Had open heart surgery and since then mouth very dry

[berbej03]

Good evening.
I had open heart surgery a month ago and was put on beta blocker. I am doing pretty well except for the sleep. Since then more or less, I have incredibly dry mouth. I could barely open my mouth while I was using a nasal mask (mirage FX wide) (which I have used successfully for about 10 years). I have also tried two other nasal masks unsuccessfully (waking up multiple times during the night with very dry mouth and throat). I tried several face mask (the one that I like the best is F20 by resmed). I have less dry mouth but I still have dry mouth several times a night which wake me up. At least it's not every half hout.

I am using resmed 10, have increased the humidity to 6, and the tube heat to 80 (Have changed to lower temperature without noticing any difference).

[Julie]

What new meds might you be taking following the surgery? They can often be a problem... depending on what they are, you might find out if e.g. taking them earlier in the day could help? Or substituting others?

[roadcycler]

Morning

If you just had open heart one month ago it will just take time for everything to settle down. When I had my bypass surgery between the surgery and all of the new meds it took me over 6 months to get back into a rhythm. Here they have gone in and mucked about the sternum needs at least 6 weeks to heal up ( no driving during that time ) and soft tissue takes longer. Your sleep patterns will be disrupted as you cannot sleep in your normal positions since they hurt, you may be mouth breathing a lot more instead of nose breathing.
All the new meds Beta blockers, ace inhibitors, artery dilators all have side effects. I found that I initially started taking all of them in the morning, was totally exhausted during the day, doc switched them to night time which made the fatigue less during the day but disturbed my sleep dramatically waking up multiple times a night sweating. Two years later was finally diagnosed with severe sleep apnea and cpap. Still have some disturbed sleep patterns but getting better.

So long story short. It has only been a month, try to be patient ( dirty word ) it will get better as your body heals and you get use to the new you.

Rob

[Miss Emerita]

It’s good to hear your recovery is generally going well. A couple of thoughts about your dry mouth:

I see online that dry mouth can be a side effect of some beta blockers. You might discuss this with your doctor to see whether there’s a different beta blocker you could try.

Some forum members get good relief from dry mouth with XyliMelts. They adhere to your gum and stimulate saliva production.

If you think maybe your mouth is opening during the night, you might try a chin strap or cervical collar to prevent that from happening.

Best wishes for your continuing recovery!

[berbej03]

Thanks for all your nice responses and good advices. I was quite surprised that switching from a nasal mask to a full face mask helped but didn't resolved the issue. I am trying to wait but waking up 7 to 10 times a night is not a great experience