Help...chipmunk cheeks galore and have tried suggestions

[Dreamingofsleep]

Hi everyone,
I am used to and really like my nasal pillows. I have the mask tight (downside is I display strap marks on my face the next day), but I digress. Okay, as I said I really like this mask because I am a tosser and tuner and sleep on my very little. This mask lets me move and sleep more comfortably. BUT, I wake up with air shoving my lips and mouth open and I have tried putting my tongue on roof of mouth, behind my front teeth, between my front teeth, curled back in mouth. I have tried holding my jaw clenched like it would be with pressure from chin strap...... Nothing is working. I don't want to use ff mask. I tried it last time I gave up CPAP. I am not a back sleeper and hated contenting with leaks. Is there anything else I can do?????

Thanks so much for all your help!

Dreaming

[Pugsy]

The GoLife needs some extra protection over the cheek straps and that plastic thing to limit the marks on the cheeks.
A little bit of fleece wrapped around the offending areas will help a lot.

Regarding the chipmunk cheeks....some people can't seem to master it for whatever reason.
Rested Gal had that problem. She used to wonder if the size of the tongue was a factor...just not big enough to act like a good barrier. Can you master it while awake? If not you may be in the same situation.
She chose to add a chin strap pretty snug to put pressure on the cheeks so they wouldn't inflate along with taping the mouth.
Would need to be a fairly wide chin strap I would suspect...something along the lines of an ace wrap maybe.

[Dreamingofsleep]

Thanks, Pugsy,
You know I wonder if this will work (chin strap) because like I said I tried holding my mouth closed. I notice my jaw is not comfortable being clamped shut it's like my bite is too tight......I am willing to try it though.

[Sir NoddinOff]

I also use nasal pillows. Early in my CPAP therapy I got chipmunk cheeks quite a bit, often to the point that I'd wake up. Reading some threads here, I eventually found that one inch 3M Durapore tape worked nicely to tape my mouth shut. It has small pores in it so any chipmunk cheek air slowly leaks out, gently deflating my cheeks. I found I was waking up less since my mouth wasn't popping open anymore.

As a side note: I no longer use the tape because eventually my tongue figured out how to seal itself to my palate, however about once a month my tongue will rebel and I'll mouth breathe a little, usually causing a dry mouth. I don't let it worry me... I simply grab the tape, slap some on and that's that. The next night I'm back to not using tape. There are dozens of long threads here about mouth taping and chinstraps, just search for those phrases. One little addendum: Once my chipmunk cheeks went away, my aerophagia went away also, that was a huge bonus.

[khauser]

About the tongue thing, of which I write from time to time. I have noticed that with me the NATURAL position of my tongue during the day, wide awake, is on the roof of the mouth (not forward touching the back of the front teeth, just up). It's not just the tip, either ... but the middle and tip.

I'm sure that different tongues behave differently in this regard. If I stick out my tongue it doesn't go very far ... it's wide but not long. Perhaps narrow long tongues would not have this ability. I don't know, of course, because it isn't hot-swappable!

(Reading this I realize that someone could take incredibly different meanings out of parts of the message ... LOL!)

[Dreamingofsleep]

thanks guys,
Hey sir - what is aerophasia?

[Dreamingofsleep]

Another thought, lol
The tape sounds scary...what if i have to breathe out of my mouth And, doesn't your mouth fill up anyway?

thanks so much, inquiring minds you know...
Dreaming

[Sir NoddinOff]

Another thought, lol
The tape sounds scary...what if i have to breathe out of my mouth And, doesn't your mouth fill up anyway? thanks so much, inquiring minds you know...
Dreaming

Aerophagia is the swallowing of air into the stomach, it can occur naturally by eating or drinking too fast but in the case of CPAP, the pressurized air is forced past the LES lower esophageal sphincter and bloats the stomach. This causes some people great discomfort... if you haven't experienced it by now that's really great.

Regarding mouth taping and safety: That's been a big topic in the past with lots of back and forth. I personally don't know anybody who's had a problem with it but others feel it's a bad practice. I'll look thru some past threads and see if I can find some that are representative. As for the air escaping thru the tape: That's the whole point, your cheeks will inflate a little but it's not generally uncomfortable since the pressure slowly leaks thru the tape. The only way to know if it's for you, is to try it. Same with chinstraps.

[Pugsy]

I resolved my initial apprehension about taping (way back when I first started therapy..don't tape now) by simply applying the tape during the daytime and seeing how easily it would come off.
I used blue painter's tape (had some leftover from a painting job) and I found out that it wasn't difficult at all to break the seal with just a little yawn or similar opening of the mouth.
It isn't like cement.
I also practiced breathing with the machine not providing air to simulate what would happen if the power went off.
I discovered there was enough air movement through the vents that I never got uncomfortable...I quit after breathing that way for 30 minutes out of boredom.

The very first night I taped we had a thunderstorm and lost power. When I woke up I wasn't uncomfortable at all. I just lay there breathing for a few minutes until I realized things were strangely quiet.

If power outage is scary thought... there are power outage alarms for around $10 available.

Vomiting seems to be a concern but I have never vomited in my sleep since I always wake up with the nausea long before the upchuck comes. Of course if someone is severely impaired (i.e. maybe really drunk) probably not the safest thing to be doing but most people that drunk probably would blow off even wearing the mask in the first place.

Of course if anyone frequently has sudden severe nasal congestion probably wouldn't be a good idea to tape but I never have had that sort of nasal congestion pop up.

Taping is going to be a personal choice. Some people are totally comfortable with it and others aren't. If someone doesn't like the idea...then don't do it.

I only needed to tape for about 2 months then my mouth seemed to learn to stay shut.
I have never had the chipmunk cheek issue. Keeping my tongue in place to block the air from entering the oral cavity is something I seem to do naturally. In fact it takes considerable concentration for me to move my tongue to allow the air to enter my mouth.

[chunkyfrog]

These leave enough of my mouth uncovered so I can breathe, talk, and sip through a straw.
http://www.chinupstrip.com/Strip_Applied.htm
I've cut my own from blue painters tape and J&J cloth tape.
(1", 1½", and 2" tape, narrower width requires more tack)