Reducing Dry Mouth Due to Mouth Breathing

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
CPAP-Stuff
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2023 11:41 am

Reducing Dry Mouth Due to Mouth Breathing

Post by CPAP-Stuff » Tue Mar 21, 2023 6:39 pm

Writing this in case it helps someone else. Perhaps this is a well-known workaround; this is my first post on this site.

Keep reading if you fall into this category:
  • You experience unpleasant dry mouth when using a CPAP, and have yet to find a comfortable solution
  • The dry mouth is caused by air leaking out from your lips, even though your jaw is still shut
I've been using a CPAP for years (most recently, Airsense 10 with nasal pillows), and have consistently suffered from CPAP-induced dry mouth. Until about a week ago, I hadn't found any reliable solution that I was happy with.

I believe that my problem is that pressure builds up in my mouth which forces just my lips open, so a prolonged, minor slow outgoing leak develops. I don't think it's that my chin drops, though I can't be positive. My unsuccessful solutions included:
  • Heated tubing and humidifier, which I still use, and are helpful but don't address the problem
  • Trying a full face mask for a short time, but the leakage problems were annoying, and I still ended up with dry mouth on top if it all
  • Taping my mouth closed. It made me anxious. In spite of the CPAP, I still wake up gasping for air a few times a year, and the thought of being unable to instantly open my mouth was unnerving. Taping only part of my mouth didn't help, since the location of the leak changes depending on my sleeping position. Plus there were the issues of cost, skin irritation, and the inability to talk without removing the tape.
  • Chinstraps helped but were an incomplete solution. They only produced a minor benefit in preventing my lips from being forced open by internal air pressure.
I used scissors to cut out various strips of opaque, stretchy, thin women's tights, ending up with circular bands of various dimensions. The cuts were made parallel to the waist. I ended up with one band from just below the waistline, and also several from the thigh areas. The strips are from 3" to 6" in height. I'm sure I can get more usable bands from this one set of tights, since they are so stretchy. However, the one from the waist area is a bit too loose -- I prefer the smaller ones from the legs.

Then I stretch a band over my head such that in the front, it covers from beneath my chin to just above my upper lip (so it encompasses my entire mouth and the underside of my chin), and located in the back such that it provides the necessary stability (more or less directly opposite the chin area). I put the mask on after putting on this band.

These bands put mild pressure on my lips directly, but it's enough to make my lips much more resistant to internal air pressure in my mouth. They also offer the advantages that they're easy to make, can be re-used and are therefore fairly inexpensive, and can be purchased all over the place. And I can breathe, and kinda talk if necessary without removing the band. And there's no velcro to adjust.

The results for my first week are encouraging (see images via imgur link below). My average leak rate is half of what it was prior to the modification. All the other leak statistics have also improved substantially. And I've noticed zero instances of severe dry mouth.

There are several issues with this workaround:
  • The machine is reporting somewhat higher AHI and greater time in Obstructive apnea, yet fewer Clear Airway events. I have to believe this is due to improved accuracy as a result of lower leakage rates, since it's hard to imagine that this change could affect the behavior of the underlying apnea, or that making the CPAP less leaky would worsen my symptoms. But if anyone has any theories, I'm ready to hear them.
  • The tights can temporarily lose their effectiveness when I reposition myself during the night unless I make minor adjustments, such as tightening them a bit. So when I roll over, I give them a quick test and (if necessary) a tweak before falling back asleep.
  • It looks weird, although perhaps not as weird since the pandemic has normalized mask wearing. And certainly I look less reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter, as I did with the chinstrap ("It puts the distilled water in the reservoir!").
  • It leaves visible panty lines on my face, somewhat like the chinstrap, but exacerbated by the fabric curling at the edges.
So overall I'm pleased with the results. The only difference to how I feel is that I'm not getting dry mouth. The higher AHI and Time-in-Apnea metrics are concerning, but still not too bad, and unless there's a reason to think that the tights are actually inducing more apnea, I'll inclined to assume it's due to greater measurement accuracy and sensitivity, or perhaps an artifact of this small sample size.

