air leaking into closed mouth

I have a Luna CPAP and have recently lost a little over 30 pounds while taking Mounjaro shots. My AHI is 0.8 and in recent weeks I have had the weird sensation of air "bubbling" from my throat and out through my lips. My mouth already has a tendency to be very dry because of the medication and I sometimes have to take a sip of water when I wake up because my mouth is totally dry. My low pressure is set at 4, and the high was set at 9, but I lowered it to 8 today and hope that helps. I am wondering if, at an AHI of .8 (it was .6 about a month ago, before the annoying mouth leak started), do I need a CPAP, especially since I am continuing on the medication and should be losing about 1 1/2 - 2 pounds a week. I have had a CPAP for years and had a new sleep study in October at my previous weight and got the new CPAP in January.

Weight loss can change your pressure requirement EITHER WAY.
If 4 actually worked for you, (which I doubt), you may need a 6 or 7 now.
Raise the minimum.

Welcome! To answer your question about your dry mouth, we could use information about what kind of mask you use. (Actually, could you put your machine and mask information in your profile? That way it'll be there whenever anyone reads one of your posts.)

About whether you still need CPAP: when people lose a lot of weight, this is a question worth asking. But your *treated* AHI won't give you the answer; you'll need another sleep test. I'd suggest you wait until you get to your target weight before you try a new sleep test.

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Mon May 01, 2023 11:21 am

Weight loss can change your pressure requirement EITHER WAY.
If 4 actually worked for you, (which I doubt), you may need a 6 or 7 now.
Raise the minimum.

I wonder. The Suznh's AHI is very low, so I'm not sure we have much reason to recommend a change in the pressure settings. But your post makes me realize it'd be helpful to know the breakdown of the AHI (obstructive apnea, central apnea, hypopnea). Suznh, can you tell us?

I don't think I was every told what the cause of my sleep apnea is - I have always assumed it is obstructive sleep apnea. I lowered the max pressure yesterday to 8 and I didn't have any episode of walking up with air leaking from my mouth last night. My watch, with has a sleep monitoring app, didn't show any awake time during the night, which it has in the past. In the past, when I lost weight while using my old CPAP (set at 12, I believe) I would wake up with air blasting from my mouth. I lowered the air pressure substantially, and that stopped.

Thanks for filling out your profile! I was wondering about your the breakdown of your treated AHI, but I'm not familiar enough with your machine to know whether it's easy for you to see that information on the screen of your machine or in some other way.

If your AHI is still good with your maximum lowered to 8, then I think you've solved your immediate problems.

If you have a nasal mask and you open your mouth, your air will be short circuited. Air will flow in your nose and out your mouth. It will flow fast enough to dry out your mouth even if the humidity it on the maximum. Your machine will not prevent or indicate apneas when this happens. There are several things that might help, including a chin strap, mouth tape, or a cervical collar.