Tongue Retainer compatible with CPAP?

Hi there,

PROBLEM: CPAP therapy gets disrupted during REM sleep due to tongue seal coming undone. Usual remedies such as chin strap, soft cervical collar and mouth taping don't work.

IDEAL SOLUTION: Force tongue to stay rested against hard palate, ideally via strengthening the tongue. However, a more immediate solution is required.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: It must be compatible with CPAP and nasal mask. For example, suction cups that pull the tongue out are discarded.

Has anyone tried anything similar to the devices below?

https://www.quitsnoringsolution.com/pro ... nea-device

https://custmbite.com/products/snoring-system

I use the Airwavv night time mouthpiece. (The purple one.) It fits snugly on my lower teeth and my tongue rest on it and that keeps it upward all night. It is a boil and bite and you must follow the directions exactly. I've used it for 7 months now and it always works for me.

Bluper wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22, 2024 8:55 pm

I use the Airwavv night time mouthpiece. (The purple one.) It fits snugly on my lower teeth and my tongue rest on it and that keeps it upward all night. It is a boil and bite and you must follow the directions exactly. I've used it for 7 months now and it always works for me.

I saw it before but I wasn't sure if it'd work since it is supposed to be for sports mainly.

May I ask, what prompted you to look for that type of device? Same issue as mine?

Unkikonki wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22, 2024 6:06 pm

https://www.quitsnoringsolution.com/pro ... nea-device

This one is interesting. Too bad they don't have photos of it in use. I don't have a good understanding of how it works. I like that no fitting is required.

Unkikonki wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22, 2024 6:06 pm

https://custmbite.com/products/snoring-system

This one is also interesting, but the user has to fit it. I've never had good results with the ones that I fitted myself.

Here is the one I use - https://www.nosebreathe.com/

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 23, 2024 5:49 pm

Here is the one I use - https://www.nosebreathe.com/

Thanks for sharing. It seems that your device keeps the tongue in place by fitting it into the shelf and using "tongue suction". I am not sure this is going to be enough for me as using "tongue suction" alone has proven extremely ineffective for me. When I reach REM sleep, my muscles relax so much that my tongue falls back, even if it was suctioned against the hard palate. I need something that forces the tongue to remain pulled forward resting against the palate.

Unkikonki wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 24, 2024 10:16 pm

I need something that forces the tongue to remain pulled forward resting against the palate.

If you find something that works well, please update this thread.

The Airwavv for night I use is small and I find very comfortable. After you fit it to your teeth, it literally snaps onto them and holds well. There is a shelf that your tongue naturally rest on. It doesn't seal your tongue to the roof of your mouth but lifts it up and I find that's all I need to nose breath. Only the purple one is for sleep. Yes, they were designed for athletes but work well on this 69 year old woman. I found it after trying everything else out there that's designed for apnea.

Bluper wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 25, 2024 9:55 am

The Airwavv for night I use is small and I find very comfortable. After you fit it to your teeth, it literally snaps onto them and holds well. There is a shelf that your tongue naturally rest on. It doesn't seal your tongue to the roof of your mouth but lifts it up and I find that's all I need to nose breath. Only the purple one is for sleep. Yes, they were designed for athletes but work well on this 69 year old woman. I found it after trying everything else out there that's designed for apnea.

Thanks for the update, sounds very promising.

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 25, 2024 5:27 am

If you find something that works well, please update this thread.

Last night I tried something that worked quite well. So far, I've always been sleeping with a soft cervical collar on to prevent chin tucking. Not that I had a problem with chin tucking, but I thought it could help improve CPAP therapy. Well, early this morning, around 5am, when atonic REM set in and started to arouse me out of sleep, I decided to tuck my chin against the cervical collar as much as possible to keep my jaw in place. Surprisingly, that worked quite well. The most important improvement is that I finally managed to fall back asleep during atonic REM sleep, something that was impossible with CPAP before. I did wake up a couple of times, and I can't say that I woke up feeling great, but it may be a step in the right direction. Of course, it is too soon to jump into conclusions, so I'll keep trying this method in the upcoming nights and see how it goes.

Unkikonki wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 25, 2024 8:35 pm

I decided to tuck my chin against the cervical collar as much as possible to keep my jaw in place.

I use a cervical collar to prevent chin-tuck, and these x-strips to prevent jaw drop - https://www.amazon.com/Mouth-Tape-Sleep ... ref=sr_1_7

The x-strips work well to prevent jaw drop. I actually use two strips - one on each mouth corner. This allows me to slip in two acetaminophen tablets for pain in the middle of the night.

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 26, 2024 11:02 am

Unkikonki wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 25, 2024 8:35 pm

I decided to tuck my chin against the cervical collar as much as possible to keep my jaw in place.

I use a cervical collar to prevent chin-tuck, and these x-strips to prevent jaw drop - https://www.amazon.com/Mouth-Tape-Sleep ... ref=sr_1_7

The x-strips work well to prevent jaw drop. I actually use two strips - one on each mouth corner. This allows me to slip in two acetaminophen tablets for pain in the middle of the night.

A relevant update on this: I ended up buying the Knightsbridge Dual Band Chin Strap and the results so far have been very promising. I am finally sleeping throughout the entire night with very little disruption. This proves that normal chin straps that run diagonally just don't work and are a waste of time and money.

Keeping my jaw in place has stopped my tongue from collapsing. I haven't experienced chipmunk cheeks either. It is fairly comfortable too (although the material can be a bit itchy at times). I'm officially on the hype wagon of the Knightsbridge chin strap; those guys seem to know what they are doing.

Unkikonki wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 08, 2024 10:43 pm

those guys seem to know what they are doing.

But my hair.

Are all the users bald men?

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 09, 2024 12:13 pm

But my hair.

Are all the users bald men?

hahaha good point. Not bald but I have short hair. The key takeaway is jaw pulling has to be vertical.

Unkikonki wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22, 2024 6:06 pm

Hi there,
<snip>
https://custmbite.com/products/snoring-system

thanks for bringing this up. over my nine years here, I've read a time or two about such devices, but never got around to trying any. I don't know why I did this time. (desperation?) so I got the one at the link above and am trying it out. two nights now and it's been very effective in causing my ahi to go down. my trouble with it is that where my tongue contacts the slight abrasive surface, I end up with a dry patch there. will try some saliva producing gel on the tongue itself tonight to see how that goes. also it's a tiny bit large so will have to trim it down.
anyway, just my two cents worth.

Bluper wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22, 2024 8:55 pm

I use the Airwavv night time mouthpiece. (The purple one.) It fits snugly on my lower teeth and my tongue rest on it and that keeps it upward all night. It is a boil and bite and you must follow the directions exactly. I've used it for 7 months now and it always works for me.

somehow, I got confused and thought you were talking about the second link the op posted. was wondering why I got a mouthpiece with no such instructions!

if what I am trialing doesn't work, I'll give your airwavv a go.

Unkikonki wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22, 2024 6:06 pm

https://custmbite.com/products/snoring-system

zonker wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 21, 2024 11:59 am

https://custmbite.com/products/snoring-system

My virus software says that page is infected with malware. ????