Please Help! Chipmunk cheeks waking me up despite taping mouth shut

[Architect]

Overtime, chipmunk cheeks began to resolve itself, pressure was causing my throat to croak, and over time that went away, I was introduced to arophagia,. I prefer chipmunk cheeks over arophagia.

Architect, very sorry to hear you developed arophagia. I agree it sounds much worse than chipmunk cheeks. I'm glad you no longer have it and I hope I never get it. What is "throat croaking"? Is it burping or something else?

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Hi Chris, thanks friend. What I"ve learned over the years is, every aspect/changes in sleep treatment has an adjustment phase. First two years was the most challenging for me, afterwards all issues resolved, mentally/physically I began to sleep fantastic ! Believe the croaking sounds were coming from my vocal chords, similar to burping, annoying at first but resolved. With each pressure increase, my airways were opening more, air finally made it's way to my tummy. My pressure was increased from 7 (nasal pillows) to 21 (FFM)., Hang in there friend, with assistance from marvelous forum members, whom assist me tremendously, all challenges will resolve within time. I switch mask 7 times. The key is not to give up, and trust me I wanted to toss my equipment in the trash many times Wish you well on your journey.

[Pugsy]

Sorry for the gender thing. I would tell you to just get used to it because it will happen again.
I wish I had a dollar for every time I have been referred to as "he" and I am a "she".
We used to have a gender choice in our profile and that made it a bit easier but not everyone used it...and not everyone even bothered to look even when it was used....but a few years back the entire forum software got an update and we lost gender choice.

I thought "closing the back door" meant the back of the tongue staying sealed against the soft palate. Isn't that how you close your back door?

Nope. I can open my mouth and stick out my tongue and blow raspberries at you and the tongue certainly isn't stuck in the backwards blocking the airway position and zero air enters my mouth. The back door is actually a valve sort of thing above the tongue and in the airway and its a reflex action that causes it to close. My body learned that using that reflex helps me but I can't tell you how to get your body to learn to use that reflex. It's similar to when you blow up a balloon though...when you blow up a balloon you don't have any air come out your nose do you? That's because that reflex valve thing is working in reverse.

I don't do anything with my tongue at all to keep the back door closed because it's not tongue related.
I can talk clearly wearing my mask and machine is on and zero air enters my mouth.
I can yawn...stick out my tongue or whatever with machine on and zero air even enters my mouth.
While the tongue is offered as a trick for the back door closing because we have some semblance of control over the tongue....my back door isn't the tongue...it's that little valve (can't remember name at the moment) that is my back door and my reflexes control it.
I wish I could offer some hint so you can control it...I could make a fortune just asking a buck...but I can't explain it.

[Chris33022]

I can open my mouth and stick out my tongue and blow raspberries at you and the tongue certainly isn't stuck in the backwards blocking the airway position and zero air enters my mouth.

I don't do anything with my tongue at all to keep the back door closed because it's not tongue related.
I can talk clearly wearing my mask and machine is on and zero air enters my mouth.

Thanks for clarifying. I thought breath was required to talk and to blow raspberries. If you don't let air into your mouth (pass through your mouth), I wonder how you can talk. Like, if you put your fingers one inch away from your mouth and you talk--don't you feel any air coming out onto your fingers, from your mouth? f you don't, then that's amazing because I didn't think that was possible.

I hope this question won't be irritating, please bear with me: Is it possible that your back door is the back of your tongue, but so far back that it doesn't feel to you like it's the tongue at all? If not, then I'm baffled, because I feel that I'm quite dexterous in that area, but I definitely can't talk or blow raspberries without air coming out of my mouth (though opening the mouth wide and sticking out the tongue is easy without letting air out).

[zonker]

Yes, this was the photo! And now that I see it again I remember that I was extremely curious to know what was that dark line that passes over the headbands, but for some reason I didn't ask. So what is that thing?

Yes, I do use 2 scunci headbands over my mouth, just like in this photo, and I like this method more than taping my mouth shut (for various reasons).

My cervical collar attaches with velcro so I can make it any tightness I want. The problem is, if I don't make it extremely/uncomfortably tight, it's not very effective at preventing chipmunk cheeks.

the dark band is yet another product that hangs next to the scunicis in the hair accessory aisle. being male and relatively short haired, not sure what it is. i think it's meant to be looped as a pony tail holder? anyway, i use it to insure the scuncis stay tightly bound to my lips. i now use it on both the top and bottom scunci.

now as to WHY a cervical collar helps guard against chipmunk cheeks, i do NOT know. i just know that i don't have that problem any more since i started the collar.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Chris33022]

i wouldn't trust him if'n i were you. doesn't know what he's talking about, most of the time!

Oh, I had no idea this was a photo of you! I thought you were posting this photo of someone else or maybe of jimbud. That's why I didn't join in on the teasing. But now that I know, then thanks for warning me, I will never trust him.

[zonker]

i wouldn't trust him if'n i were you. doesn't know what he's talking about, most of the time!

