Hi all,

I'm less than 2 weeks with CPAP, so I consider myself new at this.

I was talking with someone this week who's been on CPAP around two months, and we were talking about opening the mouth while on CPAP, using a nose mask.

He says that when he opens his mouth, the CPAP pressure escapes, and he has to keep his mouth closed at night.

But when I open my mouth, nothing comes out. I mean, no CPAP pressure comes out! If I talk or move my tongue a certain way, I can get the pressure to escape, but then I move my tongue another way, and it shuts off the pressure.

Once the pressure's "off", I can open my mouth, move my tongue around, and no pressure escapes.

Do I have some kind of crazy thing going on? Maybe a freakishly large or otherwise weird soft palate? Wouldn't the doctor have mentioned this during my pre-sleep study exam?

I've been reading here about straps and such to keep the mouth closed at night, and I couldn't understand why that was needed...