No effect from humidifier.

From time to time I once again attempt to relieve the total mouth dryness my cpap machine causes. I fill the humidifier. Even maximum humidity does not prevent an extremely dry mouth.

My current machine has a heated tube. It may be why no water comes from the tank to my face/mouth, just vapor. Even though almost all the water has evaporated by morning, my mouth is stays totally dry through out a sleep session using the Resmed AirSense 10.

I will be getting new machine soon. I wonder if another may help, but I suspect my uncontrollable mouth breathing cannot be helped by a humidifier. I have tried chin straps without success.

If you have experienced this and solved the problem, please tell me how.

Thank you.

I became a mouth breather many years ago when I had a very badly deviated septum. I now breathe through my nose during the day, but revert to mouth breathing when I sleep. I have found that the combination of a firm foam cervical collar and Xylamelts along with the humidifier on my machine are sufficient to keep my mouth moist at night.

ejbpesca wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 23, 2022 12:34 pm

My current machine has a heated tube. It may be why no water comes from the tank to my face/mouth, just vapor.

That's the way the humidifier is supposed to work: It delivers water vapor (humidified air) to your face, mouth, and nose.

When you actually wind up with water in the mask, it's uncomfortable and we refer to it as rainout. And it's possible to have both rainout and a super dry mouth at the same time.

You also write:

Even though almost all the water has evaporated by morning, my mouth is stays totally dry through out a sleep session using the Resmed AirSense 10.

I will be getting new machine soon. I wonder if another may help, but I suspect my uncontrollable mouth breathing cannot be helped by a humidifier. I have tried chin straps without success.

Uncontrolled mouth breathing does allow the pressurized air to get into the oral cavity. And the breeze from the APAP can then dry your mouth out even if the air well humidified.

Two questions:

1) Pre-CPAP did you wake up with a dry mouth and/or keep a glass of water handy by your bed so you could drink something if you woke up?

2) What pressure range are you using?

And one suggestion: You might want to try a mouthwash or oral cream designed to help keep the mouth from drying out. Biotene is the usual brand recommended for trying to treat dry mouth symptoms that are not alleviated by the use of a heated humidifier and heated hose.

Xylimelt Tabs for mouth dryness

Curious how your AHI is doing with the mouth breathing? But sometimes you don't get sufficient data on your true AHI if the mouth leaking is bad. Any daytime sleepiness or other symptoms of poorly treated sleep apnea?

While things like Zylimelts may help the discomfort, it's important to work on the cause which is mouth breathing. Have you tried taping, a full face mask, or anything else to reduce mouth breathing?

According to OP's equipment profile he/she is already using a full face mask due to the known mouth breathing.

Increasing the humidity setting may or may not resolve the dry mouth issue mainly because everyone is different and these humidifiers weren't ever designed to re-hydrate the oral cavity. They were designed to re-hydrate the much smaller nasal cavity and the larger oral cavity is just too big and each person has their own rate of drying out of anything that has to be sorted out.

This is why we have full face mask users (and some even using maximum humidity) that have had to resort to some sort of oral additive to help moisten the oral cavity. Each person has to try each product to see if it helps them or doesn't help.

Some people just get dry mouth easier than others for any number of reasons. It is what it is.
Now increasing the humidity might help....and sure worth trying.

Thanks for the replies concerning dry mouth. High humidity setting, full face mask (because I mouth breath), Biotene, chin strap, have not worked. Six month AHI is 1.1. Pressure average is 15. From comments I see I may just be beyond fixing the dry mouth thing. Yep, heated tube fixed rainout, but still there is not enough vapor to keep my mouth from drying out so badly.

The one thing I have not tried is taping my mouth shut but removing the tape may be worse than the dry mouth.

Someone mentioned sleepiness in replies. I never have had relief of daytime sleepiness by using a cpap. It has been quite a disappointment. 4 Sleep studies each put me in the "severe," category of apnea, so for many years I have put the mask on nightly, hoping to bring down blood pressure at least, which I think has lowered with cpap use. I have other problems that keep me from getting decent sleep.

Okie bipap wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 23, 2022 12:48 pm

I became a mouth breather many years ago when I had a very badly deviated septum. I now breathe through my nose during the day, but revert to mouth breathing when I sleep. I have found that the combination of a firm foam cervical collar and Xylamelts along with the humidifier on my machine are sufficient to keep my mouth moist at night.

I have not tried a cervical collar nor taping my mouth shut. I tried Xylamelts and still woke up with a extremely dry mouth.

Janknitz wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 23, 2022 1:38 pm

Curious how your AHI is doing with the mouth breathing? But sometimes you don't get sufficient data on your true AHI if the mouth leaking is bad. Any daytime sleepiness or other symptoms of poorly treated sleep apnea?

While things like Zylimelts may help the discomfort, it's important to work on the cause which is mouth breathing. Have you tried taping, a full face mask, or anything else to reduce mouth breathing?

