another newbie, going well, but….

I have my first four nights on the Cpap and am determined to make this work, I am a believer, however like many it's not smooth sailing yet. So my first question is my AHI readings the first four nights were 11.48, 6.78, 7.01, and 8.14. I obviously had some great improvement initially, but have worsened three nights in a row. I don't want to get hung up on that, but when I wake I can tell that it has worsened. I am a ffm user and mouth breather, so much so that I know when I wake or am aware that my mouth is absolutely wide open! Consequently I am having a lot of dry mouth and lips, etc. Due to that I am focused on the humidifier and have already cranked it up to 5, and also turned off the auto setting. This morning when I woke I was still very dry after turning up the humidifier last night, and I the humidifier was still half full. Actually it's been half full each night and the settings have not seemed to affect it.

I would like to solve the dry mouth issue first, and issue by issue tweak things until I am sleeping well. Anything that I can do to improve humidification? Or is that even the problem?

I would like to post my Sleepyhead data, but I haven't figured that out yet, I will look after posting this. Thank you all in advance for your help, this forum seems really great!

I am confused what the question is.
If they started you out on a BiPap that is great. What are your settings?
It is not easy getting things settled but with your determination it will work.

lastmango wrote:I have my first four nights on the Cpap and am determined to make this work, I am a believer, however like many it's not smooth sailing yet. So my first question is my AHI readings the first four nights were 11.48, 6.78, 7.01, and 8.14. I obviously had some great improvement initially, but have worsened three nights in a row. I don't want to get hung up on that, but when I wake I can tell that it has worsened. I am a ffm user and mouth breather, so much so that I know when I wake or am aware that my mouth is absolutely wide open! Consequently I am having a lot of dry mouth and lips, etc. Due to that I am focused on the humidifier and have already cranked it up to 5, and also turned off the auto setting. This morning when I woke I was still very dry after turning up the humidifier last night, and I the humidifier was still half full. Actually it's been half full each night and the settings have not seemed to affect it.

I would like to solve the dry mouth issue first, and issue by issue tweak things until I am sleeping well. Anything that I can do to improve humidification? Or is that even the problem?

I would like to post my Sleepyhead data, but I haven't figured that out yet, I will look after posting this. Thank you all in advance for your help, this forum seems really great!

As far as proper cpap therapy, the mouth breathing is not an issue as long as you are using a full face mask. Try Biotene (you can use a cheaper-generic brand) rinse before going to bed. I think you should put many nights under your belt before tackling the ahi numbers. WE are all different and your numbers may be the best you can get. Your determination is a plus and after several months, I'll bet your ahi will drift down.

Sheriff

Are you by chance using the heated hose that is optional on your machine?
Heated hose has a black end on it where it attaches to the humidifier.
How to post images of your reports is explained here with examples.

Screen shot thread viewtopic.php?f=1&t=81072&p=737779#p737779

Thanks for your response. My settings are 19/15 per the Dr., is that what you are looking for?

My question was regarding the humidification and dry mouth:

1) My AHI has been worsening each night and it makes sense based on how tired I feel in the morning. Since I have alot of dry mouth, should I focus on fine tuning the humidification? Is that the problem?
2) The auto regulating function on the Cpap is turned off, and the setting is turned up to 5, but it seems like I am not getting any more humidification because the water is always half or more full regardless of the setting. Does that make sense?

Guest wrote:I am confused what the question is.
If they started you out on a BiPap that is great. What are your settings?
It is not easy getting things settled but with your determination it will work.

lastmango wrote:I have my first four nights on the Cpap and am determined to make this work, I am a believer, however like many it's not smooth sailing yet. So my first question is my AHI readings the first four nights were 11.48, 6.78, 7.01, and 8.14. I obviously had some great improvement initially, but have worsened three nights in a row. I don't want to get hung up on that, but when I wake I can tell that it has worsened. I am a ffm user and mouth breather, so much so that I know when I wake or am aware that my mouth is absolutely wide open! Consequently I am having a lot of dry mouth and lips, etc. Due to that I am focused on the humidifier and have already cranked it up to 5, and also turned off the auto setting. This morning when I woke I was still very dry after turning up the humidifier last night, and I the humidifier was still half full. Actually it's been half full each night and the settings have not seemed to affect it.

I would like to solve the dry mouth issue first, and issue by issue tweak things until I am sleeping well. Anything that I can do to improve humidification? Or is that even the problem?

