Can't keep my mouth shut at night.

I have been enjoying my Resmed P10. It works much better for me than the F10 did, since it allows me to sleep on my side. I never could figure out how to do that with the F10. Anyway, I use my P10 in combination with the PR Premium Chinstrap. It has served me well most nights, but I notice that some nights (more so recently) I have trouble keeping my mouth shut. This will wake me obviously. The chinstrap is only a couple months old, and I know they stretch over time, but don't know if that is the cause. What do others do to keep their mouths closed at night?

Use a "Full Face" mask. It doesn't cover your face like the Total mask would, but extends down a nasal one to cover your mouth, unless it's e.g. the 'Hybrid' (see Cpap.com for pix), covers your mouth, but has prongs or pillows going to your nose rather than having your nose covered as with standard nasal masks.

For the past couple of weeks I've been blowing air out even with a chinstrap. To stop this I've resorted to using 1" wide paper first-aid tape. If you decide to try the tape, I recommend that you fold the tape back on itself for about 1" to create a removal tab.

Chinstraps may help occasionally, but, a full face mask is the solution. With this mask, if you open your mouth you will not lose the therapy

If you want to keep trying the P10 do a search of the forum on taping your mouth. Several have tried it with success.

I use a 2" paper tape to hold my mouth closed. Fold one end of the tape over on itself. I put a power off alarm on the same power line as the apap. If you have your mask on and the Apap or Cpap going. Turn the power switch off you can still breath though the vent.You will have time to take the mask off when the alarm goes off. I tested it by having my Wife turn the power off to the Apap 2 different times.

Since I started using this procedure I have little or no leaks. My AHI is now between 0.1 and 0.9. Plus now no sore chin or marks on my face from the chinstrap.

VictorC wrote:I have been enjoying my Resmed P10. It works much better for me than the F10 did, since it allows me to sleep on my side. I never could figure out how to do that with the F10. Anyway, I use my P10 in combination with the PR Premium Chinstrap. It has served me well most nights, but I notice that some nights (more so recently) I have trouble keeping my mouth shut. This will wake me obviously. The chinstrap is only a couple months old, and I know they stretch over time, but don't know if that is the cause. What do others do to keep their mouths closed at night?

I use a 1" strip of 3M Transpore tape vertical from just under my nose to just under the chin as recommended by another poster here on the site. I do this even with the F10 ffm to prevent jaw drop. I find that I can easily open my mouth if needed and even breath through or around the tape. When using a nasal mask, I'll add a few squares to the corners of my mouth to make sure I'm not losing therapy, and I monitor the leak rate on Sleepyhead. This has worked or me even when I've been a slight bit congested.

At first, I thought this was nuts and thus so was I. However, it gave me great comfort and better sleep right from the start. It also allowed me to try nasal masks and soon to try the P10 you are using. Of course, the usual caveats apply. Certain medication use, pre-existing conditions, severe congestion, alcohol, Gerd with regurgitation, bouts of nausea, etc. would all preclude this approach. You just have to be smart and do what is comfortable to you. Taping isn't for everyone. Good luck!

Best,

Mike

Your post title reminded me of an old one,

The other night my wife sat down next to me as I was flipping channels.
She asked, "What's on TV?"
I said, "Dust."
And then the fight started...

Yep, we should keep our mouths shut.

Sirc

For my FFM (full face mask) use I found it started working a whole lot better when I started using tape. Fo me, the tape solves most of the issues with "mouth breathing" and "draw drop," which interrrupts the seal of a FFM (full face mask) because my face changes shape when that occurs and the seal is broken. It's not for everyone, but here's what I'd suggest:

Some people end up using chin straps with FFM's. I tried and disliked chin straps. I have now been using surgical tape for about a year now, and it has worked wonders and works very well for me. I use silk surgical type tape you can get off of Amazon, 2" wide. There's also a 1" wide version. If you gently pull it off in the morning, there's usually no problem. Just type something like "3M-Durapore-Silk-Tape 2 inches x 10 yards - box of 6" or the like on the Amazon site. For me, it works very well with a full face mask (FFM) -- the FFM helps prevent pressure problems if my jaw does open slightly, and the tape substantially prevents my jaw from dropping and also thereby keeps my face largely in the same "position" as I fall asleep (thereby avoiding the inevitable leaks that can occur when your facial shape changes from the point of initial placement/tightening of the mask). .

