Dry Mouth

[jr33zy]

Good morning,

I'm on Dreamstation with an Airfit F20.

AHI has been pretty low. Lost some weight right after my sleep study so maybe that might help.

My main question is how to deal with dry mouth. I've turned up humidity and then also have used xylitol melts.

The high humidy gets my nose all red and the xylitol is ok but i sometimes forget to pop it in.

Can you guys take a look at my sleepyhead report and any advice on what to do about the dry mouth?

Thanks

[CB91710]

Dry mouth is generally caused by mouth-breathing.
Even if you are using a full-face, you should attempt to breathe through your nose.

There are a few methods to help with this. One is to use a soft cervical collar. This not only helps support the chin to hold your mouth closed, but also helps to keep it from dropping toward your chest, which helps support the airway and reduce AHI.

Another method that takes practice, is the "tongue suck" method. Fortunately, you can practice this when awake to develop the muscle memory and it quickly becomes 2nd nature. Push the tip of your tongue into the back of your upper teeth and arch your tongue to apply gentle pressure on the roof of your mouth. Apply a very gentle suction to "seal" it. This pulls the cheeks and tongue in together and effectively seals your mouth.

Some use a chin strap, I did not find it that effective. Some also advocate using tape... doesn't work well with facial hair, and many people are sensitive to adhesive tape (it tears my skin up).

[Marillion]

I use a chin strap to prevent my mouth opening up and also paper medical tape to prevent any air blowing out past my lips. Since I have been doing this I have never experienced any dry mouth when waking up. For the medical paper tape (make sure to get the paper, sensitive skin kind.) I did do the tongue suction practice for a number of months and while it really helped, it didn't completely eliminate the rare occasions when I would get air blowing out past my lips.

I usually tear off a somewhat longer strip, create a tab by folding one end on to itself and then stick and remove the tape on my clean hands a couple of times or on my forehead which lessens the adhesive and then apply. When it comes time to remove it in the morning, I'll push a little saliva out around the middle of my lips or even use my tongue around that area on the outside of my lips if the tape feels a little sticky and I shaved last night. The tape does come off fairly easily then. I never have any problems anymore with my lips being irritated by the tape since I do those things and I never get dry mouth.

I used to swear I would never tape, but NEVER having to wake up with a dry mouth or get woken up by air rushing out past my lips kind of changed my mind.

[Hojo]

Some use Biotene with good results, I'm one of them.  Also, make sure your room has some humidity.

[jr33zy]

thank you i'll try to find a cervical collar at my DME.

I'll try the tongue suction thing also. Thank you for the instruction. Do you have any references on where you learned that from?

Thanks

---

Seems a bit scary to tape my mouth. Am i trusting that i will always be able to breath through my nose all the time?

[trish6hundred]

Hi jr33zy,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
You should be able to find the soft cervical collars at a drug store or amazon has them.
Hang in there for more responses to your post, good luck with CPAP therapy.

[CB91710]

thank you i'll try to find a cervical collar at my DME.

I'll try the tongue suction thing also. Thank you for the instruction. Do you have any references on where you learned that from?

I picked that up here on the forum.  It really is a wealth of information.
I bought the cervical collar for about $8 at a local drug store.

[Moriarty]

...Another method that takes practice, is the "tongue suck" method.  

That worked for me.

[Marillion]

---

Seems a bit scary to tape my mouth. Am i trusting that i will always be able to breath through my nose all the time?

While taping is a controversial subject, if you do a search on the topic you'll find a lot of people do it.  If you use the technique I described earlier to somewhat reduce the stickiness of the tape if needed, you'll find the strength of your jaw muscles will be more than sufficient to open your mouth if need be.  

The human urge to breathe is very strong and your jaw muscles are really quite powerful.

[OpalRose]

There are some things to try for dry mouth.  Rinse with  Biotene before bed (I prefer ACT Total Care Dry Mouth Rinse) but both are good products.

For mouth breathing, the “soft” cervical collar has worked for many here.  Also keeps you from tucking your chin to your chest.  It’s important to measure the circumference of your neck and add a couple inches.  Also measure for height, from chin to neck, then subtract an inch.  The collar works best if not worn tight.  

The “tongue suck technique” has been around for quite a while now.

It takes practice and commitment to master this, but well worth the effort if you can.  I used to use a chin strap and hated it.  Learning this technique gave me the pleasure  of throwing the chin strap away.      


Tongue Suck Technique:
Place your tongue to the roof of your mouth with tip of tongue behind front 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.