might not need tape?

melissa1974 · Post by **melissa1974** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 6:45 am

I have always had chronic sinus problems and when I began my treatment, I was told that I "had" to use a FFM mask because of mouth breathing. Thanks to everything I have learned on this forum, I quickly found out about my other options, and I have been very successfully using a Comfortgel Nasal Mask and taping my mouth for over a month and a half now, with excellent results. I have also had a reduction in my sinus congestion since starting therapy.

Well, last night I ran out of the tape I had been using and had to use a old roll of first aid tape I had laying around. (I know, shame on me for poor planning, but my excuse is that I am a mother of 3 year old twins and my life is always hectic!) Anyway, the tape didn't work well at all and apparently fell off sometime during the night without my realizing it. The crazy thing is, I slept really well and had terrific numbers! My leak was 0.04 L/s, my AHI was 2.7 and my AI was 0.2!! So, does that mean that I have trained myself to keep my big mouth shut? (At least when asleep, hahaha)

I think that tonight I am going to try to go to sleep with just the nasal mask on and see what happens. Wow....

Has this happened to a lot of other people?

Country4ever · Post by **Country4ever** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:00 am

Some people learn to keep their mouths shut during sleep. I just haven't figured that out yet!
I don't want to be Debi Downer, but the same thing happened to me. I was fine without the tape for a few nights.......but then my mouth started falling open again. Hopefully, yours will behave better!
Good luck!

melissa1974 · Post by **melissa1974** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:13 am

Yeah, I am still pretty amazed that I kept it shut. I am thinking that I had better stop and buy some more tape on the way home from work. I'd still like to give it at try without the tape, but I think it would be wise to have some next to the bed so if I wake up in the middle of the night spewing air I can plug myself up!

Janknitz · Post by **Janknitz** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 10:12 am

I thought I was a total mouth breather because of sinus congestion, so I started out with a FF mask and hated it. I tried a nasal mask and was amazed to find that I could keep my mouth closed without problem. At the same time I started CPAP my doctor put me on Singulair, and I think all the nasal rinsing and humidifying are helping my congestion as well.

I put a little bit of Chap Stick on my lips, just to make them sort of tacky so they don't just sort of fall open, but it's certainly not enough to hold my lips together. And it's been more than a month now, with very low AHI's (0.3 to 0.5), so it's not a fluke.

I was probably a mouth breather because I was trying to get a larger volume of air in due to poorly controlled asthma (now under good control) and apnea.

LinkC · Post by **LinkC** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 11:35 am

Super glue works pretty well, too.

(Do NOT do this! Do not even THINK about it! It was a JOKE!!! Ixnay on the upersay ueglay!!!

melissa1974 · Post by **melissa1974** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 11:41 am

LOL, Link! That was my next step if I ever ran out of tape again!

Uncle_Bob · Post by **Uncle_Bob** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 12:04 pm

Melissa

It could be that you have trained yourself or you have changed your sleep hygiene.

I had both my study and titration with just a nasal mask and did not have any reported mouth leaking.

But since starting therapy i found that when my sleep hygiene is poor my jaw drops and causes huge mouth leaks and I get lousy therapy. So from now on i wear the papCap chinstrap as I do not want to risk having a bad night.

Every now and again i sleep with my Quattro mask on but i wake up with a dry mouth which means i still need help keeping my big mouth shut

But good for you if you manage to eliminate the mouth taping, to be able to sleep with just a nasal mask and nothing else would be pure bliss.

melissa1974 · Post by **melissa1974** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 12:14 pm

Uncle Bob-
You may be right. I have been trying to be diligent about my sleep hygiene. Now that I actually have the opportunity to get some quality sleep, I am trying to be responsible about it and maximize it! I am so curious to see what happens over the next few nights.

By the way.....interesting avatar.....is there a story there? DId I miss something? I haven't been reading the boards too thoroughly over the past couple of weeks because of some crazy stuff at work. I'd love to know what that pic is about....

Uncle_Bob · Post by **Uncle_Bob** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 12:32 pm

melissa1974 wrote:Uncle Bob-
You may be right. I have been trying to be diligent about my sleep hygiene. Now that I actually have the opportunity to get some quality sleep, I am trying to be responsible about it and maximize it! I am so curious to see what happens over the next few nights.

By the way.....interesting avatar.....is there a story there? DId I miss something? I haven't been reading the boards too thoroughly over the past couple of weeks because of some crazy stuff at work. I'd love to know what that pic is about....

Nothing really interesting really, just my cholesterol got really high (total = 355) so i had to drastically change my diet. But before i started on my diet I had to have one last full english breakfast , my favorite meal

melissa1974 · Post by **melissa1974** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 12:49 pm

aha.....well, that makes sense! good luck getting that number down!

Uncle_Bob · Post by **Uncle_Bob** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 2:02 pm

melissa1974 wrote:aha.....well, that makes sense! good luck getting that number down!

thankyou, I need luck and miracle I think

Machine	Mask	Humidifier

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might not need tape?

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