Humidifier bone dry in the morning . . .
Hi,
Spent 2nd night on new DreamStation Auto B-PAP with humidification. Also use ResMed F20 FFM. Seems that the water in the humidifier tank is all gone by morning. Have my humidifier set on 3 and my BiPAP pressures are 23 inhale and 19 exhale. I am a mouth breather it seems too.
Seems that I may have read somewhere on this forum that higher pressures can make the tank go dry quicker. My pressures are very high so could this be my problem.
Also I still have dry mouth in the morning even with FFM. I thought that the FFM would change that. Is there another reason why the FFM is good for mouth breathers.
Your answers are greatly appreciated.
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Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite!
Bryce the BiPAPman
RE: Humidifier bone dry in the morning . . .
I am a mouth breather and have a FFM I am using a resmed autoset 10 and I have an awful dry/foul mouth in the morning with an empty humidifier tank (humidification set to auto) so I assume I still mouth breath and the humidification provided by the machine is insufficient for the large flow rates related to mouth breathing. But and it’s a big but with the FFM I have no large leaks the air stays in the system so my treatment is effective.
Jason
RE: Humidifier bone dry in the morning . . .
I've had to use pressures like yours on a DreamStation and to prevent the water tub from going dry I had to set the humidifier to step 1 and even than it barely made it through the night.
Using the FFM won't prevent dry mouth if your breathing through your mouth. It's main advantage is no mouth leaks.
RE: Humidifier bone dry in the morning . . .
I don't use near that much pressure so I can't give my results, but I will say that I've started using Biotene to help with dry mouth and it seems to really work. You might try that and if it helps you, then maybe try adjusting the humidity level down a notch to see if it will last the night.
RE: Humidifier bone dry in the morning . . .
Thanks all for the answers to my questions. Looks like I will be stuck with dry mouth but will try some of the Biotene that Hojo recommended. Do you use the mouth rinse or the oral spray Hojo?
As for the FFM I must say I did not realize that mouth breathing would effect my BiPAP pressures and therapy. So I will stick with the FFM.
Again, thanks all for your help.
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Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite!
Bryce the BiPAPman
RE: Humidifier bone dry in the morning . . .
The humidifier is not a big help for dry-mouth, it is primarily to keep the nasal passages from drying out. Dry-mouth is going to be a problem even with the humidifier dialed up to the point that you are getting rain-out and water in the mask.
Mouth-breathing is the cause of dry-mouth (and sore throat) simply because we were not designed to do so.
An incentive to work on techniques that can help prevent mouth-breathing is, in addition to comfort, it is beneficial for dental health and reduced "morning breath"
The FFM works well for mouth breathers simply because it maintains adequate pressure therapy that mouth-leaks would inhibit when using pillows or a nasal mask.
RE: Humidifier bone dry in the morning . . .
For the Biotene I use the rinse, I started off using it many times during the first few days and then cut down to twice a day.
RE: Humidifier bone dry in the morning . . .
Some good advice above. Particularly by Rich.
You could try setting your humidity to one step lower and see if that gets you through the night. Also you could try a chin strap or even taping to try to keep your mouth closed. If you do try tape, make sure to get the medical paper tape for sensitive skin. I use it myself to prevent air getting past my lips even if my mouth is closed.
RE: Humidifier bone dry in the morning . . .
Another option is to get a humidifier for your room and start it say an hour before you go to bed. This helped my brother until we got the whole house humidifier going. He has no problem the rest of the year - just winter when the furnace is on.