Balloon Mouth

Greetings!
I was more tired than I should have been last fall. Saw the doctor, blood work was great. She ordered a sleep test in early Dec. Bureaucratic nightmare ensued, resulting in a home test in late March, a sleep lab in late April and I just got my machine this past Wednesday. My levels of frustration with this whole process are very high.

They tell me I have mild apnea with 5.9 events per hour. As for my symptoms, I would generally sleep through the night, feel ok upon waking up, feel pretty tired by 10 or 11am, need a nap in the afternoon, and just experience varying levels of tiredness all the time.

Now I have the CPAP. I can't sleep with it because as soon as I fall asleep, my mouth fills up with air and wakes me up. This happened a dozen times the first night. I took it off after the 4 hour mark and finished the night without it. Each night since, I do try to sleep with the mask on, but within a short time, I am woken up by balloon mouth. So, I wear the mask and watch stupid stuff on my phone for the next 3.5 hours, take it off and sleep like I usually would. I can get used to a mask. I can get used to the air pressure. I can't get used to being woken up every 20-30 minutes. I have tried the "make your tongue fill up your mouth when you go to sleep" bit. It doesn't work for me.

I wake up in the morning and cry while brushing my teeth because I am so tired and frustrated. This is not better. This is going to kill me before sleep apnea does.

I have a ResMed AirSense 10 with nasal pillows. It is set to ramp up from 4 to 6 in 45 min., the max setting. I am here because the supply company and their sleep coaches have bankers hours.

Common problem....search the forum for "chipmunk cheeks".

Thank you. Having the right search terms makes for better results.

I don't think the suggestions for keeping your mouth closed are going to work for me. My mouth is closed when I wake up. I don't think it's a matter of my jaw going slack, either. I just did a quick test with the machine and it happens with my mouth and jaw shut tight, but my tongue is loose. It's a little confusing because at the lab, they did a titration study. I started with the face mask around my mouth and nose because at bedtime I am usually mildly congested. The mask they gave me had a serious problem with leakage. After 5 hours of not sleeping because of the noise, they switched me to a nasal mask that completely covered my nose, and I don't remember this problem happening. The problem with that mask at the lab was the hose disconnecting at the drop of a hat, but not the chipmunk cheeks. I actually slept for a bit with that one on.

You mention your tongue being loose. The best thing I did for myself in 15 years of CPAP use was training my tongue to stay suction sealed to the roof of my mouth. Took some time, but it became second nature and it stays sealed there day and night. Not sure in what position you sleep, but if it is on your side, if you place the front of your face off the edge of the pillow so it dips down just a bit, gravity will help your tongue stay forward and less likely to pull away from the seal. Good luck with things.

I know your frustration, crankiness, and tiredness well. I felt the same for the first week or so, at least until I found this forum and read the sage advice from many for adjusting to the strange little beastie known as CPAP.

Consider a full face mask (FFM) such as a ResMed F20 (which covers you mouth and entire nose to the bridge) or F30/F30i (covers mouth and has a cushion below your nose, F30i just has the hose connection at the top of your head instead of in front). This may help with the chipmunk cheeks issue as the pressure is equalized, though you still may get it at or near max pressure. I have the same issue and have found it manageable with the F30i, only occasional chipmunk cheek problems now.

The nice thing about the F30 series is you can slowly train your tongue to be in the proper position to move to a nasal pillow or cushion if desired later when you have it under control. If you do relax it as you sleep it should not be a problem.