Very Dry Mouth

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 2:56 pm

Bear100 wrote:One other point, yes I did try full face mask, in fact my tech let me try 4 different types for a week each. The problem is that the full face mask just has too many leaks for me.

This is especially true as I move at night from side to side or to the back or to my stomach, causing the mask to move around a bit. The leaks then get to be annoying and wake me up.

Hi Bear,

I'm finally working on finding a FFM and got lots of leaks until I got some help from this forum. I finally had a complete night's sleep (heaven!) with a Quattro with my leak graph looking positively lean and mean (and no dry mouth for a change). I'm assuming you've tried all those fixes and it still didn't work. I haven't found a nasal mask yet that won't wake me up 2-4 times on a good night.... but then I am a mouth breather. Even with poligrip, etc., etc. I found that I'd wake up with some little spot where the air could leak out ... that tricky, rotten air never missed an opportunity

I still expect to use my nasal masks and keep trying. I'm almost getting used to the wake ups.

Best of luck!
Mindy

Bear100 · Post by **Bear100** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 3:06 pm

Mindy,

I will ask to try out a Quattro, I guess that is the latest and greatest on the full face masks.

What is FFM however? Excuse my ignorance.

Bear

RipVW · Post by **RipVW** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 3:30 pm

FFM is just the abbreviation for Full Face Mask.

I got my Quattro about 6 weeks ago. Love it!

Good luck!

Ted

OutaSync · Post by **OutaSync** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:16 pm

Mindy,

You only wake up 2-4 times a night? I think I wake up 30 plus times. Even in the sleep lab with Ambien, I woke up 29 times and I slept better there than I do at home. I don't understand doctors who won't let us use Ambien while we are trying to get used to all this strange stuff going on.

Bev

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:51 pm

OutaSync wrote:Mindy,

You only wake up 2-4 times a night? I think I wake up 30 plus times. Even in the sleep lab with Ambien, I woke up 29 times and I slept better there than I do at home. I don't understand doctors who won't let us use Ambien while we are trying to get used to all this strange stuff going on.

Bev

Hi Bev,

I'm still on Ambien (have been for over 10 years) and took it in the sleep lab with Doc's ok. They are rumbling about my doing an insomnia group or some such but I'm trying other things ... slowly reducing dosage, playing a CD for "delta entrainment" (suggested on this forum by another member), sleep "hygiene" measures, yoga, etc. I'm a chronic insomniac due to PTSD and CPAP seems to be helping with that.

I don't have your wake-up problem -- mainly getting to sleep. Waking up that often sounds awful! I hope you can find solution(s).

Best,
Mindy

Gerald · Post by **Gerald** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 5:02 pm

Bear.......

In a nutshell.....what I'm gonna try is (2) Boil-n-Bites welded together so that they cover both upper & lower teeth.......a ramp in the middle to push my tongue against the roof of my mouth.....and a Hurt-Free Tape / Panty-Hose Tights combination chin strap - lip sealer (that'll push my lips against the Boil-n-Bites....and hold my jaw up).

I failed in my trip to Harbor Freight for a suitable (temperature controlled) soldering pencil. The one they had was equipped with a soldering tip that was too sharp....not good for Boil-n-Bite welding. I'll use the one I have at the office.

More later........

G

Bear100 · Post by **Bear100** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 6:37 pm

Gerald

I will follow your experiment with anticipation - good luck

Bear

Bear100 · Post by **Bear100** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 6:39 pm

Mindy - Bev

Skip the Ambien, get a Xyrem prescription. No side effects, and I went from my waking up of more than 30 times a night to about 6 on a typical night.

Bear

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 7:30 pm

Thanks for the info, Bear. I'll check with my doc.

Mindy

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 10:42 pm

Bear100,

Have you tried routing the hose from above you head? I'm mostly a side to side find that the hose coming from above makes mask leaks much easier to control.

O.

Bear100 · Post by **Bear100** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 7:53 am

Ozij,

Long ago I found that routing the hose from above the head works much better, and out of old velcro strap built myself a 'hose holder' which keeps it that way.

All,

I had a better night sleep, I re-doubled the use of Polident, which got rid of almost all of the leaks. Little bit of dry mouth. It amazing how the smallest leak makes such as difference. I guess before the Polident I must have been leaking all the time, even with the use of a good chin strap.

Of course that amount of Polident is tough to get off first thing in the morning. I find a hot shower works best.

Bear

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 8:51 am

Bear100 wrote:Ozij,

Long ago I found that routing the hose from above the head works much better, and out of old velcro strap built myself a 'hose holder' which keeps it that way.

All,

I had a better night sleep, I re-doubled the use of Polident, which got rid of almost all of the leaks. Little bit of dry mouth. It amazing how the smallest leak makes such as difference. I guess before the Polident I must have been leaking all the time, even with the use of a good chin strap.

Of course that amount of Polident is tough to get off first thing in the morning. I find a hot shower works best.

Bear

Well, just don't get into an argument with anyone before you jump in the shower or you are going to lose

sleepycarol · Post by **sleepycarol** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 9:08 am

Bear I was just reading up on Xyrem and from what little I read I don't understand how it would help with staying asleep.

I pulled this off the internet:
The Food and Drug Administration approved Xyrem (sodium oxybate or gamma hydroxybutyrate, also known as GHB) for treating a small population of patients with narcolepsy who experience episodes of cataplexy, a condition characterized by weak or paralyzed muscles. Because of safety concerns associated with the use of the drug, the distribution of Xyrem will be tightly restricted.

My daughter suffers from insomnia and can't get to sleep before 3 or 4 am and in the morning has to be up at 6:00 a.m. Doctor doesn't want to prescribe Ambien because of the side effects and did prescribe Rozerem but she didn't like the way it made her "druggy" during the day.

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 9:15 am

From Wikipedia:

Code: Select all

Xyrem is distributed directly from the manufacturer and cannot be accessed by licensed pharmacists. It is therefore more tightly controlled than other drugs on Schedule III, and even some on Schedule II.

Also, isn't GHB the "date rape drug"?

I've been taking Ambien for over 10 years with no problems other than an occasional night when it doesn't seem to work.

Mindy

kteague · Post by **kteague** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 9:48 am

Wow, reading how many times some of you wake up at night, my heart goes out to you. And I thought I had it bad with lack of sleep and sleep disruption! Mine had deteriorated to living on snatches of sleep around the clock, rarely making it over an hour or two at a time, usually in blocks measured by minutes.

Most of my problems have been due to limb movements (RLS & PLMD). Even when they were controlled, retraining my brain for normal sleep has been a lengthy process, and I'm working on the sleep hygiene process. These days I get between 5 to 8 hours total sleep with about 3 wakeups, and I feel like that's really good. Of course I'm still not satisfied, but it's so much better.

I mouth breath on occasion, usually the occasion of me sleeping on my back. When I do it's such an extreme dryness unlike any other, so I know what has happened. Otherwise my tongue holds the seal pretty good according to my data. I along with some others who have posted here seem to do just as well with rigged mouth/chin straps as with the purchased ones.

Bear, congrats on finding this forum. Hope you find all the help you need - I'm sure you'll find support. Don't know what I would have done if I had remained alone in going thru this. I had given up and quit. Now there's no turning back.

Kathy

Very Dry Mouth

Waking up at night