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Tongue biting???
Ugh, so have a cold and have not been able to sleep w/ my c-pap for about four nights (I've been a faithful user of my machine for about 1.5 years). Last night, I had my second lifetime (at least in my memory) occurrence of waking up biting my tongue VERY hard. It was painful/scary. The first time this happened, I thought it was odd but didn't make much of it. This time, I wonder if it's something related to the apnea. Super frightening. Any ideas?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mary Z on
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Never heard of that before, but maybe in it's fight to wake you to breathe your body just had your teeth bite down on your tongue. I mean maybe it was just part of that arousal reflex when we're not breathing. It does hurt. Your body was freaking out from lask of oxygen.
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Permalink Reply by joe t on
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could it be possible that you had a nocturnal seizure triggered by low oxygen levels and/or poor sleep? I
have known that I have had mild seizures for 20 years or so, but I have only been diagnosed with sleep apnea
for six months. Through at least the last 10 years I had felt like I was having some sort of seizure or something
once a month or so. Finally after biting my tongue for the first time (had bit my cheek many times) My doctor
sent me for the sleep test. I remember the technologist coming in and waking me and asking me if I knew
where I was and if I was alright. I had assumed that I had a seizure since she did that. Most of the time I
don't feel any after effects of the seizure unless I have bit something or an occasional bad taste for 24-48 hours.
When I went back to see the doctor he said there wasn't any sign of a seizure that night, but my oxygen
level had dropped to "around 50 percent." From what I have read there seems to be enough growing evidence
that seizures can be triggered from sleep apnea when the oxygen level drops significantly. Some people do
suffer exclusively from nocturnal seizures. Hope you are able to get some answers.
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Permalink Reply by Walt Service on
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Sorry to see about your tongue biting. I'm not a MD, just a sleep tech. Just wondering if perhaps you're a diabetic and your potassium levels are off a bit?
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Permalink Reply by SleepyEm on
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Thanks everybody. I started poking around online a bit and it certainly sounds like what Joe mentions. Really not thrilled about this. I've scheduled follow ups with my doctor, we'll see. I do so appreciate the help!!!
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Dear Sleepy Em: I have been diagnosed with OSA and have been on CPAP for about 6 wks. Over the past couple of years I have had many episodes of tongue biting. I grind my teeth at night when sleeping (Bruxism) and my dentist had provided a device to help me stop. It worked very well and I used it for a few years. Occasionally I would nap without it and noted that I would wake suddenly due to very sharp pain from biting the sides of my tongue. (similar to your experience, the pain is very bad - brings tears to your eyes and stays sore for many hours). If I don't wear the device now, I sometimes awaken from biting other parts of the tongue - including the tip. Won't go into the details, but I was recently having dental work and was not able to bite properly. Got mad at my dentist b/c he kept saying the crown was fine....but it wasn't. After refusal on my part for him to grind down any of my other teeth in order to make the crown fit, he finally referred me to a "bite specialist". The bite specialist has been great - he explained that misalignment of my jaw due to muscle problems has contributed to the grinding. For some reason the tongue tries to cushion the teeth from grinding and that is one of the reasons for the tongue biting. This is a long story, but the bottom line is that bruxism is very common and it is also pretty tightly correlated with sleep disorders. Unfortunately the bite specialist told me that so far correcting the sleep disorders does not necessarily correct the bruxism. He said that there has recently been a lot of renewed interest in this and that there is a lot of research underway to understand the reasons for bruxism and also the connection to obstructive sleep apnea. On a related note - If you do find that you have bruxism (your dentist can probably tell you) and you get a night grinding device - make sure that they give you one that covers several teeth (not just 2 front teeth) so that the pressure is spread and you don't end up breaking teeth due to the grinding device. Don't know if this is the cause of your tongue biting, but I read your post and thought it would be helpful to share what I've learned. Hope this helps.
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Wow, thanks so much Mary. This is really interesting and sounds very similar to what's happening to me. I appreciate the help!!!
