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Dry throat sign of sleep apnea?
Is having a slight dry throat , like you feel like you were intentionally inhaling air during sleep, upon waking up, a sign of sleep apnea? Could it be something else?
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It might just be throat-preferential breathing such as when sleeping supine (on your back). Many of us turn onto our sides while not fully awake, but we ARE awakening, and you'll soon find that your throat is quite parched. This is because we have been asleep on our backs, slack-jawed, mouth open, and the path of least resistance must be via the throat, and not through more narrow, or slightly plugged, nares, which is what many people, young and old, experience just before waking.
Sleep apnea is the demonstrable, measurable, cessation of breathing for at least 10 consecutive seconds...or longer. It can be due to restricted or occluded/obstructed airway or due to the brain not sending the signal to breathe when we become hypercapnic (hypercapnia being the state of the blood with too high a concentration of CO2. In case it is news to you, you don't breathe to keep your blood saturated with oxygen. You breathe when CO2 levels climb above an upper limit. With 'central sleep apnea', the brain allows those levels to rise to dangerous levels time and time again each hour before you gasp for that first breath. This causes frequent arousals, as does the more common 'obstructive' apnea. Arousals disrupt proper sleep patterns, and they also stress the heart.
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3 ReactionsConsider that you are mouth breathing.
Consider a mouth-jaw strap
I dont think it's sleep apnea and have read just about everything I can find via google and talking to doctors about sleep apnea. For me dry mouth and sleep apnea both occur when I sleep on my back w/ an open mouth. When I sleep on my side, no sleep apnea and no dry mouth- I know re no snoring because I use the snore score from Snore Lab app to keep track of all sounds while I sleep by every second. When I tape my mouth shut and sleep on my back there is no apnea but my mouth does get dry so before I apply the tape, I put in two moisturizing tablets like Xlident to help. Just sleeping w/ those might help your problem.
BTW, I bought a number mouth jaw straps as advertised on Amazon and none of them kept my mouth shut.
Hi,
I have tried a number of mouth-jaw straps but none kept my mouth shut while sleeping. If you have used one that worked, please could you share more specific info about where it can be bought and the name or description. Thank you