Dry mouth

since having surgery and losing weight, I have noticed that almost every night I wake up with the driest mouth you can imagine.  This is a relativley new occurrance (last 3-4 weeks) but is getting more frequent.

Same C-Pap so I am wondering if the settings may be too high now that I have lost weight. 

Any insight??

Steve

have you had another sleep study since losing the weight?  Are you mouth breathing by chance- you may be sleeping in different position since losing the weight- its easier to move around now?  Just a thought- but getting another sleep study would maybe even have you off your cpap for life as you may not need it anymore!!

  Hugs, Terry

Thanks Terry,

I am meeting with my Surgeon for my 3 month follow up in a couple fo weeks and I will visit with her about that.  I probably am mouth breathing, which I did not do before.  It is not that I don't want to use my C-Pap (God I am addicted to it), but am concerned about the change.  I do use a humidifier but that does not impact the dryness which leads me to believe that it is that I am mouth breathing.

Thanks for taking the time to post, I appreciate it.

Steve

I have had this also.  It turns out that I was seriously dehydrated, though I don't know if that's what is going on with you.  If you pinch the skin on the back of your hand does it return quickly or slowly?  Maybe try upping your fluids for a few days and see if the dry mouth goes away.   At first I only had it at night, but eventually it spread to all hours and I couldn't even talk without my lips sticking to my teeth!!

for me when I had lost about 30 pounds I started waking up with the direst mouth ever - then hubby figured it out. he said that when i was sleeping my lips were parting. See turned out the pressure was too strong for me, causing my mouth to open> I was not a mouth breather for all the various years i've been on a cpap. At that point I went from a 12 down to a 7. (I have a previous post on this board, so click on my name see latest posts and it will show you what I'm talking about)

Contact your DME provider and see about doing an auto pap trial for a week. Will probably need for them to get a script order from your PCP - then when they download the data they can tell where you need to have your pressure set to. Doing an auto pap trial is a lot cheaper than bothering with a sleep study. You already know that you have sleep apnea, just need to know where your pressure needs to be. I just recently started having the same issue again, and I'm down to a 6 on my cpap. I still need it, but wow, nice to be down and sleeping so much better!

Could be something as simple as maybe too much pressure now that you've lost weight? You should see if your doctor or equipment people can let you try an auto machine; might save you some money over a titration.

Or maybe, in my case for instance, I have to wear a chin strap to keep my mouth closed because of sinuses. I use this one and it works pretty good; I wish they would make one that is part of the headgear though. That would be cool those if it was the pressure and you could have it turned down.

shop.talkaboutsleep.com/cpap-chin-straps/respironice-chin-st rap-premium

I'm so glad to have read this!!!!  I have the same problem with my mouth opening and then getting a super dry mouth.  It started just before surgery coinciding with weight loss.  I'm down like 34 pounds.  I used a chin strap last night and I cranked that baby tight, then used hair Barrett's to secure it to my hair so it would not shift.  It cut down on the dry mouth, but not totally.

I was actually going to duct tape my mouth shut tonight.......until i read this!!!  Come on, don't laugh to hard, I'm desperate!  I love my CPAP and my mask is comfy....I just hate this new dry mouth.  So, tonight, I'll turn the pressure down to see  if that helps!  It HAS to be better than duct tape!

Update-I turned my CPAP pressure down to 8, it was at 12, and had a beautiful nights sleep.  No dry mouth, slept like a baby!  Thank you!