Upgraded to APAP and now having dry mouth problems

[john mayo]

Hello All,
I have used a Respironics CPAP (no data reporting) for 4 years with no problems with dry mouth. Now I have upgraded to a ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset, and am having severe dry mouth every night. The old CPAP was set at 10cm pressure, and the APAP is running about 13cm on average. I use auto climate control on the ResMed, with hose temp set at 82 degrees. I have tried setting humidifier to 5, and hose temp to 72 degrees, but nothing changed with dry mouth. My humidifier still has a little water left in it in the morning.
I live at 7000 ft altitude in Colorado, with very low humidity (around 15 to 20 percent normally.)
I am using a F&P Opus nasal pillows mask, which is what I have used for the last 4 years. Sleepyhead reports very low leak rate (.01%), and an average AHI of 2.17 for the last 30 days.
Any ideas why this new "better" machine is causing severe dry mouth, when my mask hasn't changed?
I have ordered a full face mask (ResMed AirFit F10) but don't have it yet.

Thanks,
John

[OpalRose]

A machine can't cause dry mouth.

You were using a pressure of 10 and now averaging 13. Could it be the higher pressure causing you to mouth breath? Often we do that without realizing. If so, try a chin strap.

[FrankNichols]

I have heard (I don't know) that dry mouth is typically a result of leaks blowing air through the mouth - could you be opening your mouth so the air goes in your nose and out of your mouth?

[PaytonA]

What Rose says +1. Another thing is that the FFM may not cure your dry mouth. It does maintain your therapeutic pressure in the case of mouth breathing/leaks but unless you can seal your mouth off you may still get dry mouth. I wear a chin strap with my FFM in order to avoid dry mouth. Then there is the problem of getting the right chin strap.

Good luck

Best Regards,

PaytonA

[green wings]

John,

I also use a nasal mask and have been gradually increasing my treatment pressure. Sometimes now I see what I think is evidence that I'm exhaling through my mouth when I look at the flowrate waveform data.

You might take a look at yours and see if it resembles what's described as "expiratory mouth breathing with normal inspiratory flow morphology" in the Snoring Data section of the Beginner's Guide to SleepyHead Wiki.

I'm actually not sure at what point a chin strap is recommended. I'm not keen to get one - just more gear on my face and head at night.

Right now I'm usually only see the expiratory mouth breathing for five minutes or so here and there, and I'm not waking up with a dry mouth.

I think if you sleep with your mouth closed that your tongue blocks your mouth from your airway. So unless you don't produce enough saliva, your mouth shouldn't get dry.

Welcome to the forum. I hope you find an answer to your dry mouth problem.

Hello All,
I have used a Respironics CPAP (no data reporting) for 4 years with no problems with dry mouth. Now I have upgraded to a ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset, and am having severe dry mouth every night. The old CPAP was set at 10cm pressure, and the APAP is running about 13cm on average. I use auto climate control on the ResMed, with hose temp set at 82 degrees. I have tried setting humidifier to 5, and hose temp to 72 degrees, but nothing changed with dry mouth. My humidifier still has a little water left in it in the morning.
I live at 7000 ft altitude in Colorado, with very low humidity (around 15 to 20 percent normally.)
I am using a F&P Opus nasal pillows mask, which is what I have used for the last 4 years. Sleepyhead reports very low leak rate (.01%), and an average AHI of 2.17 for the last 30 days.
Any ideas why this new "better" machine is causing severe dry mouth, when my mask hasn't changed?
I have ordered a full face mask (ResMed AirFit F10) but don't have it yet.

Thanks,
John

[john mayo]

Payton,

I am not anxious to have to use a chin strap, but how do you go about getting the right one?

John

What Rose says +1. Another thing is that the FFM may not cure your dry mouth. It does maintain your therapeutic pressure in the case of mouth breathing/leaks but unless you can seal your mouth off you may still get dry mouth. I wear a chin strap with my FFM in order to avoid dry mouth. Then there is the problem of getting the right chin strap.

Good luck

Best Regards,

PaytonA

[PoolQ]

chin straps are low cost typically less than $20, I would try them out and see what works for me. Lower cost than trying out a bunch of masks

[robysue]

Hello All,
I have used a Respironics CPAP (no data reporting) for 4 years with no problems with dry mouth. Now I have upgraded to a ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset, and am having severe dry mouth every night. The old CPAP was set at 10cm pressure, and the APAP is running about 13cm on average. I use auto climate control on the ResMed, with hose temp set at 82 degrees. I have tried setting humidifier to 5, and hose temp to 72 degrees, but nothing changed with dry mouth.

What was the humidifier set to with the old Respironics CPAP? That's the one piece of missing data here.

Higher pressure could mean more drying of your nasal and oral tissues. Or it could be a difference in how the humdifiers on the two machines work.

[trish6hundred]

Hi john mayo,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Much success to you as you continue your CPAP therapy and hang in there for more responses to your post.

[john mayo]

Robysue,

There are no settings on the Respironics humidifier - it just ran. That was the most basic of the Respironics machines - what insurance would pay for, I guess. It only had 3 settings for various altitudes, and no other settings of note.

I think the Respironics humidifier held a bit more water than the ResMed, but I haven't tested the difference. I am suspecting that it is just the higher pressure, moving more air, that is drying me out.
I might be tempted to set the ResMed up as a CPAP machine and set the pressure back to a constant 10cm, which can be done. But then I lose a lot of the functionality I paid for as an APAP. I guess I could do an experiment to try that one night and see if I am still dry in the morning.

My oximeter readings when I was using the old machine indicated that I was not having oxygen problems, so it seems that 10cm was doing the job. I guess I just wanted to have the automatic adjusting features of the new machine, as well as the data reporting. Kinda like having your own sleep lab. But now I wonder if it is worth it if I have to change masks and/or go to a chin strap?
John

Hello All,
I have used a Respironics CPAP (no data reporting) for 4 years with no problems with dry mouth. Now I have upgraded to a ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset, and am having severe dry mouth every night. The old CPAP was set at 10cm pressure, and the APAP is running about 13cm on average. I use auto climate control on the ResMed, with hose temp set at 82 degrees. I have tried setting humidifier to 5, and hose temp to 72 degrees, but nothing changed with dry mouth.

What was the humidifier set to with the old Respironics CPAP? That's the one piece of missing data here.

Higher pressure could mean more drying of your nasal and oral tissues. Or it could be a difference in how the humdifiers on the two machines work.