If you are disappointed in your cpap therapy please read

lindychris · Post by **lindychris** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:25 pm

You may very well be leaking from your mouth! Please read on - I am not a mouth breather and I would never have exptected this...

I have been on CPAP for 6 months now. I am 100% compliant down to the day. Like many people here in the forum, my second sleep study (first with the mask) was the best night sleep of my life. They woke me up at 5:30am and I came home and cleaned 2 rooms in the house.

A month later I got my machine (Respironics APAP). To make a long story short, I never felt the same way as I did that first night. I convinced myself I felt better but still was sluggish.

Then on Oct 6 I saw a post by Socknitster and Rosemary B (viewtopic/t24831/Is-it-possible-that-I- ... -CPAP.html) and it all clicked. I have software and have seen high leak rates, higher than the nominal mask rate (http://www.internetage.com/cpapinfo/leak-rates-1.html). I have been playing with my mask thinking that the straps aren't adjusted right. But this post made me think: No!! I am leaking out of my mouth.

So I asked my wife to donate a pair of stockings to the cause. I got panty hose. I cut a leg off and tied it around my head and jaw to keep my mouth closed over night.....

BINGO! I had that great night sleep again!!!!! I can't over-emphasize, I am a new man. I have energy. I am not sleepy. This is amazing.

To go into a little more detail - if the air circuit goes into the nose and out the mouth, you may still be having apneas. Even if you have software, you won't see these apneas because the machine is pumping air out your mouth. In fact, if you have software you will most likely see the pressure going up. I was APAP from 12-18 and I was regularly in the 13-14 range. NOW MY LINE IS STEADY AT 12.

Please. Before you give up, try to strap your mouth closed for 1 night. Try it. It has changed my life. I am betting it will change yours.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:31 pm

And if a chin strap, homemade like lindychris's, or store bought, (or a FF mask) doesn't do the job, check out the many ways others control mouth air leaks if they don't want to wear a Full Face mask:

LINKS to: Mouth leaks - Air Leaks - Tape - DIY Guard
viewtopic.php?t=8011

mrammell · Post by **mrammell** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:10 pm

lindychris: Did you notice dry mouth in the morning, signaling mouth leaks?

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:51 am

lindychris wrote:I am leaking out of my mouth.

So I asked my wife to donate a pair of stockings to the cause. I got panty hose. I cut a leg off and tied it around my head and jaw to keep my mouth closed over night.....

....um guys don't cut them at the crotch, you leave the crotch in tact that part goes under the chin, thats why it is padded there

lindychris · Post by **lindychris** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 6:26 am

mrammell wrote:lindychris: Did you notice dry mouth in the morning, signaling mouth leaks?

I did. I figured maybe I leaked once in a while. I just did a bad job of putting all the pieces together.

Snoredog: LOLOLOL.

barb_z · Post by **barb_z** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 6:36 am

I know that this is my problem also... So far the chinstrap (I use a stretchy headband) helps a lot. Just got a unit that can track my progress. I am interested to know what it says!
Barb

GumbyCT · Post by **GumbyCT** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:05 am

I get my hose at the $1 store (yea, I know) - knee highs 3pr/$1 but then there is no padding (that's where the money is . No cutting required.
HTH,
GumbyCT

debst99 · Post by **debst99** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:47 am

Wow, I was assuming that I don't have mouth leak also. My ahi's are continually below 2 and my leak rate is about 17%, which DME says is great. So does it mean that if I am mouth leaking, it won't show up in my leak rate and won't record ahi's? The DME must have told me wrong.

Thank you for all your help.

Flying_Norseman · Post by **Flying_Norseman** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:36 am

Another possibility is that you are a "puffer" like me and puff air out between your lips. This is possible even with a chin strap. In my case I went to a FF mask and the problem was solved.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:59 am

debst99 wrote:Wow, I was assuming that I don't have mouth leak also. My ahi's are continually below 2 and my leak rate is about 17%, which DME says is great. So does it mean that if I am mouth leaking, it won't show up in my leak rate and won't record ahi's? The DME must have told me wrong.

No, Deb...that's not what it means.

lindychris wrote this:
"I have software and have seen high leak rates,"

You're not having a high leak rate, deb. Your leak rate is nice and low. It's only if a Respironics machine registers "Large Leak" that the machine will stop taking notice of events (apneas/hypopneas) and won't mark them on the software's charts. DME didn't tell you wrong.

Mouth leaks DO show up in the leak rate. Any leak, whether it's from mouth, poor hose connection, holes in the hose, mask leaks...ANY leak...shows up on the leak rate. Neither the leak rate nor the software can tell us where a leak is coming from. If we're seeing a high leak rate, we have to be our own detectives to figure it out. As lindychris did.

Sounds like you're doing fine, deb.

debst99 · Post by **debst99** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:16 am

Thank you so much rested gal! You are so knowledgeable!

Debbie

Flying_Norseman · Post by **Flying_Norseman** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:17 am

Yup. RG is the Bee's Knees.

sleepie · Post by **sleepie** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:30 am

should the readout chart in encore for leaks be a flat line---mine is not, its up and down--with sometimes a major leak of 5 mins or so--always during the 2nd part of the night---are the ups and downs mouth puffs? and the large leak mouth open?---i'm going to try a full face mask soon--thanks-pat

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:39 am

sleepie wrote:should the readout chart in encore for leaks be a flat line---mine is not, its up and down--with sometimes a major leak of 5 mins or so--always during the 2nd part of the night---are the ups and downs mouth puffs? and the large leak mouth open?---i'm going to try a full face mask soon--thanks-pat

Yes. The ideal is to have a flat line with a value close to your documented leak rate for your mask at your Rx pressure. A little fluctuation is OK and actually the norm. It is the large fluctuations and/or values that are way off your designed mask leak rate that you need to address.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:42 am

I can be wrong a lot of the time, but thanks for the too kind words, Norseman and deb.

If you are disappointed in your cpap therapy please read

If you are disappointed in your cpap therapy please read

Re: If you are disappointed in your cpap therapy please read