15 days with ResMed AutoSense CPAP: Seeking Advice on Mouthbreathing

Your experience sounds so much like my start with CPAP therapy over ten years ago. I never got nasal surgery for my deviated septum nor polyps. Tape over the mouth does not work for me. I roll to my back in sleep, and it shows on OSCAR reports. My first weeks with a full face mask were bizarre. I still don't know how I would pull the headgear off in my sleep while dreaming that the Alien movie monster, or an octopus was on my face. I would wake to find it next to me. I still rarely get good sleep, but my reports claim I am getting therapy for my severe apnea. It seems to me that the mask, all these years, contributes to loss of good sleep, but of course provides sorely needed breathing therapy.

What finally pushed me into accepting the mask, to a degree, was pretending to be on a high altitude flight as a crew member of a jet that required the use of an oxygen mask. It was a very long flight and my turn to sleep. I fell asleep imagining I was on the plane and the mask was required for my survival. This pretend thing worked, but I still wake on rare occasion finding the headgear off with no recollection of when I pulled it off.

I settled on the AirFit 10 mask Large. I should have medium by measurement but the large is more comfortable. My leak rate varies depending on how I move in the night and the condition/age of the mask but 90% of the time is <25. I change it out every month. It loses its elasticity quickly and by week two I have to tighten it too much to get a seal. I recently gave the F20 a try. For the first time I woke in the night from a stinging sensation where the mask touched my face. An angry rash had formed in the shape of the mask cushion so back to F10, I went.

About once a month, seemingly like a miracle, I wake rested and alert. I have several issues that can interfere with sleep. On the positive, my severely high blood pressure has come down, way down of late. Possibly loosing a few pounds and the CPAP therapy has allowed me to cease two of three BP meds.

Best of Luck

DRY MOUTH CAN BE GREATLY REDUCED BY USING A MOUTH APPLIANCE WITH VENTILATION HOLES. THIS REDUCES THE VOLUME OF AIR COMING OUT OF THE MOUTH. A CHIN STRAP CAN ALSO BE USED WITH THE MOUTH PEACE TO HELP KEEP THE MOUTH CLOSED. THIS IS INCONVENIENT TO WEAR ALL THIS STUFF BUT IT WORKING OK FOR ME. GIVE IT A TRY, GOOD LUCK.

GREAT wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 26, 2022 1:33 pm

DRY MOUTH CAN BE GREATLY REDUCED BY USING A MOUTH APPLIANCE WITH VENTILATION HOLES. THIS REDUCES THE VOLUME OF AIR COMING OUT OF THE MOUTH. A CHIN STRAP CAN ALSO BE USED WITH THE MOUTH PEACE TO HELP KEEP THE MOUTH CLOSED. THIS IS INCONVENIENT TO WEAR ALL THIS STUFF BUT IT WORKING OK FOR ME. GIVE IT A TRY, GOOD LUCK.

would you be so kind as to turn off your caps lock? on the internet, it's considered rude. it's as if you're shouting at folk.

thank you!

oh and welcome to the zoo!