Mary Smith said:Dear Sleepy Em: I have been diagnosed with OSA and have been on CPAP for about 6 wks. Over the past couple of years I have had many episodes of tongue biting. I grind my teeth at night when sleeping (Bruxism) and my dentist had provided a device to help me stop. It worked very well and I used it for a few years. Occasionally I would nap without it and noted that I would wake suddenly due to very sharp pain from biting the sides of my tongue. (similar to your experience, the pain is very bad - brings tears to your eyes and stays sore for many hours). If I don't wear the device now, I sometimes awaken from biting other parts of the tongue - including the tip. Won't go into the details, but I was recently having dental work and was not able to bite properly. Got mad at my dentist b/c he kept saying the crown was fine....but it wasn't. After refusal on my part for him to grind down any of my other teeth in order to make the crown fit, he finally referred me to a "bite specialist". The bite specialist has been great - he explained that misalignment of my jaw due to muscle problems has contributed to the grinding. For some reason the tongue tries to cushion the teeth from grinding and that is one of the reasons for the tongue biting. This is a long story, but the bottom line is that bruxism is very common and it is also pretty tightly correlated with sleep disorders. Unfortunately the bite specialist told me that so far correcting the sleep disorders does not necessarily correct the bruxism. He said that there has recently been a lot of renewed interest in this and that there is a lot of research underway to understand the reasons for bruxism and also the connection to obstructive sleep apnea. On a related note - If you do find that you have bruxism (your dentist can probably tell you) and you get a night grinding device - make sure that they give you one that covers several teeth (not just 2 front teeth) so that the pressure is spread and you don't end up breaking teeth due to the grinding device. Don't know if this is the cause of your tongue biting, but I read your post and thought it would be helpful to share what I've learned. Hope this helps.
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Mary- My wife had big problems with her bite also, it was after she had 2 crowns replaced, one on each side. She was told it would get better, but she went to another dentist who said it's not recommended to do 2 crowns at the same time, especially on opposite sides. He did say it's BAD to start grinding the other teeth down, and one crown was done wrong & needed replacing. She had discomfort after one crown, but the new dentist told her the bit is good, not to worry. They use that blue paper, over & over, they can tell if it's perfect or not , and I remember distinctly, it took about 2 months for her mouth to adjust and was fine but that's a pain of an adjustment period.
Mary Smith said:Dear Sleepy Em: I have been diagnosed with OSA and have been on CPAP for about 6 wks. Over the past couple of years I have had many episodes of tongue biting. I grind my teeth at night when sleeping (Bruxism) and my dentist had provided a device to help me stop. It worked very well and I used it for a few years. Occasionally I would nap without it and noted that I would wake suddenly due to very sharp pain from biting the sides of my tongue. (similar to your experience, the pain is very bad - brings tears to your eyes and stays sore for many hours). If I don't wear the device now, I sometimes awaken from biting other parts of the tongue - including the tip. Won't go into the details, but I was recently having dental work and was not able to bite properly. Got mad at my dentist b/c he kept saying the crown was fine....but it wasn't. After refusal on my part for him to grind down any of my other teeth in order to make the crown fit, he finally referred me to a "bite specialist". The bite specialist has been great - he explained that misalignment of my jaw due to muscle problems has contributed to the grinding. For some reason the tongue tries to cushion the teeth from grinding and that is one of the reasons for the tongue biting. This is a long story, but the bottom line is that bruxism is very common and it is also pretty tightly correlated with sleep disorders. Unfortunately the bite specialist told me that so far correcting the sleep disorders does not necessarily correct the bruxism. He said that there has recently been a lot of renewed interest in this and that there is a lot of research underway to understand the reasons for bruxism and also the connection to obstructive sleep apnea. On a related note - If you do find that you have bruxism (your dentist can probably tell you) and you get a night grinding device - make sure that they give you one that covers several teeth (not just 2 front teeth) so that the pressure is spread and you don't end up breaking teeth due to the grinding device. Don't know if this is the cause of your tongue biting, but I read your post and thought it would be helpful to share what I've learned. Hope this helps.
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Thanks for sharing, Gordon. It's too bad that we have to find out the hard way on some of these experiences - that's why it's important to compare notes. I've had to get several crowns over the years & am now being told that a lot of my dental problems have been due to the bruxism. My regular dentist frequently referred to the fact that I'm a "grinder" and prescribed the grinding device but didn't refer me to anyone else until this recent experience. I wish I would have known to go to someone like a "bite specialist" sooner. There is supposed to be some better device to help protect the teeth - I will be getting that in a few weeks & will let you know. Again, the reason I especially mention it is b/c of the original post here on tongue biting, but also because of the strong link between obstructive sleep apnea and bruxism.
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