Training Yourself to stop Mouth Breathing?

[me50]

First off, I don't understand the logic as to why anyone would want to go through all the grief of wearing chin straps and/or tape on their mouth and then having to hold your tongue in a certain position (and to always face West) while you sleep or other extremes when the simple problem of breathing through the mouth is easily remedied with a properly fitted Full Face Mask.
Ren

Ren, because women do not find snoring or face masks sexy. Also, my step-father-in-law dies wearing one of them, they are not 100%. So helping yourself by losing weight, eating right and what not is the better solution than cheating with a mask.

99% of Apnea cases are because one is too damned fat. Easy fix for that... I refuse to use a dumb looking mask.

I wear a chin strap because it helps do what it is supposed to do. I refuse to tape my mouth shut. I do NOT hold my tongue in any position other than what position it chooses naturally. OH, AND I AM NOT FAT!

Nobody is cheating with a mask. We don't want to die b/c we stop breathing. You would benefit from learning more about OSA because you are not correct in what you think.

Do you have OSA? You must or you wouldn't talk about refusing to wear a dumb looking mask.

I would rather wear a dumb looking mask and have a better chance of not waking up dead that to wake up dead!!

My next question to you is, what information are you seeking from this forum if you don't use a machine/mask?

[JimZZZ]

I never read that post, but that is exactly what I did and it works. I keep my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth. With the suction I feel from my apap it discourages me from opening my mouth.

Franklyspeaking, Based on your experience, I'm encouraged to give the nasal mask another try. I tried previously but gave up and returned to the ffm because of being awakened by air gushing from my mouth. Could you possible give us more detail on how you trained yourself to eliminate the open mouth curse? I am interested in whether you used a chin strap, how long it took and whether you were awakened frequently during the training period. Maybe I'll give it another go...

[herbm]

I never read that post, but that is exactly what I did and it works. I keep my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth. With the suction I feel from my apap it discourages me from opening my mouth.

Franklyspeaking, Based on your experience, I'm encouraged to give the nasal mask another try. I tried previously but gave up and returned to the ffm because of being awakened by air gushing from my mouth. Could you possible give us more detail on how you trained yourself to eliminate the open mouth curse? I am interested in whether you used a chin strap, how long it took and whether you were awakened frequently during the training period. Maybe I'll give it another go...

That is pretty much how it happened for me despite believing myself to be an inveterate mouth breather.

I find that I only need to drop my tongue back and up a trifle and this blocks my mouth so that I can open my mouth, lick my lips, whatever.

A couple of nights ago it was even possible to open my mouth fully, practically a yawn, AND EVEN RELAX (almost) completely with no leaks.

Didn't try sleeping that way but it was an interesting or at least curious finding.

The feel of the air escaping from my mouth is quite disturbing for me so it's unlikely that it would escape my notice.

[pdeli]

This mouth breathing business can be rather tricky, and for me is my biggest current issue. My recollection of a full face mask was that I seemed to be re-breathing my mouth exhale, and so I now use the nasal mask. I understand the tongue on the roof of the mouth approach and the sort of resulting vacuum, and I too do that. But it's not always an option because it turns out there are several different sleep patterns that occur.

If I get into my normal go-to-bed routine, I watch a little TV and roll over on my side and casually go to sleep within maybe 15 minutes. Once in a while I can't sleep and I get up and go downstairs until I get tired. If we get home late get agitated because of some family or other issues, sleep is not always easy.

Another infrequent situation is where I go to sleep, a deep, deep, sleep, and while that's kind of fun, I have no control over my tongue or my mask and an open mouth usually results usually late in my sleep cycle. I have no memory of anything.

I've successfully trained myself to not move during the night with maybe one roll-over to the other side or perhaps a pee run. Also. since I've stopped drinking I now pretty much sleep through the night. I can even now yawn with my mouth closed.

I've experimented with chin straps and tape, and quite frankly, the tape works the best. The chin strap for me is just an additional device which, for me, tends slip off easily. More important however, it seems ineffective because, even though my jaw may be closed, air easily escapes through my lips.

So it’s not really the open mouth as much as it is the open back of the mouth. No matter how I try to seal my mouth/lips, if air fills my mouth, it eventually gets out.

Dry mouth and mouth breathing seem to go hand in hand, and the dry mouth to me is the more important issue because it impacts my gums and subsequently my teeth. The tape seems to eliminate dry mouth and that's important to me. I've tried adjusting the humidity, but that doesn't seem to be an effective approach.

I know of the danger of regurgitation when the mouth is sealed and the possibility of stomach acid getting into the lungs. But I can't remember the last time that I threw up, and probably if/when I get to the point that this becomes a regular issue, I'll discontinue C-Pap and put my affairs in order.

We're all different and what seems stupid or ineffective for me, is possibly a solution for someone else. That's really what makes all this so difficult. It's the reason so many people fail at this therapy, and I suspect it also relates to what I see as indifference on the part of the health practitioners. It's just too much work for them.

Phil

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Oh yeah, my AHI is seldom above .75 but I still wake up tired. Maybe I'm lazy, but once I'm up I'm good all day.

Again, my worry is dry mouth.

