Humidifier working, but wake up with dry mouth

I've got the Elite s9 with the humidifier. I know the humidifier works and I fill it up nightly, but I still wake up in the middle of the night or AM with a very dry mouth.

I've got the humidity set at 4.5 already... Should I go higher? Or might something be wrong with it?

You can try adding more moisture to see if it helps. Dry mouth usually equals mouth breathing and even with a full face mask the mouth can become too dry to be comfortable. The humidifiers are really designed to add moisture to the nasal cavity and not the oral cavity which is much larger. Simply not enough moisture for oral cavity. Many FFM users complain of dry mouth even with humidifier set to max setting and even using the old fashioned heat only setting which will typically deliver more moisture.

Your humidifier is likely working properly but just not delivering enough moisture to suit your needs.
Options...increase settings...try to find one that adds enough moisture that doesn't produce rain out....
use something to keep mouth more hydrated (Biotene makes some products for this problem)....do something to keep mouth closed even using the full face mask, like chin strap.

If your mouth is dropping open and air is going up your nose and out your mouth, no matter what the humidity setting is, you will get desert mouth.

I initially used a Mirage Liberty FF mask with nasal pillows and this happened every night until I started using a chinstrap.

Cheers,
xena

May be you have you unit set different then mine. But when I use climate control I have a choice of temperature setting only. From 69 to 90. I use a setting of 82 which helps a little. But with a full face mask and breathing through your mouth you will have dry mouth. Biotene mouth wash helps some.

xenablue wrote:If your mouth is dropping open and air is going up your nose and out your mouth, no matter what the humidity setting is, you will get desert mouth.

xena

Xena is right; if air is rushing out of your mouth, no humidity setting will prevent its getting dry.
However, with a full-face mask, it's not a leak, and you're not losing therapeutic effect.
It's just an annoyance, unless dry mouth is interfering with sleep. In the latter case, a chin strap should help.

M.D.Hosehead wrote:

xenablue wrote:If your mouth is dropping open and air is going up your nose and out your mouth, no matter what the humidity setting is, you will get desert mouth.

xena

Xena is right; if air is rushing out of your mouth, no humidity setting will prevent its getting dry.
However, with a full-face mask, it's not a leak, and you're not losing therapeutic effect.
It's just an annoyance, unless dry mouth is interfering with sleep. In the latter case, a chin strap should help.

I'll try... I've got a resmed one...

How tight should it be?

A chinstrap should be tight enough to support your jaw so that it doesn't drop open, but loose enough to not pull your chin back toward your neck, which tends to close the airway. CPAP.com has various chin straps, and you can read about which ones tend to pull the jaw back in the Important Tips section. The Puresom Ruby is one of these. A lot of people like the PAP Cap.

I found that even when my jaw was supported to stay closed with a chinstrap, my lips still fluttered open, air rushed out, and I was still waking up with desert mouth. Because my machine doesn't measure mouth leaking as a "leak", I had no alarming AHI numbers, but I was still exhausted in the morning. I swore that I wasn't mouth leaking, because I tend to grind my teeth and have to sleep with a mouth guard, so how could my jaw be dropping? But then I had a second sleep study, and they caught the lip fluttering, with air leaking out my mouth, as the problem.

Since I've taken care of that, I have much more energy because I'm getting the full benefit of the CPAP therapy. Good luck!

How'd you "take care of it"? Curious minds

How'd you "take care of it"? Curious minds

OK, you asked...I started with taping my mouth shut with a piece of horizontal paper tape, with a little tab folded over on the end for easy removal. But I found that the drool factor loosened the tape or caused chapping of my skin. Also, I'm sensitive to adhesive. So I found my ultimate solution on this website. I put 2 polygrip strips cut in 1/2, three 1/2s in a row between my lips, moistened, to gently seal my lips. It just creates a soft moisture barrier. Then I put a small, about 1 inch piece of papertape vertically, from just under my nose to my chin, with a tab on it for easy removal. With this setup my lips don't let the air out, and I don't need a chin strap. In the morning I just peel them both off, no residue, takes about 5 seconds.

I also have a plug-in alarm that immediately rings if the power goes out, so that I wake up before I get short of breath with no air. My nasal pillows do not have an anti-asphyxia valve, so this accomplishes that function. I can't sleep with a full face mask (tried multiple times, as well as the hybrids), so I figure this treats my sleep apnea while minimizing my asphyxia risk.

All of this bedtime falderal with my lips allows me to sleep comfortably with my nasal pillows and still not mouth leak. My mouth stays moist, no desert mouth, and my energy level is greatly improved.