DRY THROAT ANYONE?

[Summer Rain]

I cnnot believe how dry my mouth and throat get when I have my Cpap on.....? Especially considering that I am running it with the "maximum humidity" settting? Good grief...I know I am a mouth breather , at least partially.... but without Cpap (where you're getting added humidity) I never had such a dry mouth and throat! It gets so bad that it wakes me up....so I have never slept with my Cpap on for more than a couple of hours?

[lilly747]

I had the same problem. I tried everything, and the only thing that fixed it was a Nasal Pillow Mask. I tape and use a chin strap. No mort dry mouth,,,,

[chunkyfrog]

I've been known to wake up with my mouth so dry my lips were stuck to my teeth.
I usually tape my lips shut, as no one has seen fit to make a full face mask that fits me correctly--
ESPECIALLY the mirage quattro. Most others faces are not a "weird" as mine.

[claustrophopic]

I've been known to wake up with my mouth so dry my lips were stuck to my teeth.
I usually tape my lips shut, as no one has seen fit to make a full face mask that fits me correctly--
ESPECIALLY the mirage quattro. Most others faces are not a "weird" as mine.

I don't understand this. I use a full face mask and if I mouth breathe at all, I end up with severe cottonmouth. I'm going to max my humidity settings, but I'm not hopeful at this point.

[StuUnderPressure]

claustrophopic

I don't understand this. I use a full face mask and if I mouth breathe at all, I end up with severe cottonmouth. I'm going to max my humidity settings, but I'm not hopeful at this point.

If you are mouth breathing (even using a full face mask & a humidifier), your mouth will be dry.

The humidifier does help some, but to avoid dry mouth, you do have to not breathe through your mouth.

[ChicagoGranny]

I cnnot believe how dry my mouth and throat get when I have my Cpap on.....? Especially considering that I am running it with the "maximum humidity" settting? Good grief...I know I am a mouth breather , at least partially.... but without Cpap (where you're getting added humidity) I never had such a dry mouth and throat! It gets so bad that it wakes me up....so I have never slept with my Cpap on for more than a couple of hours?

The humidifier is for the nasal passages. It will do little for the mouth. In fact, some of the oldtimers here claim setting the humidity too high might cause nasal congestion that results in more mouthbreathing and more severe dry mouth.

Have you tried placing the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth just behind the two front upper teeth and sleeping with your mouth shut?

I mouthbreathe at times during the night and put some Biotene gel on my gums just before going to bed. It does help some. -> http://www.biotene.com/dry-mouth-products/gel

[cosmo]

The humidifier is for the nasal passages. It will do little for the mouth.

The Oracle oral mask does require humidification for usage. Humidification might do some good.

Oracle HC452 Oral CPAP Mask
" Heated humidification is required with use of the Oracle 452 Oral Mask due to the CPAP air bypassing the nasal airways which normally moisten the air. With higher CPAP pressures, even a heated humidifier may not provide adequate moisture, especially for patients who also take medications that dry the mouth. "
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/fisher ... -mask.html

[claustrophopic]

So what is a mouth breather suppose to do? It's easy to say "try to breathe through your nose". It's also easy to say " don't stop breathing while you sleep". Neither one is a solution.

[zoocrewphoto]

As a mouth breather full time at night, I can say that I am simply getting used to it. I've been at this 8 months now and dry mouth still happens, but it doesn't bother me anymore. I just drink something when I get up.

[cosmo]

I agree with just getting used to it. I have dry mouth due to a medication I take twice daily. I just sip water and its the end of story.

[Christine L]

So what is a mouth breather suppose to do? It's easy to say "try to breathe through your nose". It's also easy to say " don't stop breathing while you sleep". Neither one is a solution.

I already found several things here to try.

- A chinstrap to keep mouth closed.
- Tape lips to keep mouth closed.
- Put the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth and learn to sleep with lips closed. Yes, several people claim to have been able to do this.
- Use Biotene gel for relief.
- and finally, just ignore the dry mouth.

One person said to make sure you brush your teeth well and floss before bedtime due to dry mouth encouraging cavities.

[Christine L]

Humidification might do some good.

No, I have already been through that and it just doesn't help this mouthbreather. In my research I see many posts where other members say the same. The OP, Summer Rain, reported maximum humidity did not help her.

Oh that Oracle sounds horrible. Don't think I could tolerate it one minute and you have to plug your nose up.

But I guess some people use it or the company would not offer it.

[jzap]

So what is a mouth breather suppose to do? It's easy to say "try to breathe through your nose". It's also easy to say " don't stop breathing while you sleep". Neither one is a solution.

I was a long time mouth breather and I had raging dry mouth for a long time that my primary doc blamed on side effects of blood pressure meds (Yep, it was right there on the list).

I was skeptical when the sleep tech gave me a nasal mask at my titration study, but he took a few minutes and taught me the technique that granny described above, except that he had me pull my tongue back a bit into the hollow at the top of the mouth for a more relaxed position and a better seal. He showed me that if you kept your tongue in the right position, it didn't matter if your mouth was open, you couldn't breathe through your mouth.

The result was that my dry mouth was cured that first night on CPAP. It was well worth the effort to learn.

[Elle]

My mouth is dry before I am even asleep so I know my mouth is not open. I keep water by my bed because to me the dry mouth is just an inconvenience that it is worth tolerating for the good sleep I have. I no longer need naps and my blood pressure medication has been lowered twice. I wish it was perfect....no dry mouth and a perfectly fitted custom made mask would be good but I am still thrilled with the results of using cpap.

[renatae]

I've been a chronic mouth breather all my life due to a deviated septum. During my titration, we started with a nasal mask. I figured it would be a flop but really didn't want to try a full face mask. Eventually the tech said that I was waking up every time my mouth dropped open and he put a chin strap on me.

That wasn't going to work for me at home because I can't reach the top of my head due to arthritis. I stumbled upon a product called "Chin Up Strips" online and ordered some. They are specially designed in a horseshoe shape to help keep the mouth closed without totally blocking it closed in case of emergency. I can sip through a straw and also open my mouth a bit. Those helped a lot.

However, a few weeks ago I wanted to just not bother and I have actually been waking up with my mouth still closed about 97 percent of the time. If not, I'm aware I've had my mouth open at least a short time because my normally dry mouth feels like a cotton factory. But that doesn't happen often. I still keep the strips around as some nights are still pretty bad, and if it happens often enough, It seems it registers on my leak rates - they go up above 25% when they are normally within the acceptable range.

I also use the nasal pillows, and they have enabled me to be able to breathe exclusively through my nose, something I still do not do without them. They've also helped the chronic dry nose I always get in the winter, which for about 10 years now has always resulted in at least one chapped and bleeding area in the right nostril - but not this year!