Phil

[Franklyspeaking]

I never read that post, but that is exactly what I did and it works. I keep my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth. With the suction I feel from my apap it discourages me from opening my mouth.

Franklyspeaking, Based on your experience, I'm encouraged to give the nasal mask another try. I tried previously but gave up and returned to the ffm because of being awakened by air gushing from my mouth. Could you possible give us more detail on how you trained yourself to eliminate the open mouth curse? I am interested in whether you used a chin strap, how long it took and whether you were awakened frequently during the training period. Maybe I'll give it another go...

No chin straps.

The very first night i put my gel nasal mask on my face and felt the first gentle pull of the ramp flow, I remember thinking to myself I can't just breathe through my nose! I'm a mouth breather- drool and all (I hate to admit that). I also remember my son that also uses a CPAP warned me not to open my mouth or my ears would pop.

So being totally new to this whole new experience as I felt the pressure in my nose I slightly opened my mouth and I could feel a pulling sensation to close my mouth. From that moment on I pushed my tongue to the roof of my mouth touching my front top teeth and so far this has stopped my snoring and drooling I'm proud to say.

I think the whole thing starts out as a conscious effort to keep my tongue in place with the thinking I'm keeping my mouth closed and as I fall to sleep and in my unconscious mind I sleep and the pressure of the wind flow keep my mouth shut.

Does that sound weird? I guess it might to some, but this is how handle how the air flow and keeping my mouth closed along with breathing totally from nose.

I might also mention that in my past I've had terrible jaw pain. Being with no insurance I dealt with the pain in my eyes, head, teeth and ears. The pain moved all over my face even down in my neck on both sides. I actually gritted my teeth so hard I cracked a rear top molar. That might attribute to some of my will power to be more conscious of the force I put on my jaws. The tongue thing has helped me. I don't know how I made it through that time using over the counter meds and warm compresses and a lot of praying.

Boy have a rattled on!! Please excuse!

Hope this helps

[me50]

For DRY MOUTH: Biotene toothpaste, Biotene mouthwash, Biotene dry mouth spray (they have gum too) Hope this helps

[PaytonA]

For DRY MOUTH: Biotene toothpaste, Biotene mouthwash, Biotene dry mouth spray (they have gum too) Hope this helps

I have used Biotene and it works well to speed the recovery. I have never had it work well for me as a preventative. For quite a while I tried using it just before going to bed. It never seemed to make much difference but that may just be me.

I think the only real solution is to solve the mouth leakage problem, and that is my main problem right now too.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

[me50]

yeah I'm sure everyone is different We use the toothpaste and mouthwash definitely on a daily basis especially when you use CPAP because there's more of a chance because of the air blowing in your mouth and it does even with a nasal mask or opening my mouth and having dry mouth all can cause issues with teeth and gums we just continue to use it and the RT at my sleep study said that he uses the biotene dry mouth spray and it helps him we don't have that or use thr spray now but my other half used it at one time as always YMMV.

[Galactus]

I would rather wear a dumb looking mask and have a better chance of not waking up dead that to wake up dead!!

I'm sorry but I can't stop laughing on this one. Are you aware of anyone that woke up dead? I only see the dead wake up when it's quitting time at work......

Ok, so I went for my sleep study, and I am new, after the first half of the test they came in and fitted me with a mask. I was told "Based on watching you we know you are a mouth breather so we will try this mask" That FFM was the worst experience I ever had. I said to my nurse "Doesn't it make sense that I am a mouth breather due to my apnea and snoring? And that if my body was getting air through my nose than it would know to breathe that way?" She said it was "possible" and so they gave me a nasal mask. Much much better, later I asked about nasal pillows, and man oh man I am so much happier having nasal pillows than even the nasal mask. I can wear my glasses, talk to my wife, drink some water, or soda or anything, so much better.

As to my mouth opening, when I first started I felt my mouth opening and it was annoying. Now though as time goes on it seems my body has adjusted and my throat stays closed. I don't even really know how to describe it, my mouth can be open, and yet the air is still trapped and doesn't come out my mouth. Sometimes I think the cpap machine isn't working and I do something and the air rushes out, then I click it closed and the air stays in. I can almost even talk without air rushing out.

IMHO it is a much better experience and I am glad I don't have a ffm because I don't think I would be compliant with one.

[PaytonA]

I just wanted to add something of my experience in regard to mouth leakage. To my knowledge, my nasal mask does not leak unless the straps have relaxed and I need to tighten them. I have never awakened with air rushing out of my mouth, but my leakage figures are crap. several weeks ago they were around 70-80 L/min and this last week they are around 120 L/min. Obviously I am going the wrong direction. my leakage chart is very spikey where before I had some hour long or more periods of leakage less than 24L/min.

I am blaming this all on mouth leakage because I do not know what else to blame it on. I have a chin strap that I tried again a few nights ago but woke up after 1.5 hours with my chin hurting, so I took it off. My leakage chart for that night was in the good area until I took the chin strap off. As a result, I have ordered a new chin strap that hopefully I can tolerate. If anyone has any other ideas, I would be happy to hear them.

Best Regards,

PaytonA