Does my mouth need to be closed? NEWBIE

Hello,

JerryDom here, a newbie to CPAP and this forum.

I see from my results that I can have as many as 30+ "events" during my sleep.

Please excuse my ignorance, my DME provider gave me little advice.

I was reading here yesterday that there are methods to keep your mouth closed when CPAPing.

It didn't hit me till then.

Am I supposed to breathe only through my nose?

My DME agent said it is OK when I told her I was a mouth breather.

I really need advice here.

Does mouth breathing eliminate the benefit of the CPAP?

HELP, please.

Welcome to the forum.

Mouth breathing can negate the benefit of the cpap if the mouth is outside the closed circuit and not covered in some fashion by the mask.
This is why there are full face masks out there...cover both the nose and mouth.

So if you have a full face mask you can go ahead and breathe through your mouth and you lose none of the benefits of the cpap.
Now if you only have the nose covered....then air pressure and exit out the mouth when mouth breathing and you lose the ability to hold the airway open optimally.

So which mask are you using?

Much depends on the mask you are using...If you have tried, and can't sleep without breathing through your mouth, you will need a Full Face Mask or a way to keep your mouth closed...taping or chinstraps. If you don't control your mouth breathing your therapy will not work properly. ..It will all escape through your mouth.

JerryDom wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 05, 2019 1:30 pm

Hello,

JerryDom here, a newbie to CPAP and this forum.

I see from my results that I can have as many as 30+ "events" during my sleep.

Please excuse my ignorance, my DME provider gave me little advice.

I was reading here yesterday that there are methods to keep your mouth closed when CPAPing.

It didn't hit me till then.

Am I supposed to breathe only through my nose?

My DME agent said it is OK when I told her I was a mouth breather.

I really need advice here.

Does mouth breathing eliminate the benefit of the CPAP?

HELP, please.

"30+ events" is not all that informative. Typically around here we use AHI (Apnea Hypopnea Index), or more simply Events per hour.

Is it important to keep your mouth closed? This is dependant on your mask type. If you have a nasal mask that only covers your nose or nostrils, yes. You must keep your mouth closed and breath only through your nose.

If your mask type covers both your nose and mouth then you can open your mouth and you can breathe through your nose or mouth.

By the way, for a lot of reasons, it is almost always preferable to breathe through one's nose.

You should also include your mask type in your profile.

Yes.
If your Initials are D.H.
Then, definitely yes.

JPB

jimbud wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 05, 2019 3:26 pm

Yes.
If your Initials are D.H.
Then, definitely yes.

JPB

JerryDom wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 05, 2019 1:30 pm

Hello,

JerryDom here, a newbie to CPAP and this forum.

I see from my results that I can have as many as 30+ "events" during my sleep.

Please excuse my ignorance, my DME provider gave me little advice.

I was reading here yesterday that there are methods to keep your mouth closed when CPAPing.

It didn't hit me till then.

Am I supposed to breathe only through my nose?

My DME agent said it is OK when I told her I was a mouth breather.

I really need advice here.

Does mouth breathing eliminate the benefit of the CPAP?

HELP, please.

Yes. Unless you are eating or drinking or gasping for air!

JerryDom wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 05, 2019 1:30 pm

Hello,

JerryDom here, a newbie to CPAP and this forum.

I see from my results that I can have as many as 30+ "events" during my sleep.

Please excuse my ignorance, my DME provider gave me little advice.

I was reading here yesterday that there are methods to keep your mouth closed when CPAPing.

It didn't hit me till then.

Am I supposed to breathe only through my nose?

My DME agent said it is OK when I told her I was a mouth breather.

I really need advice here.

Does mouth breathing eliminate the benefit of the CPAP?

HELP, please.

You listed your machine... good for doing that... but what *mask* are you using?

The whole point of a full face mask is so that you can breathe through your mouth, if you want to.

jimbud wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 05, 2019 3:26 pm

Yes.
If your Initials are D.H.
Then, definitely yes.

JPB

I don't care if his/her mouth is open, I just wish someone would handcuff their hands behind their back.... or kitchen mitts... alternatively.

Dog Slobber wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 05, 2019 3:02 pm

JerryDom wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 05, 2019 1:30 pm

Hello,

JerryDom here, a newbie to CPAP and this forum.

I see from my results that I can have as many as 30+ "events" during my sleep.

Please excuse my ignorance, my DME provider gave me little advice.

I was reading here yesterday that there are methods to keep your mouth closed when CPAPing.

It didn't hit me till then.

Am I supposed to breathe only through my nose?

My DME agent said it is OK when I told her I was a mouth breather.

I really need advice here.

Does mouth breathing eliminate the benefit of the CPAP?

HELP, please.

"30+ events" is not all that informative. Typically around here we use AHI (Apnea Hypopnea Index), or more simply Events per hour.

Is it important to keep your mouth closed? This is dependant on your mask type. If you have a nasal mask that only covers your nose or nostrils, yes. You must keep your mouth closed and breath only through your nose.

If your mask type covers both your nose and mouth then you can open your mouth and you can breathe through your nose or mouth.

By the way, for a lot of reasons, it is almost always preferable to breathe through one's nose.

You should also include your mask type in your profile.

I don't know if we're top or bottom quoting here. If i'm wrong, please let me know.

Yes, I should have read the NEWBIE section better.

Ayway,

Thanks for the reply to all who contributed.


I have 2 masks, they both cover the nose and mouth. They originally gave me the nasal pillow with 2 holes for the nostrils and comes down and covers my mouth to. The other is a full face mask.

My DME supplier let us try a different one during the first 30 days so I have 2 now.

My events are per hour. I've gotten as high as 70.3 events per hour and as low as 11.3 with the median AHI of 21.09


But I thought the idea was to force air through the nose so it keeps the "flap" I forget the name, from closing off the throat. How does air coming in both nose and mouth work?

palerider wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 05, 2019 7:15 pm

jimbud wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 05, 2019 3:26 pm

Yes.
If your Initials are D.H.
Then, definitely yes.

JPB

I don't care if his/her mouth is open, I just wish someone would handcuff their hands behind their back.... or kitchen mitts... alternatively.

Metaphorically speaking of course.

JPB

Your AHI numbers are way too high, and the experts here can help you with that—but only if you can give them more information. That’s why you’re being asked to download Oscar

https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/

and post a recent daily chart. If you have trouble with doing that, just let us know and we can help. It’s important to get your AHI down.