Dry Mouth Continues

[Okie bipap]

I used a simplus for several months. I have a very narrow nose bridge, and the only way I could get it to seal around my nose was to wear it lower on the nose. I would get it in place, and then run two pieces of tape from the lower portion of the mask to down under my chin. Once I tried the Amara View, I never went back to the simplus.

[prodigyplace]

Thanks all for the advice. I think I will try the F20.

I have not generally had large leaks once properly adjusted.

[PAPA 71]

I've been a CPAP user for 20 years and now into my 4th machine. Some time ago I graduated to using nasal pillows instead of a nose or full facial mask.
I believe that dry mouth is caused by "by-passing" of the CPAP air.
With nasal pillows or nasal mask the air entering the nose can sometimes by-pass the throat airway and pass out through the mouth thus drying it out. This is cause by your tongue sealing off the airway to the throat as with snoring, and causing the majority of air to exit the mouth.
I recently underwent a new sleep study to determine whether my CPAP pressure needed adjustment due to on-going fatigue. During the study the CPAP attendant woke me to add a head harness around my chin to keep my mouth shut as I was by-passing.
In summary your setup should ensure that the CPAP is going into your lungs thus keeping your airway open.

[LSAT]

It is very interesting both of you mention the Amara View. Here is a bit of my history.
My therapy started with the P10. I had a mouth breathing issue and irritation from the P10 so I exchanged for a Quattro Air FFM.

I finally got the FFM to seal reasonably using tips from members here, but my AHI numbers were not nearly as good ad the P10. I think my best FFM AHI was near the worst P10 AHI.

I thought about the Quattro Liberty since it has nasal pillows like the P10. Lincare did not have it and time was short so I got an Amara View. I think it seals OK but th exhausting air seems to fall on my face around my eyes.

Since I was going away on a trip for a week, I bought a P10 myself. On my follow up visit, my LPN said the Quattro Liberty tends to leak a lot She gave me a smaller mask for the View and recommended the F&P Simplus. She also gave me a prescription.

I noticed on Cpap.com that there is no return on the Simplus so I was wary. I called them and they recommended the F20. I am not sure whether my insurance will pay for a mask yes=t since Lincare billed them for the original P10 & the Quattro Air. Although they credited me for the P10, they kept the insurance money. No wonder health care is so expensive!

tl:dr I have a Quattro view and have issues with the exhausting air falling on my face & eyes. Any suggestions? Perhaps I should start a new thread but I think the OPs issue degraded into beating a dead horse.

Thanks again.

Question...How do you know they kept the insurance money? Also....There is no such mask as a Quattro View.

[prodigyplace]

Question...How do you know they kept the insurance money? Also....There is no such mask as a Quattro View.

I corrected myself on that later when Pugsy asked. Notice earlier I said Amara View. I have now discovered the Edit button and corrected the posting.

I know they kept the money because I paid out of pocket since I had not met my annual insurance deductible. If they had returned the money, I would have needed to pay that amount on another claim but insurance still shows the deductible as being met.

I agree with Pugsy that people should generally avoid Lin(don't)Care.

[DeeCPAP]

I can only speak for myself about the Amera View. First day I used a small cushion and it held my mouth together nicely without mouth breathing but it pushed my nose in and made it red in the morning. Second day I tried a medium cushion and I woke up with a very dry mouth, leaking and a red nose -- and I thought it leaked but didn't leak too much. Today, my tech scored both nights and they were just "okay", but still passed the litmus test. I'm going to try the large and see what happens. I'm thinking of switching them nightly to see if it helps take the edge off each mask. OR just keep trying them to see which says the most comfortable for the longest period of time.

They should have a better way to deal with masks. Maybe one day in the future they'll make molds of your face and just hand you the mask that will work best. Until then, it'll be misery for most of us.

