Mouth taping - moisture build up and persistent leaks

I am using the AirFit p10 nasal pillows.

When I tape my mouth, I notice upon waking up that the tape is soaking wet ( still in place over my mouth) and there is a build up in saliva inside my mouth. I also notice that areas around my lips can be dried out and look chapped. When I take the tape off upon waking up, I do not have extreme dry mouth. I use the humidifier setting of 3.0 on the S9.

If I don't mouth tape, I wake up with severe "cotton mouth."

I also notice on my ResMed S9 that my 95% leak values are often between 20 and 30 L/min. The total "large leak" time in SleepyHead is pretty much always under 10%. Just curious is to how I would have such persistent leaks if I'm taping my mouth shut. The pillows seem to fit pretty well. Maybe I am moving around too much in my sleep or the hose is snagging or something.

raisedfist wrote:Just curious is to how I would have such persistent leaks if I'm taping my mouth shut. The pillows seem to fit pretty well. Maybe I am moving around too much in my sleep or the hose is snagging or something.

The mask is moving around for some reason or other during sleep. Could be the hose pulling on the pillows...could be straps sliding around.

Taping the mouth doesn't prevent the other potential source of leaks..mask movement.

You might try using some sort of hose management system to route the hose upwards so that tossing and turning isn't as apt to cause the hose to tug on the nasal pillows.
The P10 nasal pillow mask system is really lightweight and doesn't take much tugging on it to break the seal. It's an advantage in one sense and a disadvantage in another sense.

Pugsy wrote:

raisedfist wrote:Just curious is to how I would have such persistent leaks if I'm taping my mouth shut. The pillows seem to fit pretty well. Maybe I am moving around too much in my sleep or the hose is snagging or something.

The mask is moving around for some reason or other during sleep. Could be the hose pulling on the pillows...could be straps sliding around.

Taping the mouth doesn't prevent the other potential source of leaks..mask movement.

You might try using some sort of hose management system to route the hose upwards so that tossing and turning isn't as apt to cause the hose to tug on the nasal pillows.
The P10 nasal pillow mask system is really lightweight and doesn't take much tugging on it to break the seal. It's an advantage in one sense and a disadvantage in another sense.

I switched to the medium pillows (from large) and put the hose over my headboard, and tried laying on one side last night and not move around too much. 95% value was 24L/M last night. Hopefully I can continue to improve this a bit more. I am using pretty high pressures though.

When I tape my mouth, I notice upon waking up that the tape is soaking wet ( still in place over my mouth) and there is a build up in saliva inside my mouth. I also notice that areas around my lips can be dried out and look chapped.

The tape may be in place but if you have chapped lip you have air as well as water coming threw. The excess water is evaporating, it the principle of an evaporative cooler, air conditioner. I use no heat in my humidifier, just air over the water. I use dental strips between my lips, the heat would soften it and blow out. I also use a chin strap which has several benefits other than supporting my chin; it protects the tape and offer resistance of movement to the headgear when placed over the straps.

I gave up on nasal cushions after a serious trial. Tried taping, chin straps, etc. No luck. It finally dawned on me what was going on. Apparently my nasal passages close up spontaneously one at a time or both. Lasts for awhile. Passages reopen for awhile only to close up again. I figure I'm definitely better off with a full face cushion. Despite the occasional dry mouth upon waking, working out much better as I'm managing to get 5-6 hours sleep per night. The key was accepting reality that the full face cushion worked best for me.

I gave up on nasal cushions after a serious trial. Tried taping, chin straps, etc. No luck. It finally dawned on me what was going on. Apparently my nasal passages close up spontaneously one at a time or both. Lasts for awhile. Passages reopen for awhile only to close up again. I figure I'm definitely better off with a full face cushion. Despite the occasional dry mouth upon waking, working out much better as I'm managing to get 5-6 hours sleep per night. The key was accepting reality that the full face cushion worked best for me.

Magstermile:
You are so right, there is no single solution, every individual must find their own key. I spent my whole working life finding solutions to mechanical problems; I like you first had to understand the problem. When I was first diagnosed with sleep apnea I would come on this board everyday to read the problems and solutions similar to my own.
I like the nasal pillows, I can tell if the a leak is from my mouth or the pillows by the leak line in sleep software app; from the mouth the line is like static, from the nose the line leak increase is rectangular.
I started out using the low adhesive painters tape, until they changed the adhesive formulary which smelled real bad. Made in China who was found quite often using cancer causing products. Most medical tapes are pores by design, that has to be factored in, it took a lot of trial and error until I figured out what works for me. 5-6 hours sleep with 100% compliance is livable.