Oh, I had no idea this was a photo of you! I thought you were posting this photo of someone else or maybe of jimbud. That's why I didn't join in on the teasing. But now that I know, then thanks for warning me, I will never trust him.

forum friend dog slobber has taken my image and stuck it on bodies of others, making his own "memes". let's see if i can get him in here to post a few.

[Dog Slobber]

i wouldn't trust him if'n i were you. doesn't know what he's talking about, most of the time!

Oh, I had no idea this was a photo of you! I thought you were posting this photo of someone else or maybe of jimbud. That's why I didn't join in on the teasing. But now that I know, then thanks for warning me, I will never trust him.

forum friend dog slobber has taken my image and stuck it on bodies of others, making his own "memes". let's see if i can get him in here to post a few.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=178094

[Chris33022]

forum friend dog slobber has taken my image and stuck it on bodies of others, making his own "memes". let's see if i can get him in here to post a few.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=178094

Pretty sure I haven’t laughed this hard or this long in weeks. Dog Slobber, your work is amazing, and it just goes on and on. What an imagination! Who is the other person in the Hannibal poster? Is that another forum member?

[zonker]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=178094

THAT'S what i'm talkin' about!

[Pugsy]

Thanks for clarifying. I thought breath was required to talk and to blow raspberries. If you don't let air into your mouth (pass through your mouth), I wonder how you can talk. Like, if you put your fingers one inch away from your mouth and you talk--don't you feel any air coming out onto your fingers, from your mouth? f you don't, then that's amazing because I didn't think that was possible.

I hope this question won't be irritating, please bear with me: Is it possible that your back door is the back of your tongue, but so far back that it doesn't feel to you like it's the tongue at all? If not, then I'm baffled, because I feel that I'm quite dexterous in that area, but I definitely can't talk or blow raspberries without air coming out of my mouth (though opening the mouth wide and sticking out the tongue is easy without letting air out).

Nope...my back door is above the tongue and totally separate. I just now did an experiment.
Put my mask on and started my machine with a few breaths.
I shut my back door and I opened my mouth and no air comes out. Stuck my tongue out and no air came out... I talked normally and no air comes out.
I even breathed through my mouth using my lungs and mouth to move air and NO PRESSURIZED air entered my mouth from the airway that was getting air via the nasal mask....and no air came out that was under pressure.. It was like the mask and machine wasn't on...but they were indeed on. I can do this easily....I just can't explain how I do it.

If you can open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue without air sneaking out....you are halfway there with that reflex action I am talking about.

[Chris33022]

I even breathed through my mouth using my lungs and mouth to move air and NO PRESSURIZED air entered my mouth from the airway that was getting air via the nasal mask....and no air came out that was under pressure.. It was like the mask and machine wasn't on...but they were indeed on. I can do this easily....I just can't explain how I do it.

THAT, I can do with no problem at all. I can block off my nose from the inside (higher up than the tongue, as you say), and then the lungs and the mouth are connected to each other, and the nose is totally blocked off from the lungs and from the mouth. When I do this, it's of course very easy to talk to someone. So I can understand you could do this if you need to talk to someone while you're hooked up to pressurized air, because you would simply be using the air form your lungs, not from the machine, to speak. But I guess I don't understand how you could use this feature (ability) while asleep if you are hoping to benefit from the pressurized air, because you need to let that air in through your nose and into your lungs. At that point the only way I know of to allow pressurized air to enter the lungs but not the mouth is by closing the back of the mouth, which involves the tongue. But since I know you have a lot of experience and knowledge and you say you have some other method involving a valve, I hope to god I will get that ability one day.

In any case, thanks for having done the experiment. Sorry, I know it's time consuming to respond and you're always so generous in providing so much invaluable help to so many people who often have problems much worse than chipmunk cheeks.

[Pugsy]

But I guess I don't understand how you could use this feature (ability) while asleep if you are hoping to benefit from the pressurized air, because you need to let that air in through your nose and into your lungs.

Big difference between what we can do while awake and have it transition to have it happen while asleep.
You are controlling that valve or reflex action while awake. It's intermittent...not permanent change.

My brain has learned how to manage that back door when I am asleep and let only tell the reflex action to kick in when the air is trying to enter the mouth. It took me probably 6 months to figure out that the brain learned when to shut the back door and when to open it...I guess anyway.

All I know is I never, ever get chipmunk cheeks and in fact it takes a direct and difficult action on my part to have air enter my mouth. I don't get chipmunk cheeks even if I tape my mouth shut so those of you who think maybe I am opening my mouth while asleep....not happening.

[ChicagoGranny]

With Pugsy's unique skills, there might be a great career in ventriloquism ahead of her.

[zonker]

With Pugsy's unique skills, there might be a great career in ventriloquism ahead of her.

we certainly have enough dummies on the forum!

[Okie bipap]

we certainly have enough dummies on the forum!

That is so true: they may not talk, but they sure know how to post.