You can quickly test to see whether this might help you. Close your mouth and try to exhale though your mouth without actively opening your mouth or lips, and observe how much (i.e., little) pressure it takes for the pressure to open your lips to let air escape. Now take two fingers (such as index and middle) and place them gently against your closed lips such that they apply light pressure against the full surface area of your lips, and try the exhalation again. If you're like me, the pressure has to build up substantially before air starts escaping.

It could be that this would work with fabrics other than tights.

Three images: https://imgur.com/a/NfrbX9w

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zonker
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Re: Reducing Dry Mouth Due to Mouth Breathing

Post by zonker » Tue Mar 21, 2023 6:58 pm

CPAP-Stuff wrote:
Tue Mar 21, 2023 6:39 pm
Writing this in case it helps someone else. Perhaps this is a well-known workaround; this is my first post on this site.
sounds close to what i use, which was posted by a forum member long ago-
viewtopic.php?p=1089718&f=1&t=112758&p= ... s#p1086296

oh and welcome to the zoo!
people say i'm self absorbed.
but that's enough about them.
Oscar-Win
https://www.apneaboard.com/OSCAR/OSCAR-1.5.1-Win64.exe
Oscar-Mac
https://www.apneaboard.com/OSCAR/OSCAR-1.5.1.dmg

CPAP-Stuff
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Re: Reducing Dry Mouth Due to Mouth Breathing

Post by CPAP-Stuff » Tue Mar 21, 2023 7:07 pm

zonker wrote:
Tue Mar 21, 2023 6:58 pm
CPAP-Stuff wrote:
Tue Mar 21, 2023 6:39 pm
Writing this in case it helps someone else. Perhaps this is a well-known workaround; this is my first post on this site.
sounds close to what i use, which was posted by a forum member long ago-
viewtopic.php?p=1089718&f=1&t=112758&p= ... s#p1086296

oh and welcome to the zoo!
Ah, I hadn't seen that post -- guess I didn't use the right search terms. Thank you, yes, this is very similar.

I'm guessing that the advantages of my solution are that the bands can be of arbitrary width and size, cutting the ear holes is not necessary (it's quite stable without them), and the fabric is single-layer and very breathable. On the other hand, I bet the headband solution is better at resisting airflow, if there happens to be any.

Thanks!

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Miss Emerita
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Re: Reducing Dry Mouth Due to Mouth Breathing

Post by Miss Emerita » Tue Mar 21, 2023 7:13 pm

I use a version of the Zonker method with great success. Now I’m eager try cutting up an old pair of tights. Many thanks for sharing your hack. I’m sure other people will find it helpful!
Oscar software is available at https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/

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zonker
Posts: 11011
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2015 4:36 pm

Re: Reducing Dry Mouth Due to Mouth Breathing

Post by zonker » Tue Mar 21, 2023 8:12 pm

CPAP-Stuff wrote:
Tue Mar 21, 2023 7:07 pm


Ah, I hadn't seen that post -- guess I didn't use the right search terms. Thank you, yes, this is very similar.

I'm guessing that the advantages of my solution are that the bands can be of arbitrary width and size, cutting the ear holes is not necessary (it's quite stable without them), and the fabric is single-layer and very breathable. On the other hand, I bet the headband solution is better at resisting airflow, if there happens to be any.

Thanks!
hey, at least you searched, right? :lol:

i've done some mods on the scunci method. apparently, my head isn't shaped like his as i didn't need to cut holes.

whatever works to get one through the night on cpap.
people say i'm self absorbed.
but that's enough about them.
Oscar-Win
https://www.apneaboard.com/OSCAR/OSCAR-1.5.1-Win64.exe
Oscar-Mac
https://www.apneaboard.com/OSCAR/OSCAR-1.5.1.dmg