02-22-2021, 11:32 AM
Dry mouth and getting up to pee
Hi Everybody,
I've had sleep issues for almost 2 decades now, I'll try to make the story as short as possible so as to not bore everybody, but I'm hoping somebody can point me in the right direction.
It started in my early 20s when I noticed that a) I wasn't getting as much sleep as I used to, about 1-2 hours less on average a night than I was getting in my teen years and b) It didn't feel restful, I'd wake up and just feel kind of meh, as opposed to my teenage years, when I'd wake up like I got out of a coma. In hindsight, I actually used to love the feeling of sleep, and how it felt waking up from it.
Then as the years progressed it became common that I'd have the occasional sleepless night, and the sleep became less and less restorative. If I was able to go to sleep without any problem, I would almost always wake up during the night. So most nights, the sleep would be interrupted (now that's every night).
About 5 years ago, I've noticed that when I wake up my mouth was dry (which is why I have a glass of water next to my bed) and I had to pee. So now I couldn't tell if I was waking up because my mouth was dry and thirsty and had to pee, or since it became common that I woke up several times at night, that it just so happen to be that I had to pee and my mouth was dry.
Anyway, I start learning about sleep apnea. So about a year ago, I go to a sleep center and take a home sleep study. I was only able to get a couple hours of sleep during the study but the results showed that I had mild sleep apnea (AHI 6-7) and that at one moment during my sleep my heart rate went as high as 145. The doctor told me that I had a very small mouth relative to the size of my tongue, so the sleep issues were most likely caused by any blockage in my throat from the tongue pushing back during sleep.
So I get a CPAP and start using that. I have a nasal pillow mask. Evidently I was a mouth breather and that's not going to work with that kind of mask, so I tried a full face mask, being a mouth breather, but I found it too uncomfortable to sleep and far too difficult to keep it from leaking air. So I thought if I could learn to sleep with my mouth closed I can just use nasal pillow mask.
I started learning about myofunctional exercises that can train to keep the tongue on the top of the roof of the mouth, which makes you get used to closing your mouth and breathing through your nose. I've also slept with my mouth taped, and as far as the AHI numbers, it's worked. MY AHI are almost always in the 1-2 range every night, so by textbook definition, I do not have sleep apnea, however my sleep is still just as bad. I've had this CPAP for about a year, and I still wake up 2-3 times a night to pee and when I wake up my mouth is dry, which means I have to take the tape off to get a sip of water to wet my whistle, and then put the tape back on to get back to sleep, if I can. The vast majority of the nights, I have no trouble whatsoever going to sleep, but it's waking up in the middle of the night that's the problem, so I'm not even sure it can be considered insomnia either.
I remember reading about somebody who had low AHI but still trouble sleeping, and it turns out he had Vocal Cord Dysfunction, so an oxygen concentrator helped him out. I looked up Vocal Cord Dysfunction, and it was similar to asthma, and just having general breathing problems, which isn't me. I don't have any breathing problems (at least to my knowledge).
I have no idea what else I can do. A little bit about me....Male, 43, I don't pee a lot during the day. Regular amount, I suppose. I don't take any medications. Nothing over the counter either. I'm 5'11" about 165 lbs, I have a low BMI, I exercise just about every day. I work from home on my fruit orchard just about every day so I get fresh air every day. I'm not cooped up in an office 9-5 like many people do. I eat healthy. I live in Hawaii. As far as all the things I can control in my life, it should be conducive to getting a good night's sleep, but it's not.
Can anybody help me out here?
Thanks
I've had sleep issues for almost 2 decades now, I'll try to make the story as short as possible so as to not bore everybody, but I'm hoping somebody can point me in the right direction.
It started in my early 20s when I noticed that a) I wasn't getting as much sleep as I used to, about 1-2 hours less on average a night than I was getting in my teen years and b) It didn't feel restful, I'd wake up and just feel kind of meh, as opposed to my teenage years, when I'd wake up like I got out of a coma. In hindsight, I actually used to love the feeling of sleep, and how it felt waking up from it.
Then as the years progressed it became common that I'd have the occasional sleepless night, and the sleep became less and less restorative. If I was able to go to sleep without any problem, I would almost always wake up during the night. So most nights, the sleep would be interrupted (now that's every night).
About 5 years ago, I've noticed that when I wake up my mouth was dry (which is why I have a glass of water next to my bed) and I had to pee. So now I couldn't tell if I was waking up because my mouth was dry and thirsty and had to pee, or since it became common that I woke up several times at night, that it just so happen to be that I had to pee and my mouth was dry.
Anyway, I start learning about sleep apnea. So about a year ago, I go to a sleep center and take a home sleep study. I was only able to get a couple hours of sleep during the study but the results showed that I had mild sleep apnea (AHI 6-7) and that at one moment during my sleep my heart rate went as high as 145. The doctor told me that I had a very small mouth relative to the size of my tongue, so the sleep issues were most likely caused by any blockage in my throat from the tongue pushing back during sleep.
So I get a CPAP and start using that. I have a nasal pillow mask. Evidently I was a mouth breather and that's not going to work with that kind of mask, so I tried a full face mask, being a mouth breather, but I found it too uncomfortable to sleep and far too difficult to keep it from leaking air. So I thought if I could learn to sleep with my mouth closed I can just use nasal pillow mask.
I started learning about myofunctional exercises that can train to keep the tongue on the top of the roof of the mouth, which makes you get used to closing your mouth and breathing through your nose. I've also slept with my mouth taped, and as far as the AHI numbers, it's worked. MY AHI are almost always in the 1-2 range every night, so by textbook definition, I do not have sleep apnea, however my sleep is still just as bad. I've had this CPAP for about a year, and I still wake up 2-3 times a night to pee and when I wake up my mouth is dry, which means I have to take the tape off to get a sip of water to wet my whistle, and then put the tape back on to get back to sleep, if I can. The vast majority of the nights, I have no trouble whatsoever going to sleep, but it's waking up in the middle of the night that's the problem, so I'm not even sure it can be considered insomnia either.
I remember reading about somebody who had low AHI but still trouble sleeping, and it turns out he had Vocal Cord Dysfunction, so an oxygen concentrator helped him out. I looked up Vocal Cord Dysfunction, and it was similar to asthma, and just having general breathing problems, which isn't me. I don't have any breathing problems (at least to my knowledge).
I have no idea what else I can do. A little bit about me....Male, 43, I don't pee a lot during the day. Regular amount, I suppose. I don't take any medications. Nothing over the counter either. I'm 5'11" about 165 lbs, I have a low BMI, I exercise just about every day. I work from home on my fruit orchard just about every day so I get fresh air every day. I'm not cooped up in an office 9-5 like many people do. I eat healthy. I live in Hawaii. As far as all the things I can control in my life, it should be conducive to getting a good night's sleep, but it's not.
Can anybody help me out here?
Thanks
