? mouth appliance to keep tongue in place

[CoastalSun]

Well, I still have the issue of dry mouth at night despite low leak rates. Even taping my mouth, or using a chin strap doesn't prevent the dry mouth issue. The past few nights have been brutal! And my noturnal polyuria is back in full force and I mean POLYURIA! (My AHI is up and down like a yo-yo depending on how much flow limitation I have during REM.)

So ... a thought: on the weekend, I recorded two nights to see if I was snoring or could hear air leaks. Nothing. I am thinking that my tongue relaxes and drops but my mouth stays shut. Therefore, air is rushing in 'the back door' and my mouth dries out. Thoughts?

If this is true, how can I keep my tongue on the roof of my mouth and maintain a seal so my mouth doesn't dry out? It's severe enough to wake me up several times with an extremely parched mouth.

Thanks!

[Julie]

WHY don't you just wear a FF mask? It's not rocket science and there are enough out there so that you can be comfortable in one of them.

[LSAT]

The logical answer to your question is FULL FACE MASK. That is what they were developed
for. t may or not work for you,but when all else fails...........

[Sheffey]

Try one of these. There is a bar that keeps the tongue in place - http://www.zyppah.com/

[Pugsy]

Full face mask users often complain of dry mouth so using full face mask doesn't guarantee no dry mouth even at maximum humidity delivery. We see people complain of bad dry mouth and they are already using a full face mask and maximum humidity.
It will prevent loss of therapy pressure if the air is exiting the mouth but if the air isn't exiting the mouth i.e. lips are staying closed ...then the dry mouth isn't likely from mouth breathing and probably from something else.
There are other reasons for dry mouth besides mouth breathing. Besides..it can take very little mouth breathing to dry out the mouth. 10 minutes of mouth breathing can/will do it and one doesn't always have massive loss of therapy during mouth breathing (I had a chance to see it on a report and if I hadn't woke up mouth breathing no one could have spotted the mouth breathing leak) and even if there was a massive leak for 10 minutes...not the end of the world.
Some people simply don't want to go the full face mask route and "don't want to" is a good enough reason especially when there is no guarantee it will fix dry mouth.

[Pugsy]

I am thinking that my tongue relaxes and drops but my mouth stays shut. Therefore, air is rushing in 'the back door' and my mouth dries out. Thoughts?

This possibility has been discussed before. It's plausible I would think. How to fix it if that is what is happening ....that's a million dollar question with no real concrete answer except hopefully with time the tongue learns to stay in position better and not get lazy and open the door.

If the nocturia is back and the AHI is up..maybe a closer look at the reports would be in order.

[chunkyfrog]

Since I have been more diligent about drinking my 8 glasses of water a day, I find my mouth is less dry in the morning.
Also, have you been tested for diabetes? High blood sugar can have this effect--and it can be really rough on your gums.

[Wulfman...]

Do you take any medications?
Do you have Diabetes?

There should be some logical reasons for what you're experiencing.......you just need to do some deductive reasoning and figure it out.
Without further information (CPAP pressure and other settings, leak rates, AHI, etc.), we can't offer much in the way of possibilities. However, the list of "the usual suspects" is fairly short.


Den

.

[Julie]

If you do have a dry mouth (and eyes) all day, however, you could have developed Sjogren's syndrome (an autoimmune problem) and should get checked for that.

[Jeannh]

I get a very dry mouth even with my mouth taped shut. Just how it works for me. I have the best luck with my bite guard and lots of "old" Biotene gel. I keep water on the nightstand. Some nights are better than others.