Dry mouth even with taped mouth and cervical collar

[st8800]

Last night went to bed with cervical collar and 3M micropore mouth tape, yet I remember waking up with dry mouth. So I took a sip of water and pop 2 Xylimelts. Woke up again a couple hours later and still felt the mouth was dry. Is this even possible?

[DeepBreathing]

Is this even possible?

I'd say it is possible, as you have experienced it.

Dry mouth is often an indication you're breathing through your mouth instead of your nose. This would show up in your leaks chart. You (or your partner) may also hear a loud hissing as the air comes out your mouth. So the first thing to do is rule out mouth breathing - using the cervical collar and taping your moth should be enough to overcome this, but sometimes the air pressure will cause your lips to open even if your jaw is clamped shut.

You could also increase the humidity setting on your machine. I know Singapore is a hot & humid place, but with airconditioning the humidity inside is greatly reduced. Is it an option to turn the aircon off and open some windows?

Finally, consider going to a full face mask. Somewhat counter-intuitively, I find that using the FFM actually makes it easier to breathe through my nose.

[st8800]

Thanks DeepBreathing, turning off air-condition is an option but really too hot here to do that. Humidifier already set to max 5. F20 is already on order. Just thinking this is like 2 layer protection with Xylimelts... and yet still dry mouth.... 

[Newbee2016]

Just curious, since you mentioned using micropore tape, do you tape the full width of the mouth? This would prevent air movement out through the mouth and if you still feel a dry mouth, it has to be due to the air movement coming from the back of the throat. 

With a humidifier setting of 5, do you feel warm air flowing - just trying to rule out anything from the humidifier end. For me, a setting of 2 and I can tell the air temperature difference between incoming cpap air and the room.

[st8800]

Yes, I tape full width of the mouth and do feel warm air in humidifier, especially when I do preheat. Anyway, have been advised not to tape due to my bronchitis issues. Will wait for myFFM and see how it goes.

[tlauts]

I read that sometimes your humidity can be too high, and you run out of water during the middle of the night.

Is your humidifier completely empty when you wake up?

I have tried every setting myself and still have dry mouth no matter what (even with a chin strap). I just keep multiple water bottles next to my bed now.

[st8800]

Normally I will have some water left because I seldom sleep more than 7 hrs a day. It's funny, I started my CPAP journey because of dry mouth but it seems no solution to that yet.

[silversnore]

How much water do you drink during the day, do you get the required 86 ounces or so? Dry mouth can be a symptom of dehydration. Try increasing your H2O intake, limit caffeine, alcohol and other diuretics. Do you take any medication? If so, a lot of side effects are dry-mouth as well. I used to tape my mouth every night, I found using a two inch tape kept me from being able to blow out under the tape as DeepBreathing noted. If your FFM does not work think some of the reasons above may help, good luck!!

[OpalRose]

I started my CPAP journey because of dry mouth but it seems no solution to that yet.

I have been following your posts for some time. It seems you have tried many things to combat your dry mouth problems with no real results.

You state that you started your Cpap "because of dry mouth". So you've had this problem before you started therapy.

I've not seen mentioned if you take any medications. A side affect of many of the meds we take is dry mouth.
You may want to look into that.

[st8800]

Thanks Silversnore and OpalRose! I am not take any medication presently. I have been having dry mouth since 2 yrs back. Back then, I went to see my GP about it. She told me I had sleep apnea and referred me to an ENT sleep specialist. 

A sleep study was done and I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea with an AHI of 20. The clinic referred me to a CPAP supplier who quoted me USD1400 for a CPAP. Since my insurance don't cover sleep disorder, I didn't do anything about it. It was only recently that I found out I can get a CPAP at a fraction of that in Amazon and took the plunge on CPAP therapy. 

Think the dry mouth is not as bad as before I start the therapy and my 2nd night on Xyliments seems to also help some what. Well noted on possibility of dehydration. Although I don't take the 86 ounce of water daily, I probably hit 50-80% of that amount. Will try and increase the amount and monitor further.