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[CPAP] First NIght, Can't keep air from blowing out mouth
#1
First NIght, Can't keep air from blowing out mouth
I think I did pretty well on my first night. No real problems with nasal pillows (AirFit) or tubing. But, I woke up often with air bursting out of my mouth. My mouth didn't come open except to relieve the pressure? Any ideas or is this normal?
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#2
RE: First NIght, Can't keep air from blowing out mouth
Hi Jefflex, and welcome to the forum!
Do you have a chin strap to keep your mouth closed? I have to use a full face mask (FFM), because I am a chronic mouth breather. Even the chin straps didn't work for me, but maybe it will work for you.
To err is human, but to really mess things up, you need a computer.
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#3
RE: First NIght, Can't keep air from blowing out mouth
it could be your pressure is too high...

maybe you should be using your resmed s 9 on auto, not with a fixed pressure of 14...

just a thought...






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#4
RE: First NIght, Can't keep air from blowing out mouth
(04-19-2014, 05:21 PM)Jefflex Wrote: I think I did pretty well on my first night. No real problems with nasal pillows (AirFit) or tubing. But, I woke up often with air bursting out of my mouth. My mouth didn't come open except to relieve the pressure? Any ideas or is this normal?

Hi Jefflex, welcome to our happy little group!

No, you do not want your mouth to come open. The idea is to do all breathing through your nose. If you're a mouth breather, as I am, you might have to use a chinstrap to help encourage your mouth to stay shut.

The pressure in your mouth that you describe is caused by an air leak into the mouth. Experiment with keeping your tongue on the roof of your mouth until that is not a problem. It can be a little tricky, but you'll figure it out.

When you have a chance, post your statistics (set pressure, "AHI," med and 95% leak numbers. That'll give us a better idea of what you're up against.

If you haven't yet downloaded the software on your computer to review your own stats, I would encourage you to do that. You can use either the Resmed software or the Sleepyhead software. Or both for that matter. I think the Sleepyhead is a little better.
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#5
RE: First NIght, Can't keep air from blowing out mouth
Hi Jefflex,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
You might try a chinstrap and see if that will help.
Best of luck with your CPAP therapy.
trish6hundred
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#6
RE: First NIght, Can't keep air from blowing out mouth
I had to go to a FF mask for just that reason. I've at great expense
tried many masks and always went back to the ResMed Quattro
Mirage. It's not perfect, however once you learn what it needs, it
works better than anything for me. I only have about 3 sleeping
positions, but that doesn't bother me now. Get a buckwheat pillow
as you can form it to support the mask. Now I can go for days and days under the line.
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#7
RE: First NIght, Can't keep air from blowing out mouth
Hi Jefflex, Welcome to the forum!
The first weeks I started using I had the same problem from time to time. I practiced what retired_guy said about pressing tongue to top of mouth until it becomes a habit for most of of the time.
Anyway, slowly but surely I stopped getting these big air bubbles in my mouth. I used to just let the air go. Occasionally it still happens but I am not bothered by it.
I have never used a chin strap for the problem because I didn't think it was a bad enough problem to warrant one.
Good luck on your CPAP journey.
Sleep Tight...
Gabby
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#8
RE: First NIght, Can't keep air from blowing out mouth
(04-19-2014, 05:21 PM)Jefflex Wrote: I think I did pretty well on my first night. No real problems with nasal pillows (AirFit) or tubing. But, I woke up often with air bursting out of my mouth. My mouth didn't come open except to relieve the pressure? Any ideas or is this normal?

It's fairly common at first.
Most people adjust to it; and just keep their mouth closed.
Some need the help of a chin strap which is really more of a training aid. And some people go to a full face mask.

So, your next step is chin strap to Pavlov yourself into sleeping with the mouth closed.
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#9
RE: First NIght, Can't keep air from blowing out mouth
(04-19-2014, 05:21 PM)Jefflex Wrote: I woke up often with air bursting out of my mouth. Any ideas or is this normal?
After several attempts at using nasal masks with the same results you describe, I settled on a full face mask. That introduced another problem; air coming into the mouth and being swallowed (aerophagia) so I tried a variety of chin straps and tape to keep my mouth shut. I finally settled on a simple single strap chin restraint. I also lowered my upper pressure slightly. This all took about five months and I'm happy to tell you I finally arrived at a workable setup. You will too...just keep looking at your results, tweak one thing at a time and (sorry) exercise patience.

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#10
RE: First NIght, Can't keep air from blowing out mouth
Everyone else pretty much said it, except that 14 is not a particularly high pressure and will/should not "blow your mouth open."

You may or may not just learn to close your mouth and keep it closed; some of us do learn that skill sooner or later.

You do NOT want even your mouth to fill up with air, aka 'chipmunk cheeks' because that MIGHT encourage you to open your mouth, it can worsen any tendency to swallow air (aerophagia), and it just isn't very comfortable. The key to this is to close your mouth at the back so the air doesn't even get into your mouth, and to keep the entire volume of the mouth to as near zero as possible so there is no room for air to enter.

This is one of THE key problems for a nasal pillow mask: You must be able to keep you mouth closed, either voluntarily or through the use of straps and/or tape.

The other key is that your nose must be clear enough for you to breath -- the pressure may help KEEP it clear (it does for me) but it must at least start clear enough that you CAN breath comfortably enough with using your mouth.

The final, P10 specific, caveat is that the head strap must be a good enough fit for you, OR you must modify it to something that is. Main weakness of the P10 is that there is not OPTION for an adjustable strap.

You didn't post your numbers so how bad WERE YOU LEAKS? (Less than 24 at 95%? If so, the machine can keep up and still deliver therapy perhaps.)

The main thing for the first night is that you USED THE MASK. That is a great start that puts you on the good side of the learning curve.

Sweet Dreams,

HerbM
Sleep study AHI: 49 RDI: 60 -- APAP 10-11 w/AHI: 1.5 avg for 7-days (up due likely to hip replacement recovery)

"We can all breathe together or we will all suffocate alone."
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