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GumbyCT wrote:

archangle wrote:Taping your mouth risks suffocation if the machine quits blowing and you don't wake up.

How many friends did you loose this week?

Give it a rest, please.

I never "loose" my friends. I rarely tighten them, either.

No, I will not "give it a rest." I will not stand idly by and let people recommend something potentially lethal without warning them of the risks. Even if they choose to do it anyway, perhaps they will use extra caution and avoid problems.

archangle wrote:No, I will not "give it a rest." I will not stand idly by and let people recommend something potentially lethal without warning them of the risks. Even if they choose to do it anyway, perhaps they will use extra caution and avoid problems.

Whatever gives your life purpose, I suppose it makes you feel important. Tho I think it makes you look impotent. You are turning into a rash.

Arch- "angle", did I spell that right? Arch-angle gives life meaning. An opposing "angle" for everything under the sun.

GumbyCT wrote:Whatever gives your life purpose, I suppose it makes you feel important. Tho I think it makes you look impotent. You are turning into a rash.

Arch- "angle", did I spell that right? Arch-angle gives life meaning. An opposing "angle" for everything under the sun.

Still infatuated with me, I see. Perhaps YOU should give it a rest.

Welcome to the forum, ccu nurse.

I agree with Pugsy that the leak line looks fine on the detailed graph you posted for that one night.

For others who might be reading this thread and do need to control mouth air leaks, here's a link to quite a few discussions about mouth taping. I've been taping mine every night for about seven years now.

LINKS to: Mouth leaks - Air Leaks - Tape - DIY Guard
viewtopic.php?t=8011

I am trying taping oven mitts to my hand with heavy duty tape but even then I have to tape both hands

Okay, last night I happened to wake up in the middle of the night with really, really dry mouth. On my back which is usually when I might do this. Habit I got into when sleeping with cast this summer. Working on that not because it makes OSA worse (for me doesn't really make a difference) but because it causes more back pain for me.

Here is my leak line last night. I don't know when I woke up (no clock in bedroom) so I don't know which if any of these leak spikes was when I was doing some mouth breathing. While this leak line is not perfect it is still within acceptable limits. No prolonged huge leaks. Certainly not the leak I expected to see with the amount of dry mouth I had.
So not all dry mouth will mean that leaks are bad enough to impact therapy. Respironics doesn't flag a large leak until it hits somewhere around 80 to 90 L/min. Even at my worst I was well below that line.
Yet I had major dry mouth. It doesn't take much mouth breathing to dry the mouth out.
So while dry mouth can indicate mouth breathing that might impact therapy...one should look at the leak line itself to determine how much of an impact is really occurring. Obviously, taping or full face mask is not needed here.

Taping dangerous? Bunk. Suffocation? Bunk. Vomiting/aspiration? Bunk. Potentially lethal? Bunk. Four bunks, you're out.

SMenasco wrote:Taping dangerous? Bunk. Suffocation? Bunk. Vomiting/aspiration? Bunk. Potentially lethal? Bunk. Four bunks, you're out.

Gee, well I guess that settles that. Amazing how the manufacturers, the FDA, and the medial profession continue to perpetuate this myth. Thanks for clearing this up for us.

Bunk, bunk, bunk, bunk, bunk. I'm always glad to assist. TAPERS UNITE!

Pugsy, my leaks look a lot like yours, more or less. I went to my sleep doctor Tuesday for 3 mo. follow-up. I asked him about leaks on our PR machine. He said that unless you are having "Large" leaks lasting for 30 min. or so, not to worry about them as long as your AHI is good and your can feel the therapy is working. My AHI runs between 1.8 and 2.0 mostly. Sometimes it is lower and sometimes higher, but generally good. So now, I have quit worrying so much about the leaks. If I can feel or hear a leak, I adjust my mask. Sometimes my mouth feels dry, but not every day.

Very good advice from your sleep doctor, Paula.

Paula J wrote:He said that unless you are having "Large" leaks lasting for 30 min. or so, not to worry about them as long as your AHI is good and your can feel the therapy is working.

Yep, that is my way of thinking. I don't get all in a panic when I see some spikes. While I get lucky sometimes and don't have many blips I will usually have a few like this one I posted.

I posted this so people can see that a dry mouth doesn't always mean that the mouth breathing is seriously impacting therapy. Sure it can but people need to look at the leak line itself to see for sure. Last night is a good example because when I woke up with the dry mouth in the middle of the night...the dry mouth was pretty dry. Much more than I have had in the past. This way people can see that there may not even be a need for tape or chin strap.

SMenasco wrote:Bunk, bunk, bunk, bunk, bunk. I'm always glad to assist. TAPERS UNITE!

Have you told the people who will survive you if you die in your sleep to post about it here?

Please, let's not get into another pissing contest about taping and its possible dangers. This thread is not the place.
If you want to battle about this again, how about a thread dedicated to it? Let everyone in on the free for all and be done with it.

This OP doesn't even need to tape anyway..at least from the leak reports.

Okay, Archangle, so you're warning everyone about the great dangers, including death, of taping. Do you have an alternative to the extremely painful dry mouth some people suffer? I haven't noticed you offering any. If you haev an honest to goodness sure fire method of keeping my mouth shut I would really appreciate hearing it. If not, please discontinue the bunk.