Trigeminal Neuralgia, Sleep Apnea and Mask

I have trigenimal neuralgia, one surgery on right side. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea 1 year after the the surgery. I use the nose pillow and it has worked great for few years however, I have become more of a mouth breather and I am fearful of full face mask. Currently I put a very firm oval neck pillow under my chin to hold my mouth shut. It works pretty well but now I need something a little better. I have tried chin strap and it causes some sensations. I have decided to design some sort of pillow that I can wear UNDER my chin that will contour to my chin and apply enough pressure to keep my mouth shut., something thicker and firmer. It sounds silly but for someone with the awful TN, it is a good alternative . It takes a little getting used to but helps. I have become a back sleeper due to my TN. I hope this helps someone.

Hello and welcome. My mother suffered greatly with TN. Thankfully she didn't have sleep apnea so didn't have to deal with mask straps aggravating it. She took Neurontin which took a bit of the edge off, but due to side effects was unable to take a high enough dose to really relieve her pain. A friend also had it and opted for the nerve block. Hopefully you'll be able to rig something to hold your jaw up and avoid a full face mask. Sounds like you're into creative problem solving, so you're a step ahead. You might want to try training your tongue to stay suction sealed to the roof of the mouth. When my tongue is sealed, my jaw can relax a bit and still not break the seal. Not a 100% fix but I consider it a valuable tool to mitigate the problems. I have not developed full blown TN but have occasional zaps and zings along those nerve lines that make me wary. My two favorite masks that do not need straps nor do they have a facial footprint are the TapPap and the Bleep Dreamport. Haven't looked at the hybrid style full face masks lately. Remember that some of them have less of a facial footprint, but strap position would be the main consideration I would think. Now I'm curious if there is a mask out there that is recommended for persons with TN - anybody know?