[prodigyplace]

I can only speak for myself about the Amera View. First day I used a small cushion and it held my mouth together nicely without mouth breathing but it pushed my nose in and made it red in the morning. Second day I tried a medium cushion and I woke up with a very dry mouth, leaking and a red nose -- and I thought it leaked but didn't leak too much. Today, my tech scored both nights and they were just "okay", but still passed the litmus test. I'm going to try the large and see what happens. I'm thinking of switching them nightly to see if it helps take the edge off each mask. OR just keep trying them to see which says the most comfortable for the longest period of time.

They should have a better way to deal with masks. Maybe one day in the future they'll make molds of your face and just hand you the mask that will work best. Until then, it'll be misery for most of us.

Have you tried the sizing guide from cpap.com?
Apparently manufacturers make sizing guides the "professionals" do not use.

[DeeCPAP]

I can only speak for myself about the Amera View. First day I used a small cushion and it held my mouth together nicely without mouth breathing but it pushed my nose in and made it red in the morning. Second day I tried a medium cushion and I woke up with a very dry mouth, leaking and a red nose -- and I thought it leaked but didn't leak too much. Today, my tech scored both nights and they were just "okay", but still passed the litmus test. I'm going to try the large and see what happens. I'm thinking of switching them nightly to see if it helps take the edge off each mask. OR just keep trying them to see which says the most comfortable for the longest period of time.

They should have a better way to deal with masks. Maybe one day in the future they'll make molds of your face and just hand you the mask that will work best. Until then, it'll be misery for most of us.

Have you tried the sizing guide from cpap.com?
Apparently manufacturers make sizing guides the "professionals" do not use.

How do you get the guides? Is it for all masks or just one at a time? (For professionals not to use those guides should be illegal!)

[prodigyplace]

I can only speak for myself about the Amera View. First day I used a small cushion and it held my mouth together nicely without mouth breathing but it pushed my nose in and made it red in the morning. Second day I tried a medium cushion and I woke up with a very dry mouth, leaking and a red nose -- and I thought it leaked but didn't leak too much. Today, my tech scored both nights and they were just "okay", but still passed the litmus test. I'm going to try the large and see what happens. I'm thinking of switching them nightly to see if it helps take the edge off each mask. OR just keep trying them to see which says the most comfortable for the longest period of time.

They should have a better way to deal with masks. Maybe one day in the future they'll make molds of your face and just hand you the mask that will work best. Until then, it'll be misery for most of us.

Have you tried the sizing guide from cpap.com?
Apparently manufacturers make sizing guides the "professionals" do not use.

How do you get the guides? Is it for all masks or just one at a time? (For professionals not to use those guides should be illegal!)

There is a button off the product page if a sizing guide is available. For example, the Amara View
Product Page: https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... -mask.html
Sizong Guide: https://5faacd0c97cf0d23c6dc-064f3cd61b ... -guide.pdf

I find it best to save the pdf file & open in Acrobat. Be sure to select "full size" from the print dialog box. The default is "shrink to fit".

[mrbreezeet1]

Still struggling with dry mouth. The heated hose hasn't made a difference. Turned the humidity to highest level 8. Hasn't helped a bit. The water empties from the humidifier completely every night. This is a brand new machine. Doesn't this seem odd?

No, it doesn't. Full face masks tend to put pressure on some individual's jaws, which, as a result, drops during sleep and airs goes out of the mouth on exhale. I had the same dry mouth issue until I started taping my mouth to enforce nose breathing, which is also important with a full face mask as well. Other alternatives are cervical collars or hairbands by Jay Aitchsee. For the former, search the forum, for the latter - viewtopic.php?p=1096117#p1096117.

I used to be doing jacking up humidity very high, but experienced either a lot of congestion with heated air or rainout. Now my humidity setting is 0, i.e. pass-over humidification. Nasal is clear, no allergy meds.

So you are taping your mouth every night now?
Can't do that with facial hair though I take it?

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

[mrbreezeet1]

You can still have a dry mouth if you mouth breathe with a FF mask (but not lose therapy air), but the humidifier is to 'treat' that air, not automatically humidify your mouth totally, so you may need to use something else like Biotene, or whatever else is recommended.

