Dry Mouth

[Honycutt]

Hello. I have been using a cpap machine for a number of years and am new to this forum. For the last month or so I've been experiencing severe dry mouth at night. The humidifier was set on 2 and I've turned it up as far as 5 but it still doesn't help. The water is gone but it sure isn't in my mouth! The doc says I need a nose pillow and chin strap. I've gotten so many different types of masks over the years that I hate to get another that won't work. I'm going to take the machine to the company and make sure it's working properly. I'm just wondering if anyone else has this problem and, if so, what were the solutions?

[PaulaO2]

Your doc is an idiot.

A full face mask is for those who breathe with their mouth open at night. It is a common thing. Using a chin strap and a nasal mask is preferable but you certainly would not back up to that if the FFM is working for you.

Take a look at what, if any, changes have been made. Any new medication? Some of them have the side effect of dry mouth.

I am going to assume you tried the different settings between 3 and 4 as well as go up to 5. Sometimes too much humidity causes the same symptoms as too little.

If nothing has changed and you are happy with your mask, then look into a dry mouth remedy such as Biotene.

[Paptillian]

As crazy as it sounds, someone recommended swabbing your mouth with olive oil before bed. I tried it a couple times early on when I was having issues keeping my mouth closed throughout the night. It did work... it also made me hungry

[Honycutt]

I have to agree with you about the Doc being an idiot. He replaced my other Doc who retired! I stopped an got some Biotene. going to try that this even.
Thanks for the replies.

[jgjones1972]

Harder to find, but work much better (for me at least) are Xylimelts. They are about the size of pills and have a coating on one side that turns into a fairly strong adhesive when wetted with saliva and kept in place (against gums between cheeks and gums) for about 30 seconds. I couldn't find them locally, but had no problem finding them on Amazon.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Honycutt,
WELCOME! to the forum.!

[SleepEZ]

Still waiting for my equipment, so I can't speak from experience, but I saw this "olive oil" tip on the ResMed web site in a short video they sponsored. I'm going to be using nasal pillows and a chinstrap, so this will be my first option if I experience dry mouth.

As crazy as it sounds, someone recommended swabbing your mouth with olive oil before bed. I tried it a couple times early on when I was having issues keeping my mouth closed throughout the night. It did work... it also made me hungry

[PaulaO2]

If you are using a chin strap and you have dry mouth, then the chin strap is not working.

I've heard good things about the Xylimelts and similar products. They slowly dissolve and last longer.