I would like to post my Sleepyhead data, but I haven't figured that out yet, I will look after posting this. Thank you all in advance for your help, this forum seems really great!

I was not given the heated hose, but have wondered if that is part of the problem. However, it seems odd that regardless how much I turn up the humidification settings (and turned off the auto setting) that I not only have a very dry mouth but there is always a half full container of water left.

Thanks for your response!

I am at work now so I will have to post the Sleepy head results tonight...

Pugsy wrote:Are you by chance using the heated hose that is optional on your machine?
Heated hose has a black end on it where it attaches to the humidifier.
How to post images of your reports is explained here with examples.

Screen shot thread viewtopic.php?f=1&t=81072&p=737779#p737779

So you don't have a heated hose and you turned off the automatic new humidification system and changed it to Classic mode at a setting of 5 in an attempt to maximize humidity output? Is that pretty much it?

How many hours of sleep are you getting? What's the humidity in general where you live?

The humidifier can't always put out enough moisture to re-hydrate the mouth for some people...either the mouth breathing is simply too much or maybe meds are a factor because it never was designed to help with the mouth....it was designed to help with the nose...much smaller area to hydrate.

This board is full of full face mask users who complain of dry mouth despite maxing out their humidifier's moisture output.

I don't know if using the heated hose set to maximum 3 humidity (that's 90%) with heated hose attached would give you more moisture than Classic mode set at 5. But this winter if you like cool bedroom...Classic mode 5 is a recipe for rain out for sure...heated hose will prevent that.
See this for information on settings available with heated hose.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/pr-sys ... ifier.html
There is an adapter kit that can change your machine so it will accommodate the heated hose if it isn't already upgraded....lid, power supply and hose. I did it to my machine..easy.

Hi Pugsy,

Yes, that's it. No auto humidification at all, and turned manual to 5. Odd that it isn't using more water though, right?

I am in Michigan so we do have the furnace on already , but I don't know the humidity in the room right now. I will check it. I do sleep in a cool room though.

Rainout is excessive moisture in the hose or mask?

lastmango wrote:Rainout is excessive moisture in the hose or mask?

Yes: it is condensed water usually in the hose. When breathing, it sounds like a trap door. If you have it, make sure the machine is below your head, and bumping up your humidity level will also help.

Sherif

Yes...odd that in Classic mode set to 5 it doesn't use more water unless you aren't getting many hours on the machine. When I used it for about 7 hours it would pretty much use up all the water.
You for sure are seeing the "C" in front of the 5? If so, that means classic mode.
Now if you weren't in Classic mode then the lack of water usage wouldn't be a surprise to me but unless your hours of sleep are short....I would also think more water would be used when maxed out at Classic mode 5.

I don't know if using a heated hose will get you any more moisture or not...and certainly don't know if it would be enough to help hydrate the mouth. Some people's mouth just gets dried out more and easier than others.
Some people even complain of dry mouth when they tape their lips shut and there's no chance of mouth breathing.

I wish I could offer you something concrete that you could do but we have many people here who complain of dry mouth no matter what they do or try.
Full face mask use is no guarantee that the mouth won't dry out as you have found out. It does of course eliminate loss of therapy pressure from mouth breathing.

Do you have a lot of nasal congestion forcing you to mouth breathe a lot? Or is it out of mainly habit?
Have you checked to see if you could keep your lips closed if the dry mouth would reduce?....like a chin strap?

If you like a cooler bedroom and live where you live...if you continue to use Classic mode at 5 you are going to get rain out when it turns off colder. You might want to investigate getting the humidifier set up for a heated hose anyway...there's a real good chance you are going to need it and then you could at least try the 90% humidity delivery to see if it helps the dry mouth at all.

Rain out...condensation in the mask or hose....won't hurt you but it is highly annoying and you would be surprised at how much noise a teaspoonful of water makes in the hose. It even wakes my husband when I have it happen and it's happened enough that he recognizes the cause.
Heated hose totally fixed that problem for me...I like maximum humidity and a rather cold bedroom and in the winter rain out was something I saw often even with hose cozies and barrel cozies. For me the heated hose was pretty much the best thing since sliced bread. I can have my constant high humidity and change the air temp to warmer in the winter for both comfort and rain out control..and cooler in the summer when warmer air doesn't feel so great when it's hot outside.

Otherwise we tell people who complain of dry mouth to do the usual....add some sort of dry mouth product in hopes it helps out..like Biotene or something similar.