I have a full face mask, the leak rate varies, but even if a report says few leaks the dry mouth is still there. AHI six month average is 1.1. I have never gotten relief from daytime sleepiness by cpap, but that may be due to other sleep issues. I tried the melts with no luck. Taping my mouth shut was tried once but getting the tape off the next day was worse than having a dry mouth. Thanks.

ejbpesca,

You write:

ejbpesca wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 24, 2022 12:55 pm

Thanks for the replies concerning dry mouth. High humidity setting, full face mask (because I mouth breath), Biotene, chin strap, have not worked. Six month AHI is 1.1. Pressure average is 15. From comments I see I may just be beyond fixing the dry mouth thing. Yep, heated tube fixed rainout, but still there is not enough vapor to keep my mouth from drying out so badly.

So you've tried all the standard fixes with no real relief. If you are open to trying taping or a cervical collar, those are worth trying, but they still might not get you the relief you want.

Do you take any medication before bedtime? If so, is "dry mouth" among the known side effects for any of the medication you take?

You also mention:

Someone mentioned sleepiness in replies. I never have had relief of daytime sleepiness by using a cpap. It has been quite a disappointment. 4 Sleep studies each put me in the "severe," category of apnea, so for many years I have put the mask on nightly, hoping to bring down blood pressure at least, which I think has lowered with cpap use. I have other problems that keep me from getting decent sleep.

What other problems are interfering with you getting a decent night's sleep? And how much sleep do you actually get each night?

In other words:

When is bedtime? When is wake-up time?

How long does it take you to get to sleep at the beginning of the night?

How often do you wake up in the middle of the night? And when you do, is it usually because your mouth feels horribly dry? And when you wake up, how long does it take you to get back to night?

If you are waking up with a dry mouth multiple times during the night, you might also want to keep a big bottle of water on your nightstand and when you wake up, turn the CPAP off, take the mask off, drink enough water to make your mouth comfortable, and then put them mask back on, turn the machine back on, and go back to sleep.

And finally another big question: What make and model of CPAP do you use? If it records efficacy data as well as usage data, that might be useful in trying to understand why you haven't had any relief of your daytime sleepiness while using CPAP.

Robysue touched on something.

Seeing charts might help figure out if maybe pressure setting is too high.

Did someone explain tongue on the roof of the mouth method?

Taping and cervical collar should def be considered.

There are other diseases besides OSA that cause mouth dryness. Not only do I have OSA, but I am type 2 diabetic. When my a1c was 8+, constantly trusty, similar to mouth dryness. My A1C is now 6, and I don't notice the mouth dryness as much. I'm also a mouth breather and use a full face mask. Just something to consider, not saying its something else, but there are other reasons for mouth dryness/thrust than CPAP

Thanks for the replies. My machine indicates I am getting therapy. I only associate the dry mouth with treatment, not medications. Dry mouth does not wake me. I have no regular sleep pattern. I do drink water if I awake in the middle of the night. My CPAP pressure is set to a range. I did request the top pressure raised, but with its automation, that level is not reached. I tried taping but the removal of the tape was a worse experience than dry mouth. Chin straps could not hold the mouth shut.

One left not tried: I have not tried a cervical collar. Is that the same type used after surgery or whiplash, or is there a special one to prevent mouth breathing?

Thanks again.

ejbpesca wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 25, 2022 10:00 am

One left not tried: I have not tried a cervical collar. Is that the same type used after surgery or whiplash, or is there a special one to prevent mouth breathing?

Thanks again.

here's an example-
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0103MGBHU/re ... UTF8&psc=1

doesn't have to be through amazon. this is just what i've bought in the past. it's 4".

if you buy at your local drugstore, they are usually 3". they are in the aisle with the bedpans, crutches and such.

good luck!

This

ejbpesca wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 25, 2022 10:00 am

I have no regular sleep pattern.

could (partially) explain this:

ejbpesca wrote: ↑I never have had relief of daytime sleepiness by using a cpap. It has been quite a disappointment. 4 Sleep studies each put me in the "severe," category of apnea, so for many years I have put the mask on nightly, hoping to bring down blood pressure at least, which I think has lowered with cpap use.

For many people, establishing a regular sleep schedule and a regular sleep pattern can be critical for getting decent quality sleep. Not everybody's job allows them to do this, but unless your work requires you to frequently switch between Day and Night shifts, trying to establish some kind of a sleep routine that works for you can help with getting better quality sleep.

You also write:

ejbpesca wrote: ↑I have other problems that keep me from getting decent sleep.

But you have not given us any hint as to what those other problems are.

CPAP/APAP fixes sleep disordered breathing and nothing else. As long as you have other problems that prevent you from getting decent sleep, it is unreasonable to expect CPAP/APAP to change your bad sleep into good sleep. In other words, fixing the OSA is a necessary requirement for good sleep, but it is not sufficient by itself to guarantee good sleep.

In your case, you need to look at those other problems that are keeping you from getting decent sleep. Which of those problems can be addressed---either medically or through behavior changes? And which are things that you really cannot fix because the underlying problem cannot be fixed?