I was actually worried about not being able to breath with the tape if there was a shut-down. I've found that this set-up, however, offers very few worries:

For the silk tape, apply a 2inch wide strip vertically from a spot just above your upper lip (the indentation just below your nose) down to just under your chin (with your lips closed and your jaw in a comfortable place). As you bring the tape and press it underneath your chin, "fold" the edge back on itself (maybe a 1/2 inch or so) so that the edge hangs a bit from your chin -- makes for easier removal in case of emergency. Because it's only 2 inches wide and vertically placed, your entire mouth is actually not taped -- you can, in a pinch, breath around the edges -- and the silk tape itself I've found by accident (in opening my mouth with it being placed) will also let a little air in if you open your mouth forcefully. In short, it doesn't take too much force to maneuver or breath around the silk tape, but at the same time the tape seems to mostly keep my jaw from dropping when I relax and fall asleep, which is the whole point. [The setup also seems to work best when combined with the technique, described elsewhere on this site, of learning to relax with the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth as your mouth is closed, which "seals" the mouth from the nasal passage and helps prevent dry mouth]. (In placing the tape, I've also found it helpful to focus on firming the contact with the skin at the point below the nose and under the chin more than the lips, which seems to leave a little area of the lip region feeling less taped, if that makes sense). [To remove with less "tear", try pulling up vertically from underneath the chin till you reach your lip, then pull across "horizontally" for the remainder.]

The usual caveats about making up your own mind about this, considering safety issues, etc. apply, of course. But frankly, I'm surprised more people don't do this.

Sircadian wrote:Your post title reminded me of an old one,

The other night my wife sat down next to me as I was flipping channels.
She asked, "What's on TV?"
I said, "Dust."
And then the fight started...

Yep, we should keep our mouths shut.

Sirc

I loved this quote.......its too good!

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I used my F10 last night and did ok with it, though I can't slay I slept well. One positive thing about reverting back to the F10 is that I don't experience aerophagia with it like I do with my P10. I'll give this some more time, and if it works I'll be happy. Otherwise I can always try mouth taping.

sleepydc and Macpage has provided excellent advice on the "partial" mouth-taping with FFM. I did it today -- finally, the missing link to a successful therapy without drying out my mouth. Thanks!

tan wrote:sleepydc and Macpage has provided excellent advice on the "partial" mouth-taping with FFM. I did it today -- finally, the missing link to a successful therapy without drying out my mouth. Thanks!

Glad to hear it helped! It was sleepydc's posting that led me to try as well.

Best,

Mike

tan wrote:sleepydc and Macpage has provided excellent advice on the "partial" mouth-taping with FFM. I did it today -- finally, the missing link to a successful therapy without drying out my mouth. Thanks!

Glad it worked! I'd forgotten about the dry mouth problem, and I think the partial taping does help to prevent it!

I'm very new, only finishing up my second week of CPAP therapy. The clinic outfitted me with the Nuance nasal pillows when I got my CPAP device. I have to admit, I was skeptical because I was convinced that I slept with my mouth open, and in fact, have been told that I do. (I don't have a partner). But I wanted to give them a try before resorting to a mask.

But in fact I found that because the nasal pillows, when sealed correctly against my nose, created a vacuum within my airways, whenever I did attempt to open my mouth (when awake), that the vacuum would close my mouth back up. It was so basic I don't know why I didn't think about it before.

Again, this is only the experience of a newbie, with just 2 weeks experience so things could change.

Just my $.02 worth.