Nose-to-mouth leak???

[Komodo]

I seem to have developed a rather strange "leak" in the past several days, that has me somewhat concerned.

I'm leaking a small amount of air from my nose, into my mouth, that I can't prevent no matter how I try.
I'm not talking about a huge rush of air, causing "Chipmonk Cheeks", it's more like a "slow leak" from a car tire. The pressure builds up until my lips "blow apart" to release the air.

I've been on cpap for over 3 month's now, and never had this problem before. My leak rate has gone up slightly, as well as my AHI. Not enough to cause any concern, BUT, the "leak" keeps waking me up and I'm not getting restful sleep.

You guy's ever hear of something like this? Any suggestions, aside from switching to a fullface mask?

[bdp522]

Yep, that's what happens to me so I tape my mouth shut every night. Don't ever notice it with my mouth taped shut.

Brenda

[Pugsy]

http://intellipap-aflex-auto.cpaptalk.c ... mouth.html

velolingual seal leaking maybe??? Discussed above. Sometimes bad enough for chipmunk cheeks, sometimes not.

I can open my mouth, stick out my tongue and move it around and never lose any air.... I have to make a conscious effort to relax the seal to even let the tiniest air sneak into my mouth.

When we sleep we relax more and thus the seal can develop a leak. If you can't stop it and it impacts therapy then full face mask would be the standard solution. Given my personal problems with full face mask gear I would try to fix it if this were happening to me but you have to make that decision yourself.

[LinkC]

I can open my mouth, stick out my tongue and move it around and never lose any air....

Sure, you CAN...but why would you? Although it does explain your pic!

[Pugsy]

Pugsy wrote: I can open my mouth, stick out my tongue and move it around and never lose any air....



Sure, you CAN...but why would you? Although it does explain your pic!

Yeah, I know. More information than anyone really wanted to know. I tried it just to see what all the chipmunk cheeks was all about since I have to make a special effort to get chipmunk cheeks. I am sure that some day my talents will be useful.. Just goes to show you that sometimes little women with big mouths .... never mind...yep my little spider monkey suits me.

[Komodo]

http://intellipap-aflex-auto.cpaptalk.c ... mouth.html

velolingual seal leaking maybe??? Discussed above. Sometimes bad enough for chipmunk cheeks, sometimes not.

I can open my mouth, stick out my tongue and move it around and never lose any air.... I have to make a conscious effort to relax the seal to even let the tiniest air sneak into my mouth.

When we sleep we relax more and thus the seal can develop a leak. If you can't stop it and it impacts therapy then full face mask would be the standard solution. Given my personal problems with full face mask gear I would try to fix it if this were happening to me but you have to make that decision yourself.

From day one of therapy, I never had a problem keeping the air in my nose. Even now, I can do anything with my mouth without the air getting through, even when I'm asleep. I'm sure I do have a few uncontrolled major leaks every night, but then I go right back to a nice tight "seal" again. Those major "blow outs" don't bother me in the least. It's this TINY, uncontrolable leak, that's driving me nuts! LOL! I have COPD, and do a considerabe amount of coughing, so taping my mouth shut is out of the question. Besides, IF, I did tape my mouth, the pressure from the "slow leak" would build up until my eyes popped out! LOL!!! (BTW, I do have a FF mask, but it hurts too much to be my everyday mask)

I'll be seeing my sleep Doc at the end of the month, and will talk to him about this problem. Knowing that I know more about apnea than he does ( ) I want to get as much info about this problem from YOU GUYS before I talk to him.

[Muse-Inc]

Komodo, this is how my lip puffs started. Slow build up of air, release thru loose lips in tiny puffs. I'd lost lots of wt and my face-throat area was considerably smaller...doc says likely lost airway tissue too (he had another patients who's also lost about 50#s with the same prob). I had to abandon my beloved OptiLife for the RespCare Hybrid (covers mouth and has nasal pillows). I slid backwards, recovery halted, and some of my old apnea symptoms returned during my 6-month detour.

[Komodo]

I FOUND THE LEAK!!!

AN YOU AIN'T GONNA BELIEVE WHERE IT'S COMING FROM!

My "leak" started a couple of days after I went to the dentist and had a molar extracted. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but this morning, when I woke up, I could feel bubbles forming in my siliva around the extraction site.
Of course, being the little kid that I am, I had to play with it a little Yep! Sure enough, the air WAS coming in from the hole!

Now I'm faced with a real dilema. If I continue with my cpap therapy, the opening will become a permanent "leak", defeating the purpose of the therapy, and may create further dental/sinus problems for me. If I stop my therapy, I'll go back to being a walking "zombie".

For the time being, I'm going to stop therapy for maybe a week or so, and see if the hole heals up and stops leaking. Not much else I can do

[Pugsy]

For the time being, I'm going to stop therapy for maybe a week or so, and see if the hole heals up and stops leaking. Not much else I can do

Well at least that mystery is solved. On the plus side of things the face and mouth are extremely vascular and wounds do heal fairly quickly. Perhaps the trauma of the tooth extraction opened a small tiny passage allowing air to seep in.

I am afraid if I were in your shoes I would also be thinking like you are. Gotta give the hole a chance to heal solidly or face blowing it open (sort of like picking a scab and delaying healing) I guess. Also wouldn't want to risk lots of pressure sneaking in and giving me a dry socket.

[Slinky]

Oooo eeee! Dry socket!!! OW! I've had the misfortune to have TWO of them! *sob* Worse than any Crohn's disease pain I've ever had, even just before the resection and right after during the first couple days of surgical recovery. Worse than passing a kidney stone I had once. Probably the only thing more painful would be a severe burn over a large area.

And the first one occurred on a weekend! I had no idea a dental surgeon would respond on a weekend. And it never occurred to me that the hospital's ER would handle what I was going thru from dental work. Duh! What can I say? I was young and stupid. I wouldn't go thru that kind of pain now w/o crying "uncle" no how! I may be dumb - but - I am no longer stupid!!! Not that stupid anyway.

[Komodo]

Oooo eeee! Dry socket!!! OW! I've had the misfortune to have TWO of them! *sob* Worse than any Crohn's disease pain I've ever had, even just before the resection and right after during the first couple days of surgical recovery. Worse than passing a kidney stone I had once. Probably the only thing more painful would be a severe burn over a large area.

And the first one occurred on a weekend! I had no idea a dental surgeon would respond on a weekend. And it never occurred to me that the hospital's ER would handle what I was going thru from dental work. Duh! What can I say? I was young and stupid. I wouldn't go thru that kind of pain now w/o crying "uncle" no how! I may be dumb - but - I am no longer stupid!!! Not that stupid anyway.

Including this last extraction, I've had SEVEN teeth pulled (4 wisdom, 3 molars) over the years. ALL of them resulted in DRY SOCKETS except this last one, which is causing me MORE problems than the dry sockets ever did!
Believe me, I KNOW the kind of pain you're talking about! The dentist I'm going to now, is a new dentist to me. I told him about all the other dry sockets, and he said not to worry this time. After he pulled the tooth, he went in with some type of tool, and did something in the open socket before he closed it up. I bled like a stuck pig afterwards for HOURS, but I didn't end up with a dry socket!