My mouth fills with air like a balloon

[Sneely0610]

I'm a newbie, this is my 4th night on CPAP and I'm struggling. I have several family members on CPAP and had an idea of the mask I wanted to use only to have my DME forget to order it, and then ask me to try a new nasal pillow mask, and if I really didn't like it he would order the one I wanted. Which I'm really not enjoying nuance nasal pillows and think I'll be requesting that they order the one I asked for in the first place. But I don't think the mask is my problem other than comfort, but I'm feeling like I have to hold my tongue funny to keep the air pressure from filling up my mouth. Every time I relax my tongue my mouth fills up like a balloon and it pushes my mouth open. I'm using a ResMed S9 which is great for exhaling because my pressure drops to a 2 from a 12 but it's a pain having to keep my tongue pushed up against the top of my mouth. Anyone have any ideas or tips? I know that with my mouth open I'm not getting any benefit. I also don't usually sleep with my mouth open so I do t know how to address this problem.

Thanks for any help given!

[kaiasgram]

Hi Sneely, welcome to the forum. You pretty much gotta do that "funny tongue thing." If you enter 'chipmunk cheeks' into the Search box above you'll find lots of discussions about this. It does take some time and practice to keep your tongue on the roof of your mouth while asleep. Hang in there.

[StillSleeping]

Hi,

Same thing happened, to me. A wider masked fixed it though.

Let us know how you get on!

[welshmike]

I had same problem. Sleeping on my side (left hand) and not on my back fixed the problem.

[robysue]

I'm using a ResMed S9 which is great for exhaling because my pressure drops to a 2 from a 12 but it's an outing having to keep my tongue pushed up against the top of my mouth.

The boldfaced phrase makes no sense. Perchance you have EPR = 2??? In that case, your pressure drops from 12 to 10 when you exhale. And yes, that 2cm drop can make a big difference in comfort.

The funny tongue thing? If you're using a nasal pillows mask or a nasal mask, it's something you have to do. You do get used to the funny tongue thing after a while----it turns out that the funny tongue thing is really pretty much where the tongue is supposed to be when we're breathing normally and we're NOT talking or eating.

[Sneely0610]

I'm using a ResMed S9 which is great for exhaling because my pressure drops to a 2 from a 12 but it's an outing having to keep my tongue pushed up against the top of my mouth.

The boldfaced phrase makes no sense. Perchance you have EPR = 2??? In that case, your pressure drops from 12 to 10 when you exhale. And yes, that 2cm drop can make a big difference in comfort.

The funny tongue thing? If you're using a nasal pillows mask or a nasal mask, it's something you have to do. You do get used to the funny tongue thing after a while----it turns out that the funny tongue thing is really pretty much where the tongue is supposed to be when we're breathing normally and we're NOT talking or eating.

First off sorry that I didn't make sense to you, outing was supposed to be pain but auto correct got way off track. Like I said I'm a newbie and was told by my RT that my pressure is set at 12 and then when exhaling would drop to a pressure of 2 (he didn't use actual terminology, those were his words) There is almost no pressure when I exhale, which is why they put me on that machine because during my sleep study I really struggled to exhale against the air pressure. Like said not even a week into this journey

Secondly having to press my tongue to the roof of my mouth is not normal position, I know that our tongues touch the hard and soft pallet even when relaxed but I'm not able to relax my mouth (tongue, jaw, and cheeks) to keep my cheeks from blowing up like a balloon and pushing my lips apart.

Thank you to those that took the time to answer, I'll contact my RT today and see if they have any suggestions.

[kaiasgram]

... was told by my RT that my pressure is set at 12 and then when exhaling would drop to a pressure of 2...

Are you sure he didn't say it would drop by a pressure of 2? The lowest pressure possible on the machine is 4, so I don't think your pressure (even on exhale) can be 2. Which means what robysue said is correct, your exhalation pressure is dropping by 2 cms. The good news here is that perhaps you can get a little more exhalation relief than you're currently getting. Ask your RT to clarify.

[avi123]

I don't put my tongue against any thing to prevent air pressure to inflate my cheeks as a Chipmunk. This is b/c my glottis does the shutting. But if I use certain masks then my cheeks would tend to inflate, for example when I try nasal pillows mask. IMO, those masks that confine the face either with a solid frame, in full face masks, or the straps in traditional nasal masks (like the one I am using) do not let the cheeks to become inflated. They do it by physical confinement.

See here my recent full one year Stats :



I am trying to find the reasons why the ResScan Stats show those skipped days from 365

So I am comparing it to a previous yearly checkup. But no clue yet.