My Polident experiment

[lburton]

Hey all,

As i have mentioned in prior posts, I have been getting rather lousy AHI results (HI to be specific) and it was suggested I either tape or try the polident to try stave off mouth breathing, so last night I hit up stop and shop to buy some of the strips.

Mind you, I'm 28 so I of course used the self checkout to avoid embarrasment

Applied them as directed from corner to corner of my mouth (used 2 strips) and it did seem to have a pretty solid hold after a minute or so. Also used a nasal moisture spray so I dont feel like someone dumped black pepper into my nose in the AM.

So off to sleep I went. I woke up once and my lips had somehow parted a little, but I pressed them back together and went back to sleep.

This morning, I checked the machine to see if there was any improvement, and my AI was lower than ever at 1.2 but my HI was still riding along happily at 15.

Any thoughts? I've been looking at hybrid's as a more permanent solution to my mouth breathing, but i'd hate to drop the money if there is something else causing my HI index to still be high.

Thanks to anyone who can advise,

-Lee

[Slinky]

One night never really tells the complete story. Give the PoliGrip strips a week.

If you are a true mouth breather then taping is more inclined to work better for you, but, if what you are experiencing is "lip flutters" (where the air is escaping rather than you trying to breathe thru your mouth) then the PoliGrip strips or gel should work better.

The tape does allow gaps for air to escape but doesn't allow you to breathe thru your lips.

Most any changes you make, even trying a new mask, you usually should give it a full week's trial.

[DreamStalker]

Hey all,

As i have mentioned in prior posts, I have been getting rather lousy AHI results (HI to be specific) and it was suggested I either tape or try the polident to try stave off mouth breathing, so last night I hit up stop and shop to buy some of the strips.

Mind you, I'm 28 so I of course used the self checkout to avoid embarrasment

Applied them as directed from corner to corner of my mouth (used 2 strips) and it did seem to have a pretty solid hold after a minute or so. Also used a nasal moisture spray so I dont feel like someone dumped black pepper into my nose in the AM.

So off to sleep I went. I woke up once and my lips had somehow parted a little, but I pressed them back together and went back to sleep.

This morning, I checked the machine to see if there was any improvement, and my AI was lower than ever at 1.2 but my HI was still riding along happily at 15.

Any thoughts? I've been looking at hybrid's as a more permanent solution to my mouth breathing, but i'd hate to drop the money if there is something else causing my HI index to still be high.

Thanks to anyone who can advise,

-Lee

What was your leak rate?

Keep at it for a few more days if you can and see if you get fairly consistent AI/HI and leak numbers. You want to get an average of these values over a period of about a week or 2 before you go and tweak your pressure setting to improve the AI/HI with a leak number as close to zero as possible (controlling leaks is a must first step in optimizing your treatment). Then check back with those average values and the members here can help you determine what pressure setting you should try next.

[andyomega]

have you tried a full face mask?

[NeurosurgeryNP]

Have you tried a chin strap with the Polident strips? When I first started on CPAP, I needed both tape and the strap in order not to mouth leak - now I need only the chin strap.