mouth leaks during REM are OK?

[TalonNYC]

I've been reading up on a lot of the literature lately, and want to try out a Nasal Mask again. My 6 month resupply is coming up, so I qualify for the full kit for whatever mask I want to choose.

I'd like to spend about a week on my currently-owned Comfort Blue 2 nasal mask, and see the results before deciding which mask kit to have them send. There is one thing that worries me, however. When I enter REM sleep, my mouth relaxes and air leaks out. I've woken up in the middle of intense dreams and noticed the "motorboating" going on with the nasal, or extremely dry mouth with the FFM. There is a ton of info out there that this is normal, but of course I want to get the ideas of this group before I move forward.

Is it OK, or even normal, for mouth leaks to happen during REM sleep? Should I be concerned about that at all, or just ignore it as "acceptable?"

Thanks!

[Pugsy]

Is it OK, or even normal, for mouth leaks to happen during REM sleep? Should I be concerned about that at all, or just ignore it as "acceptable?"

How much time is going to be spent with mouth open? 5 minutes....that wouldn't be so horrible....60 minutes...ahh that wouldn't be such a good idea. Oh yeah, another question ..wide open all the time or just a few lip flutters open?

I know that sometimes I probably open my mouth for a short time. I don't see it on the reports as huge long lived leaks though. Certainly nothing remotely large enough or long enough to impact therapy.

[rested gal]

I think uninterrupted REM is pretty important to have. I would not want to be wakened during REM.

Pugsy makes a good point about a few minutes of leak here and there not being terrible if overall therapy is going well.

Since REM is when most apneas hit most people, I'd redouble my efforts to try to control leaks if I were aware of awakening during vivid dreams, which are thought to occur most vividly during REM. Even more so, I'd wonder if my pressure (minimum pressure if using an auto range, or EPAP if using a bilevel) was sufficient to prevent most apneas during worst case scenarios... in REM, or on one's back, or worst of all for most people -- in REM and on one's back.

That said, sometimes a lot of things about "CPAP therapy have to be trade offs of sorts. If you feel better in general despite the awakenings during supposed REM than you do if you have to take such uncomfortable measures to stop mouth leaks or deal with higher pressure that you would not be able to sleep very well period.... then you might have to put up with some REM disturbances in the interests of better overall therapy.

[TalonNYC]

I definitely have events during REM, but with the current pressure they're minimal. As for the leaks, I'm not sure, I just know I open my mouth LOL.

Well, I can always give it a go and see what the results are =)

[Pugsy]

RG makes a good point about trade offs. That was what I was saying in my usual straight forward round about way.

I am worse in REM and no doubt I probably have some lip fluttering stuff but it doesn't wake me and it doesn't seem to be bad enough to show on the reports so I don't care. Even if I had an occasional really bad leak for 5 or 10 minutes, I wouldn't care as long as it didn't disturb my sleep. I sleep well with the nasal pillows.. I wouldn't sleep well with a full face mask. I would take some minutes of less than ideal leak as a trade off for the rest of the night sleeping well.

[TalonNYC]

OK, nasal mask hooked up and quick leak-test done. I'll have to review the stats for the next few days to see what the leaks look like.

[GeneS]

If it were me I would eliminate all the mouth leaks or mouth breathing with a nasal mask. You could not breath thru your mouth unless your airway pressure was negative (below atmospheric). That means your cpap is not working because it works by maintaining a positive airway pressure. So when you open your mouth and breath in your airway pressure drops from your cpap pressure to negative then if you close your mouth the pressure should go back to cpap pressure. These pressure swings also tend to wake me up. IF you can find a way to eliminate mouth breathing like chin strap, tape, etc. I think it is well worth it. I started on cpap in 1984 or 1985 and did not control my mouth breathing during the early years and the cpap technicians gave me bad advice and said it did not matter if I breathed thru my mouth. I eventually figured it out on my own and have had better treatment ever since.
GeneS

I've been reading up on a lot of the literature lately, and want to try out a Nasal Mask again. My 6 month resupply is coming up, so I qualify for the full kit for whatever mask I want to choose.

I'd like to spend about a week on my currently-owned Comfort Blue 2 nasal mask, and see the results before deciding which mask kit to have them send. There is one thing that worries me, however. When I enter REM sleep, my mouth relaxes and air leaks out. I've woken up in the middle of intense dreams and noticed the "motorboating" going on with the nasal, or extremely dry mouth with the FFM. There is a ton of info out there that this is normal, but of course I want to get the ideas of this group before I move forward.

Is it OK, or even normal, for mouth leaks to happen during REM sleep? Should I be concerned about that at all, or just ignore it as "acceptable?"

Thanks!

[TalonNYC]

Well, as it turned out, it is an academic discussion now =)

Halfway through my first night, after having woken up out of the 4th dream where I was trying to find either 1) a man farting or 2) a duck and awakening to find my mouth open and air fluttering away, I switched back to the FFM.

Ah well, it was quite a nice experiment, and the Quattro Mirage I use is really comfortable, so I'll stick with it!