Alternatives to CPAP for sleep apnea

Hello @babsellen, Welcome to Connect. Finding a comfortable mask is key to improving the CPAP experience. I'm a mouth breather also and have tried many different masks but have been using the ResMed AirFit F20. I still look for something better and may try to go back to either the ResMed F30i or the DreamWare full face mask which fit under and up against the nose. They are by far more comfortable but at the time I tried them I was having breathing issues in my right nostril which is better now.

There is a Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation device that may be an alternative but I think you have to meet certain criteria before it would work for you but I'm not positive. There is a discussion on the device here:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/inspire-upper-airway-stimulation/.
What helped me more with the comfort of the mask was cloth cover that my sleep medicine PA suggested. Here's the website she sent me to and where I normally order them from - https://cpapcomfortcover.com/. They come 2 to a set and are hand washable.

Another thought that may work - some members use a head strap which keeps their mouth closed at night and allows them to use nasal pillow mask. You can order them through Amazon or your local medical supply store may carry them.

Have you talked to your sleep doctor or care team about the mask problem?

Hello @babsellen, Welcome to Connect. Finding a comfortable mask is key to improving the CPAP experience. I'm a mouth breather also and have tried many different masks but have been using the ResMed AirFit F20. I still look for something better and may try to go back to either the ResMed F30i or the DreamWare full face mask which fit under and up against the nose. They are by far more comfortable but at the time I tried them I was having breathing issues in my right nostril which is better now.

There is a Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation device that may be an alternative but I think you have to meet certain criteria before it would work for you but I'm not positive. There is a discussion on the device here:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/inspire-upper-airway-stimulation/.
What helped me more with the comfort of the mask was cloth cover that my sleep medicine PA suggested. Here's the website she sent me to and where I normally order them from - https://cpapcomfortcover.com/. They come 2 to a set and are hand washable.

Another thought that may work - some members use a head strap which keeps their mouth closed at night and allows them to use nasal pillow mask. You can order them through Amazon or your local medical supply store may carry them.

Have you talked to your sleep doctor or care team about the mask problem?

Oh man, @babsellen and @johnbishop unbelievable coincidence . I'm a mouth breather too and have tried 8 different masks and now also using ResMed AirFit F20. I’m very lucky to have the VA which gives me EVERYTHING CPAP related for free. The local VA has over 50,000 Vets with a CPAP device (most don’t use them). They have all the stuff, and a big crew that knows what they’re doing via practice.

Too bad all 8 leaked for me, but that mask works the best. A chin/head strap works maybe half the time for my mouth breathing which is a pretty poor percentage, but this is the first and only mask where I slept through a night at all. My apnea events per hour is crazy low, between .4 and .7 even with the leaks. My sleep doctor loves that!

I'm very interested to see what comes up on this thread. Thanks folks!

Hi Tim @timbrownfl, My mask leaks a lot also but what I've found out the past few years is that leaks are really not a big deal as long as you are able to reach your AHI target. Mine is an AHI of 4 or less and I usually a lot lower or under 4 per hour. The cloth comfort cover I use probably causes some of the leakage but I also don't tighten my mask too much because it hurts the bridge of my nose.

I also didn't have much luck with the chin strap when I was testing the under the nose masks and I had seen a YouTube video where a sleep therapist suggested wearing a soft neck collar that is used for neck injuries. I bought one on Amazon that was fairly cheap and it did the job of preventing the jaw from lowering to open the mouth. I only used it for a couple of nights because it wasn't comfortable when I sleep on my side, which is about 90% of the night.

Yeah I sleep on my side always. I'm getting great therapy with an AHI less than one all the time. The problem with leaks is I wake up to fix the mask or strap a lot. I had a really bad doctor at the first sleep center I went to. I ask him to check other problems than OSA, and he never did. Wasted 9 months of really doing poorly with that guy who got fired after I left. I'm thinking my OSA is barely there. I only use a pressure of 7.

I went to a new place and finally got an MSLT, and here we are. I guess the neck collar wouldn't work for me. I gotta put on the cloth comfort cover. It's just comfort that I'm looking for now, and no leaking into my eyes. Eye dr hates that.

What is MSLT?

There is a tape called somnifix that you can use across your mouth. I use 3M 'strong hold' water resistant tape, blue in colour, comes in a 4 yard spool.

My first night on CPAP was marred heavily by my lips going slack and air coming out. I called my RT and she suggested chin strap (Nope, I told myself instantly...) or that some tape their lips, which she couldn't recommend. Well, I have taped ever since Night the Second on CPAP and have not looked back. A great many CPAP users must tape or they simply don't get the therapy.

Look, you can get used to anything if it's important enough. And that's the bottom line here. Nobody wants to have apnea, and nobody wants to wear a mask and elephantine hose at night. But if it means 15 more years of showers, meals, hobbies, family gatherings....what's the big problem?