[CPAP] Dry mouth despite humidity set to full

[bbbl67]

So my machine, Philips Dreamstation CPAP. has been leaving me with a dry mouth for past couple of weeks, even though my humidity is set to the highest setting 5. Now, it's been extremely cold outside recently (-25 or -30C) and therefore the humidity has been low inside, but shouldn't this compensate for the low humidity? What can I do to alleviate this? Can I reduce the pressure slightly, perhaps?

[StevesSp]

How much water is the machine using per night?

[SarcasticDave94]

Many times when users Max their humidity and still have dry mouth, it's indicating either a mask or mouth leak. You could post an OSCAR chart and we can help you see what's going on.

Also if your home had very low humidity that can contribute to this.

[Sleeprider]

It would help to know your humidity settings and mode. The manual climate settings provide higher humidity, but you need to have the tube temperature high enough to avoid condensation.

[DaveL]

How long have you been using cpap? Is this something new?

I find that things happen....I never used to mouth breath. Then I started once in a while. And then a lot more. It wasn't fun. My story isn't important. But yours is. I bet with a little bit more information from you you'll get answers that make a huge difference.

I'm in the Toronto area. We've had some cold. Where about are you?

Dave

[zellem]

Have you try to switch to fixed humidification?

[OpalRose]

Take note if you could be mouth breathing. This alone will leave you with a very dry "cotton mouth" feeling.

[mesenteria]

It must be mouth breathing.  

You have the humidity as high as it can go, but that seems to be insufficient.  The machine's design is such that it can heavily humidify the air if needs be.  This suggests that your way of sleeping has changed, or is changing.  It happens to many of us who dial in our PAP treatment at which we begin to sleep better, or in a way we haven't for many years.  I believe that this is the case here.

You'll need a cervical collar, which may help, or a chin strap, or you'll have to learn how to accept tape over your mouth.  Even users of full coverage masks report that they get dry mouth because their mouths still lose tone while they sleep and the lips part.  Air still rushes into and out of the mouth, which causes drying.

[Gooserider]

I use a full face  mask, and know that I breathe through my mouth at least some of the time because my nose tends to really clog up so I have to...
I have my Resmed machine set to auto on the hose heat and humidity, and find that I go through a gallon of distilled water about every two - three weeks.  I haven't looked at the machine data in quite a while (and am now having an issue w/ the latest OSCAR - see thread in software support...)
I have a major problem w/ dry / cotton mouth to the point where it often wakes me up...  I'll even have trouble working up enough saliva to deal with it.  Definitely an annoying problem...
ex-Gooserider

[bbbl67]

It would help to know your humidity settings and mode.  The manual climate settings provide higher humidity, but you need to have the tube temperature high enough to avoid condensation.

I have the humidification set to 5, and the tube heat set to 4. There doesn't seem to be any condensation in the hose.