Ok, now not trying to "argue" with anyone,.......
Just trying to understand.
I thought the other fellow (forget his user name) said you WOULD loose therapy air,
If one's mouth was open, even with a FF mask.
Made sense to me, but now I'm not certain?
The way I saw it, by the other fellows explanation is the open mouth, even though a FF mask, would allow therapy to escape out the mouth, and then out the exhale port of the mask?????

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

[Goofproof]

You can still have a dry mouth if you mouth breathe with a FF mask (but not lose therapy air), but the humidifier is to 'treat' that air, not automatically humidify your mouth totally, so you may need to use something else like Biotene, or whatever else is recommended.

Ok, now not trying to "argue" with anyone,.......
Just trying to understand.
I thought the other fellow (forget his user name) said you WOULD loose therapy air,
If one's mouth was open, even with a FF mask.
Made sense to me, but now I'm not certain?
The way I saw it, by the other fellows explanation is the open mouth, even though a FF mask, would allow therapy to escape out the mouth, and then out the exhale port of the mask?????

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

The exhale port will only pass the air needed to vent the CO that needs to vent, the machine will make up the pressure. It can make dry mouth worse and that can cause dental problems. Jim

[49er]

Sorry if this has been covered in your thread but have you tried Xylimelts?

https://www.oracoat.com/products/xmdm

I had found them moderately effective but stopped using them for reasons that won't make sense to this board. So I won't go there.

Anyway, my problem is worsening even though I am not mouth breathing so I intend to start using them again.

49er

[mrbreezeet1]

Sorry if this has been covered in your thread but have you tried Xylimelts?

https://www.oracoat.com/products/xmdm

I had found them moderately effective but stopped using them for reasons that won't make sense to this board. So I won't go there.

Anyway, my problem is worsening even though I am not mouth breathing so I intend to start using them again.
49er

No, Not Yet, If I can find them locally I will, if Not, will have to order them.
I have the Dollar general version of the Biotene, But It don't help.
Was going to try the jell, but all the reviews, say the "New and improved" Biotene is not as good as other so I didn't try it yet.
I did Velcro a piece on to the too small cervical collar, and wore it, did wake up a few times, But guess what, NO DRY M0UTH!
i think The Dry Mouth was waking me up.
So really did not sleep too bad. never ended up taking the mask or the collar off!
Only thing, Can't have it all I guess, but I'm trying, I have a Pretty good stiff, sore neck today. so The search continues.
Might still try to make a cooler chin Strap.
I do want to try the Xylimelts, don't know if I can get the locally.

You can still have a dry mouth if you mouth breathe with a FF mask (but not lose therapy air), but the humidifier is to 'treat' that air, not automatically humidify your mouth totally, so you may need to use something else like Biotene, or whatever else is recommended.

Ok, now not trying to "argue" with anyone,.......
Just trying to understand.
I thought the other fellow (forget his user name) said you WOULD loose therapy air,
If one's mouth was open, even with a FF mask.
Made sense to me, but now I'm not certain?
The way I saw it, by the other fellows explanation is the open mouth, even though a FF mask, would allow therapy to escape out the mouth, and then out the exhale port of the mask?????

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

The exhale port will only pass the air needed to vent the CO that needs to vent, the machine will make up the pressure. It can make dry mouth worse and that can cause dental problems. Jim

OH, OK Good Then I understand, Thanks.

[StormyToo]

I just don't understand this gang up on the newbie mentality on this board and never have. We have an opportunity to teach people the apnea basics and all we are doing is driving people away. I know things aren't going to change but I find it very frustrating.

It's a failure of compassion and pretty entrenched in society, unfortunately. With all the polarization, weak sense of community, and emotional disregulation out there in the world, some online-BB-rage is not surprising. There are best practices that can help, but they are at best only partially effective, esp. when the owners of the venue/communication channel are not willing to implement them.

The "all knowing" don't seem to want anybody adding any information and they don't want to share what they know. I tried 3 posts and that was enough for me. I don't need to be on this site to be called a dumda**, I can be called that without asking for it. I hope you all enjoy each other's company, you are a bit too rude for me.