Drooling, NOT mouth breathing=REM??

I've got a theory, and I'm just wondering if anyone can help me find out if it is true or not.

I've noticed occasionally that I will drool during the night. But I KNOW that I am not mouth breathing. I currently have a sinus infection, and the moment the nasal pillows come off, I am so stuffy I can't breathe. When I wake up and realize I've been drooling the last few nights, I am happily breathing through my nose with my nasal pillows in place. Plus, since starting cpap, I never have that desert-dry mouth when I wake up.

Now, my theory is, that during REM sleep your body relaxes so much that you forget to swallow, thus leading to drooling. It would make sense to me that this is the case, and that this is a fairly new occurrence with me, since I don't remember dreaming (which occurs in REM, if I understand correctly) in a long time. So, if I'm finally able to get into actual REM sleep, and start having vague recollections of dreams, that could correlate to the "newness" of the drooling.

Any thoughts?

I too drool on occasion. I am not a mouth breather and wake up with my lips firmly sealed on their own. Wondering how the drool gets out sometimes.

I don't know about the drool/REM theory... could be. Interesting theory.

Anyway, about this:

jbn3boys wrote:this is a fairly new occurrence with me, since I don't remember dreaming (which occurs in REM, if I understand correctly) in a long time.

Not remembering dreaming doesn't mean a person wasn't dreaming up a storm that night. Not remembering dreaming can mean that your CPAP therapy is going so well you're sleeping uninterrupted through the REM cycles when apneas are most apt to happen for most people. On effective CPAP therapy you almost certainly are having REM and are dreaming...you just aren't aware of the dreams. You may simply be sleeping blissfully through REM without any apnea-caused arousals.

We can dream in other stages, too, but it seems the most vivid dreaming happens during REM...or so I've read.

LINKS to dreaming - dreams - REM rebound
viewtopic.php?t=3524

rested gal wrote: ...Not remembering dreaming can mean that your CPAP therapy is going so well you're sleeping uninterrupted through the REM cycles when apneas are most apt to happen for most people. On effective CPAP therapy you almost certainly are having REM and are dreaming...you just aren't aware of the dreams. You may simply be sleeping blissfully through REM without any apnea-caused arousals...

I hope to get to that stage some day. For now, I would not say that my therapy is working that well. I was just switched to BiPap in the hopes of increasing the effectiveness of my therapy (lowering AHI), but it's still a struggle, especially with the sinus infection. I know that wasn't the case last night, as I was awake many times during the night (with AHI >7 also), and last night I did notice the drooling. I look forward to sleeping through REM! That sounds blissful!

I occasionaly drool also...with center of lips taped
the drool justs seeps out the corner of the mouth, most probably when all is relaxed.