When using a nasal cpap machine, my mouth fills up with air ?

Posted by barbflynn @barbflynn, Mar 12, 2023

I've only been using my cpap machine for 5 days. I've noticed that sometimes my mouth will fill with air and it seems as if it wants "out."
Any suggestions? Am I doing something wrong?

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@marlow2

I just started on the nasal mask. My pressure is so high that it blew off the masks in the full face mask. I've been taping my mouth shut for a week or so. Today, I got the chin guard from our medical supply company. I took a nap and it worked great. I just used any surgical tape from the pharmacy. Although, they do have special tape designed for sleep apnea. Good Luck!

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It is an Airfit Nasal mask. It goes right under the nose. I think that the Airfit F20 goes around the nose. I'm not sure how well it works so maybe someone will let us know. When I did the tape, I covered the entire mouth and no air came out and it was quite comfortable. I just used what I had on hand. The problem with the tape verses the chin guard, is that you can't speak. However, one night I pulled the tape off about 5 times to speak to my husband and it resealed up fine again.

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@darlcrow

Finally, somebody else with my problem. I've been on CPAP for roughly 12 years. I have gotten no answers from my sleep doc about my mouth filling with air all night long. I use mouth tape now, but I have to leave a section in the middle of my mouth open to let this air escape. I still need to wake up to blow it out and I do this ALL NIGHT LONG. I have gotten no answers that have helped me. Everyone says to park the tongue at the roof of the mouth. I have a tiny mouth. There is nowhere else for the tongue to even go. This isn't working and I'm tired all day long. It seems very few people are really familiar with this problem.

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This has been going on for 9 years now. Been using CPAP for 13 years. I finally had to order a special chin strap from the UK called the Nightsbridge chin strap (The one you can get in the US is complete trash). I love the fact that it makes my hair look great the next day unlike most straps, but it also really hurts my ears, so I have to wear padding over my ears, and I have to pull the straps so tight that I have to pad under my chin also. So much to wear on my face. Last week, I went back to trying the same FF mask (Air touch F20) and it works well but even if I loosen the straps, my eyes swell badly. I mean, I'm unrecognizable for a couple of days. I can say that having a chin strap that works made me realize where my tongue needs to be to stop the mouth filling with air but sometimes it still does. Plus, yes, I definitely have to wear this particular strap to slow it down. I have reached out to my sleep clinic to try and get a fitting for the F30i mask since that one will not affect the eyes and it gets really good reviews. The only thing with that one is it has a lot of different parts that come in different sizes and from what I can tell, no size chart to go by, therefore I want my clinic to help me with this. Of course, I have yet to hear back from them. They make all of this so hard for those of us who just can't get it right. Funny side note, early on, I had none of these problems because I was working and stressed out and used to clinch my teeth. It seems, this holds my tongue in place....lol. I waked off my job 9 years ago and have had problems ever since. Now, my jaw stays relaxed day and night, thus the tongue problem.

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This hapoens when I first put it on. (Dreamwear nose cushion, not pillows.) I blow it out of my mouth for about 5 minutes at the start whuch doesn't affect the seal as I'm not really opening my mouth. Also if your tongue is on the roof of your mouth, you will never break the seal.

I am never a mouth breather and frankly, as someone who has have chemical pneumonitis from inhaling heartburn, taping your mouth, even for possible vomiting reasons, is dangerous tho I know someone who has done it for years. I feel very fortunate to be able to be very comfortable from day 1 (slept 8 hours. With long covid, it makes me breathe deeper raising my pulseox above 89 - and that's with oxygen connected to my cpap.

Better to blow it out than it end up in your stomach and pain, farting and loudly belching all day!

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