Throat tightness and scratchy feeling

[wheezethejuice]

Hey everyone - I have been using the ResMed 11 for 8 months now, with the full face F20 mask. I haven't had any issues until this past December. My throat has been severely tight and the past few days has felt very scratchy.

I wear a chin strap and have a wedge pillow to sleep. My mask leak rate is very low, so I am wondering if the colder room temperature is throwing everything off. My pressure site around 8 to 10 most nights, so I have it set to 4-10. Apneas range from 0.35 to 3 usually, depending mostly on how I sleep that night. I toss and turn when I am hot, as I am a living furnace. I live in Ontario, Canada and it can be very dry in winter. I set my humidity to 6 and I get constant rainout. I am not too sure what to set the tube temp to though, and I tried 82 and it was so hot.

Has anyone else ever had these symptoms? I clean my humidifier every morning and only use distilled water. I clean the hose once a week and my mask every morning. I'm at a loss, and very uncomfortable. Any help or advice would be so appreciated. I have also had GERD looked into, but the medication wasn't working and my family doctor said it wasn't acid reflux.

[ejbpesca]

You mention GERD and a doctor saying it's not acid reflux.  Here's my experience with throat tightness and GERD/acid reflux and dry mouth.

I have had GERD which includes acid reflux for 50 years.  The symptoms rise and fall in intensity.  I treat it with acid reducers, baking soda, and Rolaids, but at times the acid gets so high it causes my throat to tighten making swallowing impossible without a sip of water, chaps my lips, makes my throat sore, and mouth raw.  

I had thought my CPAP therapy might be the cause of my tightening throat, but I'm pretty sure it is the acid reflux.  CPAP occasionally exacerbates acid reflux with bouts of aerophagia (swallowing air).  Also, the severe dry mouth I get from CPAP therapy may contribute to my inability to swallow at times.  A sip of water revives the ability to swallow.

I gave up on CPAP humidity due to rain out and getting little benefit from it.  The air in my house is humid enough at around 50R.  I was hoping high humidity and a warm tube would reduce dry mouth, but dry mouth/throat is caused by mouth breathing in my full face mask. It is not relieved by a high humidity setting on the machine.

I tried a tube heating setting at 70F with the humidity off.  That did not go well. Cool air is best for me. In winter I can get my bedroom temp down to 63F by turning the heater down which works well for sleep and CPAP air.  In summer using AC I can get it down to 72F which is okay, but I like 63F better.

You may want to consider GERG/acid reflux as a cause of throat tightening. I think the dryness caused by mouth breathing with an FF mask also can cause throat tightness.  When the throat tightness happens it is pretty scary for me to try to swallow and can't.  i am glad throat tightness for me is intermittent and a sip of water allows me to swallow.

[greatunclebill]

we have some symptoms in common. for the scratchy throat try sucking on a halls or similar lozenge or take a swallow of nyquil or similar.

[ejbpesca]

we have some symptoms in common. for the scratchy throat try sucking on a halls or similar lozenge or take a swallow of nyquil or similar.

Halls and Ricolas and gum, I use often starting just a year ago.

[Deborah K.]

It could be that extra moisture in your mouth while sleeping will help. Xylimelts are tablets you stick to the gum. They slowly melt during the night and keep the mouth moist. They taste good, are harmless, and work very well. Here's a link so you can read more about them:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TSFS3XX?ref...=xyli&th=1