2 months sore & dry mouth tried more humidity, tape, chin strap

[Zmartha]

I have a nasal pillows mask & love it's fit and have tried all of the above suggestions. I don't think I snore, but husband died 9 yrs ago so don't know. I tend to grind my teeth & usually wake up with sore jaw hinges, but i have had it for years so put up with it, so I believe I sleep with mouth shut.
I think there is a little air leaking when the pressure gets up to the max setting of 10 cm and my lips then puff out so it tremendously dries out my mouth.
At the end of this month Medicare will allow me to have a new mask so my question is,
do I change the type of mask to get rid of the dry mouth and sore throat? Perhaps someone has had similar experience?

[rcobourn]

You might be able to go to a lower max pressure and avoid the problem, while still getting most of the therapy benefits.

Based on your description, I'd consider trying a mouthpiece. It can treat mild apnea and eliminate the tooth grinding. It's possible you wouldn't even need CPAP.

Obviously a full face mask would solve the problem, but much less comfortable.

In the meantime, there are some oral rinse products with enzymes that help keep your mouth moist. Not a solution but might make you more comfortable until you see your doctor. I like the Biotene Moisturizing Mouth Spray.

[Zmartha]

Thank you. I forgot to say that I have tried mouthpieces, but just made me bite down harder when asleep.

I think when I started all this, Dr. had it set at 12cm & went down to 10.
Are full face masks all more uncomfortable than nasal masks?

[Marillion]

Getting a full face mask won't help with dry mouth if your lips are parting to let air escape or your mouth is opening. The only thing that will prevent that is using a chin strap along with tape. I use a paper medical tape made by 3M that works quite well and since I have been using my chin strap and tape I have had zero dry mouth issues.

If you want to get more detailed help, perhaps posting your sleepyhead data would help. But if you are getting a dry mouth, odds are very high that you have some kind of mouth leak occurring. Upping your humidity will likely not help very much at all.

[rcobourn]

Thank you. I forgot to say that I have tried mouthpieces, but just made me bite down harder when asleep.

I think when I started all this, Dr. had it set at 12cm & went down to 10.
Are full face masks all more uncomfortable than nasal masks?

Some of the masks I tried were really pretty comfortable, but I doubt I would get to where I am with nasal pillows, sometimes waking up and forgetting I'm wearing them.

If you are already backed down from 12 to 10 for comfort, you are probably going to need the full mask.

I think I have heard of people taping their lips closed. Sounds pretty uncomfortable to me!

Good luck.

[rcobourn]

Getting a full face mask won't help with dry mouth if your lips are parting to let air escape or your mouth is opening. The only thing that will prevent that is using a chin strap along with tape. I use a paper medical tape made by 3M that works quite well and since I have been using my chin strap and tape I have had zero dry mouth issues.

If you want to get more detailed help, perhaps posting your sleepyhead data would help. But if you are getting a dry mouth, odds are very high that you have some kind of mouth leak occurring. Upping your humidity will likely not help very much at all.

Really? Doesn't the full mask cover your mouth? How can you get mouth leak? When I tried a full mask, I don't recall any mouth leak. It was only a few hours though.

[Marillion]

You won't get a mouth leak with a full face mask, but your mouth will still dry out since you will be breathing with your mouth. That will happen anytime you primarily breath through your mouth and not your nasal passages.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[zonker]

I have a nasal pillows mask & love it's fit and have tried all of the above suggestions. I don't think I snore, but husband died 9 yrs ago so don't know. I tend to grind my teeth & usually wake up with sore jaw hinges, but i have had it for years so put up with it, so I believe I sleep with mouth shut.
I think there is a little air leaking when the pressure gets up to the max setting of 10 cm and my lips then puff out so it tremendously dries out my mouth.
At the end of this month Medicare will allow me to have a new mask so my question is,
do I change the type of mask to get rid of the dry mouth and sore throat? Perhaps someone has had similar experience?

have you tried this?-
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=112758&st=0&sk=t&sd ... i#p1086296

works a treat for me. my lips stay together. and it's cheaper than a chin strap.

does have a tendency to stretch with use, but you can keep them in good shape by washing them. they will eventually get so stretched out they can't "rebound".

but a pack of six costs about five bucks....

[Berks]

Question along these lines... is it possible to be mouth breathing / opening your mouth regularly and have a 0 leak rate or would your mouth opening always be reflected in the leak rate? I have similar issues to the OP and thought it could come from opening my mouth (also a tooth grinder) but my leak rates are often 0 all night and times it's higher it's minimal and coincide with times I know I was awake and adjusting my mask....

[Mikebear]

Question along these lines... is it possible to be mouth breathing / opening your mouth regularly and have a 0 leak rate or would your mouth opening always be reflected in the leak rate? I have similar issues to the OP and thought it could come from opening my mouth (also a tooth grinder) but my leak rates are often 0 all night and times it's higher it's minimal and coincide with times I know I was awake and adjusting my mask....

Yes, it is possible for some people to open their mouths, yet not have leaks show in Sleepyhead. Usually because they have trained their tongues to stay towards the top front. That keeps air coming through the nose to go right down the windpipe without getting into the mouth.

[Pugsy]

is it possible to be mouth breathing / opening your mouth regularly and have a 0 leak rate or would your mouth opening always be reflected

Not all mouth opening/breathing ends up causing massive air escaping out the mouth enough to cause big leaks.

A while back I woke up and I was mouth breathing but there was no big tornado of air escaping my mouth. I was just gently mouth breathing. Since it was time to get up anyway I decided to just continue breathing like that and then I could see for sure just how much leak the mouth breathing showed. So I did it for about 15 minutes...was totally awake during that time and then I turned the machine off. Below is that report and I circled the time I know that I was awake and mouth breathing at the end of the night.
Barely made a blip on the leak line graph.

[Zmartha]

Thank you all who responded.