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+--- Thread: Mouth Shut but Still have dry mouth/throat (/Thread-Mouth-Shut-but-Still-have-dry-mouth-throat)
Mouth Shut but Still have dry mouth/throat - jmr8749 - 02-06-2021
Two years into fatigue and no answers.
I suspect I am choking at night because of very dry nasal passages that were caused by one of two events that happened just before this all started - a cracked tooth or my sensitivity to chemicals that was aggravated at my former place of a work by horrible coworkers who couldn’t understand how a person could be allergic to Lysol.
I’m using xylimelts, a humidifier, drinking water, a CPAP (that doesn’t do anything) and mouth tape.
Any suggestions?
RE: Mouth Shut but Still have dry mouth/throat - sheepless - 02-06-2021
1. post some oscar charts to see if they shed any light on why you have dry mouth and continuing fatigue.
2. how do you know your mouth is shut? tape? I can't use tape but I've read that air can bypass the tape if not applied just right.
3. I use a nasal pillow mask and use a soft cervical collar to minimize my frequent lip leaks. some use chin straps (best ones pull the chin up, not back). I've noticed that I can have dry mouth in the absence of leaks. my floppy palate shifts air from my nose to my mouth, which usually leads to lip leaks, but sometimes the air flow just swirls (for lack of a better word) around in my mouth without escaping, or at least not escaping so much as to be a noticeable leak. the solution to this is to return my sagging tongue to the roof of my mouth. the trick I'm struggling with is to learn to maintain this position during sleep.
RE: Mouth Shut but Still have dry mouth/throat - verysincere - 02-12-2021
Instead of mouth tape I use four cotton tennis-bands (ordered from China via eBay for good price) and stagger then strategically across the mouth at various angles. Yes, it requires FOUR to retain my Bilevel pressure which sometimes reaches 22. Then I place a chin strap securely so that the tennis-bands are even more secure. Then I place two velcro-strips across the mouth area.
Doing this is not only surprisingly comfortable but I reduced my mouth-leak report on OSCAR from up to 33% to zero on most nights---and the leak rate is only very rarely above 1%.
RE: Mouth Shut but Still have dry mouth/throat - jmr8749 - 02-23-2021
Hi. Thanks for responding.
I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know what an OSCAR chart is, I’m sorry. I’ll get right on this.
Also - were you experiencing a dry mouth at night too? I’m noticing it happening as soon as I lie down, which is making me wonder if it’s reflux or an allergy? I mean, why would I only have dry mouth when I’m in bed?
(02-12-2021, 06:07 PM)verysincere Wrote: Instead of mouth tape I use four cotton tennis-bands (ordered from China via eBay for good price) and stagger then strategically across the mouth at various angles. Yes, it requires FOUR to retain my Bilevel pressure which sometimes reaches 22. Then I place a chin strap securely so that the tennis-bands are even more secure. Then I place two velcro-strips across the mouth area.
Doing this is not only surprisingly comfortable but I reduced my mouth-leak report on OSCAR from up to 33% to zero on most nights---and the leak rate is only very rarely above 1%.
There is so much terminology I’m not familiar with. The “sleep disorder specialists” I’ve seen have been basically trained monkeys.
Is there a good place to start so I can catch up and know what OSCAR and BiLevel means?
RE: Mouth Shut but Still have dry mouth/throat - sheepless - 02-23-2021
oscar is open source cpap analysis reporter. it displays breath by breath data generated by your pap machine. look at the top of this page in the black banner for the link for the free download. bilevel is a more sophisticated pap machine (than cpap or apap) that enables different pressures for inhale and exhale, among other things.
also at the top of this page is a link to the wiki that will help you get oriented.
nighttime dry mouth is common and almost always mouth breathing/cpap leaking through the mouth. the usual solutions are to learn to keep your tongue against the roof of your mouth, use a chinstrap, tape your lips, &/or wear a soft cervical collar. if you know your mouth is closed all night (but how would you?) the only thing to do is to the tongue suck technique which you can search this sight for more info about. another option is to use something like xylimelts, which I have no experience with, but believe it's something you leave in your mouth to stimulate saliva production.
if you have dry mouth before masking up, you have to look elsewhere, like medications or high room temperature or very low humidity, for example.