I still have a small piece if the xylitol on each side of my mouth most mornings when I wake up. I'm not on any medications that cause dry mouth anymore. I assume that I mouth breathe at some point since that's why I switched from a P10 to the Amara view. I'm pretty sure it's not a nasal congestion thing when I'm stuffed up the CPAP usually helps with that. I think the mouth breathing thing is my jaw relaxing but a chin strap doesn't help with it (tried in the past) I have a similar problem with wearing contacts all day. must keep wetting drops on me at all times. but haven't figured out a working option for my cpap use. on Daytime dry mouth... no I don't have that either. I do drink 64 oz+ of water a day to deal with dehydration that seems to plague me here. if there was a way to have water drip into my mouth at night I might consider it ... nah.

[ChicagoGranny]

I think the mouth breathing thing is my jaw relaxing but a chin strap doesn't help with it

I wear a foam cervical collar which helps prevent jaw drop. The collar also keeps the neck in the best position for airway patency. This greatly reduces my pressure needs.

I still have a small piece if the xylitol on each side of my mouth most mornings when I wake up.

Lots of people get good results with Xlimelts. Another option is GC Dry Mouth Gel. I get good results with this gel.

I have my humidity settings all the way up

CPAP humidifiers do a good job of preventing dryness of the nasal passages. But, they do not do a good job of preventing mouth dryness when our mouths open. You might try turning the humidifier setting down a notch each night as a trial to see what happens. If your nasal passages get dry, turn it back up.

BTW, do you practice keeping the tip of the tongue on the roof of the mouth? Making this an ingrained habit can help prevent mouth breathing in some people.

[zonker]

it's the miss marple of cpap!!

seriously, that's an excellent question.

Half of genius is asking the right questions.

new avatar; coincidence?

i think NOT!

[ChicagoGranny]

"Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into."

[babydinosnoreless]

I live in Southern Arizona... it's dry. Super Dry. All year long.

had to get that it out there. I have my humidity settings all the way up but not the temp. Warm air makes me feel uncomfortable so I had to sacrifice the warmth that would give me more moisture. I'm using an Amara View mask and have no leaks most nights and the nights I have light-med leakage it's usually because I slept on my side most of the night. I use Xylitol melts every night. I usually run out of water about 5-6 hours into the night good thing most nights I only sleep 5-6 hours due to my work schedule. but I still wake up with my mouth so dry that I feel like it's prying my lips apart to take a sip of water. I know I'm not going to be living here too much longer but I'd like to find a solution if there is one. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I too am in Arizona. It seems counter intuitive but try turning your humidity down. I leave mine at 2 which is a lot more humidity than is in our air and there is still water in my tank in the morning. Btw we are not that dry. Go live in the high desert of Nevada for a little while. It makes Arizona seem positively humid.