APAP causing TMJ

[OpalRose]

Sounds like they gave you the DreamWare nasal mask to trial.  With any mask, if you open your mouth...air gushes out.  

You will have a problem with therapy unless you are able to keep your mouth closed and breath through your nose only.

The medical condition you have may make it harder to find a comfortable mask, but don’t give up. Your medical team and DME should help with this. And yes, being overweight can aggravate sleep apnea.

Just take one step at a time. Find a mask that is comfortable and one that you can keep leaks under control.

[Shin Ryoku]

I noticed that if I mouth tape without a chin strap, I wake up with TMJ pain. I have no idea what the mechanism is, but I get pain every time.

If I wear the chinstrap, there is no TMJ pain. So I wear a chin strap. Another benefit of the chin strap is that it keeps my mask straps from moving around too much.

[Kall]

How do you wear it without winding up with dry mouth coughing?

[Sleep2Snore]

One more question: my Asshat Doctor basically told me that I have sleep apnea because I am overweight (he has a massive beer belly).  I was under the impression that it was due to my chin being receding. I’m sure that being overweight doesn’t help. I recently went off Prednisone I was taking for my Chiari inflammation, which caused my face and neck to balloon and messed up my blood sugar.. so I currently have balloon face. I’ve probably had sleep apnea for over 20 years as I know I’ve struggled to breathe when laying on a flat bed with only one pillow. My point is that it has more to do with weight.

Hi Kall. welcome to the forum.

Receding chin, big neck, shape of the back of the throat, narrow restricted neck, large tongue, and being overweight does not help things.
Weight is part of the problem, but I know a guy that is huge, and I do mean huge!  He does not have sleep apnea.  I also know a guy that is very thin, he has sleep apnea (or should I say did have as he passed away) he had it so bad he had to stop working for a while as he himself had patients he was dealing with day to day and couldn't concentrate.  It took them a while to diagnose him as no one thought he could have sleep apnea being so thin.
So it is not all down to weight issues and there can be one or more issues can come into play.  A lot of sufferers tend to be overweight, but by no means all sufferers are.  I know of a young boy that has sleep apnea, to look at him you would never think there was anything wrong with him to cause sleep apnea, but he has it.  When his mother kept complaining he was always tired to the doctor the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with him.  It was a doctor that had just gone through training and was working there for a short while to gain experience that took the time to get to know the boy.  He checked him over and asked his mother to take him in every day so he could see how he was.  It was only after a while he noticed that the boy was always tired and sluggish that he suggested it might be sleep apnea.  The other doctors said that he dd not fit the profile, but the doctor arranged for him to go to the sleep clinic for a sleep study and was found to be quite bad.  It was not even straight forward sleep apnea, he had to get a machine that would make him breath when he stopped breathing, he also breathed very shallow breaths when he was asleep at times.
Since he got the diagnoses, he has got his energy back and can concentrate at school, in fact he turned out to be quite clever and has caught up with the others and is doing very well.  His mother thinks he wants to go into electrical or electromagnetically engineering or software writing.

I did notice that when I had a nasal mask it did hurt my teeth at the top, this was with the mask not all that tight.  I think I could have found a better fitting mask that would have been fine. I went on to Nasal Pillows which cured the problem with the teeth.
A few people might have problems, the majority will not have any problems.
I could understand that if the mask was tightened up to much it might give you problems.
I can understand how MAD devices could give people problems though, they can be hard to use without a bit of discomfort.

I think as for a trying to build a case against a doctor and proving it has caused you pain and damage to your teeth might be very difficult to say the least.

[Kall]

Thanks! I'm not going to sue him. Going to write a terrible review of his atrocious attitude and behavior though. As a CUSTOMER, I really feel that DOCTORS should be a hell of a lot NICER to us!!! I've had a poor opinion of this guy from previous appointments with him. He is just downright RUDE! 

Thanks for the feedback!!!

[HalfAsleep]

ReaMed. AirSense 10. Ramp time Auto. Tube temp 61. New Mask is Phillips Respironics which has a head strap where tube goes in the top of your head and one strap goes in back of head. I don’t know name of it as they didn’t give me any package- this is a loaner. It only sits below the nose and pumps air in. If I open my mouth while it is going I get a rush of air coming out of my mouth.  So if I start coughing, air gushes in.

This info goes in your sidebar. Be sure to copy the names exactly from any machines and masks. Many models sound alike.

With practice, unlikely as it sounds, you can learn to cough with a mask on.

[OpalRose]

How do you wear it without winding up with dry mouth coughing?

Dry mouth and coughing can be from many things....not enough humidity or too much humidity, medications are a big culprit, but the most likely is mouth breathing.

Try using a mouth rinse, like Biotene before bed.  My favorite is “Act Total Care Dry Mouth Rinse.”

If you are able, concentrate on keeping your tongue to the roof of your mouth.  Once mastered, you can open your mouth, cough, and even say a few words without air escaping.


Tongue Suck Technique:
Place your tongue to the roof of your mouth with tip of tongue behind front teeth, not touching teeth. Slowly suck upwards and back.
This places the tongue in a natural position, with the back of tongue sealing the back of the throat so that if you open your mouth/jaw while sleeping, no air will escape.

[OpalRose]

I noticed that if I mouth tape without a chin strap, I wake up with TMJ pain.  I have no idea what the mechanism is, but I get pain every time.

If I wear the chinstrap, there is no TMJ pain.  So I wear a chin strap.  Another benefit of the chin strap is that it keeps my mask straps from moving around too much.

I never really understood TMJ pain until I started to experience it.  I thought I was having an issue with an upper back tooth, but after many dental visits and X-rays, two specialists later, I have been diagnosed with TMJ pain.  My dentist is blaming Cpap, but I suspect the cervical collar I sometimes use.  
It can’t be my mask...it’s a P10.
Not to hijack this thread, but for those that suffer this, I finally get it.