Help - changed mask from full-face to nasal - dry throat

[spioch]

Hi Guys,

I changed my mask two days ago.
I had Philips Respironics Amara View, now I have Philips Respironics Wisp.

Amara was fine, I had good results with it. But it was a full-face mask and I wasn't comfortable with it.

However, I have a problem with Wisp. The first night I woke up every hour with my mouth dry, and I don't breathe through my mouth while I sleep (I never did). This is new and I did not expect it at all.

On the second night, I put on a chin stripe but I woke up with a dry... throat. I have a humidifier, I set it to maximum power, but it did not help.

I would like to stay in this mask because it is very comfortable.
Do you have any advice? Please, help me.

[Osiris357]

The air can still push out between your lips. The only way to stop that without training the tip of your tongue to stay behind your top front teeth is to tape your mouth shut. If you still have a dry mouth or throat after that then it may be just the constant air blowing in that’s drying you out. What settings do you have on the humidifier? You have it maxed out and you didn’t get rainout?

[Osiris357]

I just noticed that you have an old cpap machine. Is it possible the humidifier isn’t functioning properly?

[spioch]

I just noticed that you have an old cpap machine. Is it possible the humidifier isn’t functioning properly?

I know the machine is outdated, but I bought it as a new one four months ago.

The humidifier probably worked, it was warm when I checked it at night.

[RNeil]

If the air is going in your nose and out your mouth, you are not getting the pressure where you need it and the CPAP is ineffective. You can also try a cervical collar and taping your mouth shut with medical tape.

[spioch]

I tried the chin strap and started using EPR (Flex on my machine) - 1.8 H20.

I can sleep now There is only one problem - I have three times as much AHU than with a full face mask (it was on average 0.18 per hour for 56 days, currently 0.58 for last 14 days)

[DeepBreathing]

An AHI of 0.58 is not to be sneezed at! The difference between 0.58 and 0.18 is only about 3 events in a full night's sleep - not worth worrying about.

[spioch]

I am not sure how it happened...I wrote "AHU"?

No...I meant Centrals. That is what should be in my previous posts. Sorry.

Anyway - is this something I should worry about? My AHI (and RDI) is almost the same (about 1,3-1,4).

[LeonardoDR]

Standard neoprene chin straps wrap around the tip of your chin and the force is directed almost directly into your jaw joint, the worst angle possible.  They are almost impossible to make work to keep your jaw closed without requiring a ridiculous amount of force.  So if that is the type of chin strap you used, don't conclude that a chin strap won't work for you.  Try a Knightsbridge Dual Band, the bands pass under your chin and lift vertically, and the two bands (one elastic and one non-elastic) allow you to adjust the force to be very low while still effectively keeping your jaw shut.  The downside of the Knightsbridge is it has more material to it than the neoprene ones, but once you adjust it correctly you hardly notice it's even on.

[3rdMarDiv]

In my experience time takes care of most all CPAP problems. When I was experiencing dry mouth I would get up and drink a sip of water, but that got old after awhile. So, I just started telling myself "Close your mouth dummy". I would just move my tongue around inside my mouth and regenerate saliva and within no time I was back to sleep. Now, I still will rarely be bothered by dry mouth, but it's so seldom I don't even remember the last time.

The method of placing your tongue at the roof of the mouth also will become a muscle memory reflex. If you keep doing it and offering it as an alternative to waking or getting up, I think the brain gets it and cooperates with you...LOL

I will say that if you catch a cold and your nasal/sinus are blocked dry mouth is more likely. NyQuil helps a lot, for me.

I did try a couple chin straps and those combined with the CPAP headgear were just plain torture.

Everything with CPAP is like that for me. Nose itches, strap pain, etc., all seemed to diminish greatly with time. They all still will crop up from time to time, but now its like a motor reflex response.