I AM NEW TO CPAP MACHINES. I AM CURRENTLY WEARING A FULL FACE MASK BECAUSE I OPEN MY MOUTH DURING THE NIGHT. I CAN ONLY GET ABOUT AN HOURS SLEEP BEFORE I HAVE TO TAKE THE MASK OFF BECAUSE I WAKE UP WITH AN INCREDIBLY DRY MOUTH. I DO HAVE HAVE A HEATED HUMIDIFIER. I ALSO WAS ON FLONASE, BUT I STOPPED TAKING IT THIS WEEK TO SEE IF THAT WAS THE PROBLEM. NO SUCCESS YET! ANY SUGGESTIONS?!

TamraOH wrote:I AM NEW TO CPAP MACHINES. I AM CURRENTLY WEARING A FULL FACE MASK BECAUSE I OPEN MY MOUTH DURING THE NIGHT. I CAN ONLY GET ABOUT AN HOURS SLEEP BEFORE I HAVE TO TAKE THE MASK OFF BECAUSE I WAKE UP WITH AN INCREDIBLY DRY MOUTH. I DO HAVE HAVE A HEATED HUMIDIFIER. I ALSO WAS ON FLONASE, BUT I STOPPED TAKING IT THIS WEEK TO SEE IF THAT WAS THE PROBLEM. NO SUCCESS YET! ANY SUGGESTIONS?!

First suggestion: DON'T SHOUT!

Is it possible that your humidifier isn't working? Or perhaps you need to turn it up.

Rob

I agree............turn the humidifier up. Check it out to make sure it's working. (turn it on ...wait about 10 minutes ...feel water chamber to see if it is warm)

53now wrote:I agree............turn the humidifier up. Check it out to make sure it's working. (turn it on ...wait about 10 minutes ...feel water chamber to see if it is warm)

And as a sidenote: you might want to ensure that the hose doesn't get cold, or with the increased humidity you might get "rainout" (condensation).

Rob

Hello

yes I get that too.....Opening my mouth during CPAP therapy. Most of this problem is cause by nasal congestion. Some nasal sprays can clear up this irrtating problem.

Opening up your mouth can makes the inside of your mouth as dry as motorman's glove. I found if the mouth opens it can reduce the effiency of your therapy. The pressure keep the airways open and from collasping but it can only work when your mouth is shut during therapy. Like a inside out vacccum cleaner.

The issue is to clear your cause of your nasal congestion....Then the thearpy will be more effective to treat you OSA [Obsturctive Sleep Apenoa] It may mean a minor operation to correct deformed airways.

With my sleep apeona I had operate to correct my airways, when I frist started I open my mouth alot during CPAP treatment due to blocked airways in my nose. After the operation I got more out my CPAP as my nasal passages was no longer obstructed.

As for the sleep apeona......It still remains. All the operation did was make it easier for me to breath thru my nose. Before breathing thru my nose was close to impossble......Not the best thing for CPAP threapy.

hi Tamra,

It's easier to read posts when they are typed in small letters, not all capital letters. Typing in all big letters looks like yelling. But, hey, sometimes the aggravation of this kind of therapy makes us all feel like yelling.

I agree with the others who've said, check to see if your humidifier is working. Also, some heated humidifiers seem to simply produce more humidification than others. Even so, when I use my full face mask (ResMed Ultra Mirage FF) for mouth breathing when my nose is congested, my mouth does get dry no matter what. Even with humidifier turned up to the highest heat setting, and even with the Australian heated hose to control rainout, my mouth will still get dry. The constant rapid flow of air through an open mouth simply will do that. Just another of the minor downsides I put up with to get the fabulous upside of better sleep even on nights when I cannot breathe through my nose.

Tamra, if you are normally able to breathe through your nose fine and are using a FF mask only because your mouth drops open at night (not because you need to breathe through your mouth) you might want to look into some other methods of keeping your lips closed so you can breathe through your nose. Chin-Up strips work for some, chin straps (especially soft, homemade ones), taping the lips closed.... there are lots of things to try. It may be, though, that even if you breathe through your nose fine while sitting up, you get a stuffy nose after you've been lying down awhile and need to keep using the FF mask. As snuffle-nose pointed out, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have an ENT check your nasal passages, especially when you are lying down.

Thanks for the suggestions. I did check my humidifier out and it was not hooked up correctly! I am now getting back on my flonase so I can breathe better through my nose, but i've noticed "so far" that i'm not waking up with a dry mouth. my problem right now is the stuffy nose. i wake up after about an hour or two so stuffy that i take the mask off. I really am having a hard time with this whole ordeal but i'm trying to be very optimistic and hope that soon I will master my problems and be a succesful user!