Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mike on February 20, 2010 at 6:04pm

I would change your perspective on this question a bit: why are you mouth breathing? breathing through the mouth is sub-optimal as there are many benefits to breathing through your nose. also, breathing through your mouth tends to by a symptom of something wrong with your nose that should be corrected. do you have allergies? sinus problems? my take is you should see an ENT (Dr. Park or someone like that) and work with that physician to fix your nose so that you can breathe out of it. Then you will have a clearer path to effective CPAP treatment, using a less bulky, more comfortable mask than the full face mask. Make sense?

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Permalink Reply by Carl Speas on February 20, 2010 at 6:09pm

Hi welcome to sleep guide. I am a nose and mouth breather. I use the liberty hybrid mask. I have used a mirage quatro full face, the oracle mouth only mask and the opus nose mask. Out of the 4 masks I have tried I have had the best success with the liberty.

I had a severe nose sore that infected a large portion of my face, even my eyes swelled shut, caused by the mirage quatro.
It took several weeks for my nose to heal. to say the least this is not my favorite mask.

I hardly know that i am wearing the liberty mask. I have been using it about 3 weeks. I hope this helps.

Carl

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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on February 20, 2010 at 6:09pm

It is possible that your pressures are not where they should be. Pressure that is to high or low can cause mouth leaks.

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Permalink Reply by amott1973 on February 20, 2010 at 7:51pm

HI Sonia. I'm historically a mouth-breather, both at night and during the day. I'm just chronically stuffy and have a hard time getting enough air without breathing through my mouth. That said though, I found that using a nasal pillow mask (first the Swift, then Swift II, then Swift LX, and now the Swift FX) I actually DON'T breathe though my mouth at night anymore. I actually have a chinstrap (somewhere) because I was so sure I'd need it, but I guess with the constant air pressure from the nasal pillow mask it gets enough air up there that I don't feel the need to breathe through my mouth.

You had mentioned that it's hard for you to get used to anything heavy on your face. I have the same thing. Wearing sunglasses is even uncomfortable unless they're really really lightweight. I have to say the new Swift FX, just got it on Friday, is even less obtrusive than the other Swift models. I can still take a drink or read easily with it on. I also found that nasal masks and full face masks (cause I've tried a bunch!) hit some pressure points right near my nose over my sinuses that make them unbearable to me.

I guess the real point is to keep trying different masks till you find one that works for you. My stepmother in law went through something like 6-10 masks at first to get one that would work for her. She drove her DME crazy, but she kept at it and did find one. She was a good inspiration for me when it came time for my to get on CPAP.

One other thing, my husband uses a full face mask. He has some anatomical things that make it mandatory for him. I noticed though that his has the bottom part of the mask hitting right below his mouth, kind of in that dent between your lower lip and chin. Maybe not all full face masks are supposed to be there, but you're right in that yours could be too big.

Also, when I'm looking around at masks I like to use cpap.com as they have tons of reviews and lots of good pictures of each mask from different angles. I feel like I get a good feel for the masks' strengths and weaknesses from the reviews too.

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Sonia S. on February 21, 2010 at 12:07am

Hi Mike,

I don't choose to breathe through my mouth. My mouth opens every night when I relax enough to sleep. Even with my CPAP's humidifier I still need to drink water at least a couple of times during the night to relieve my dry mouth and throat. I think one reason my mouth opens is that my lower jaw is not aligned with my upper jaw, it's more pushed back, causing my mouth to open when I'm laying down and relaxed.

Also, my nose usually feels congested. I've always, for as long as I remember, have had trouble breathing well, but have never had Asthma and don't think I have real allergies, like to pollen since my eyes don't water and don't get runny or itchy nose. My nasal passage and nostrils have always felt swollen or stuffed up or not big enough to allow enough air. I spend a great deal of time trying to clear my nose, but there's usually nothing there to clear.

I will take your suggestion to see a nose specialist.

Hoping that by learning better breathing and getting a new, more comfortable mask will help me breathe better.

Thanks for your reply and suggestions.

Sonia


Mike said:

I would change your perspective on this question a bit: why are you mouth breathing? breathing through the mouth is sub-optimal as there are many benefits to breathing through your nose. also, breathing through your mouth tends to by a symptom of something wrong with your nose that should be corrected. do you have allergies? sinus problems? my take is you should see an ENT (Dr. Park or someone like that) and work with that physician to fix your nose so that you can breathe out of it. Then you will have a clearer path to effective CPAP treatment, using a less bulky, more comfortable mask than the full face mask. Make sense?

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Permalink Reply by Sonia S. on February 21, 2010 at 12:26am

Hi Carl,

Thanks for the welcome and the mask suggestions. I'm glad you were able to find a good, comfortable mask. I will look for information on the Liberty Hybrid mask you like.

Be well,

Sonia


Carl Speas said:

Hi welcome to sleep guide. I am a nose and mouth breather. I use the liberty hybrid mask. I have used a mirage quatro full face, the oracle mouth only mask and the opus nose mask. Out of the 4 masks I have tried I have had the best success with the liberty.

I had a severe nose sore that infected a large portion of my face, even my eyes swelled shut, caused by the mirage quatro.
It took several weeks for my nose to heal. to say the least this is not my favorite mask.

I hardly know that i am wearing the liberty mask. I have been using it about 3 weeks. I hope this helps.

Carl

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Permalink Reply by Sonia S. on February 21, 2010 at 12:43am

Hi amott,

I don't breathe through my mouth while I'm awake, it's only when I'm sleeping and my mouth opens. That's the reason I picked a full mask instead of the small nasal one. As a little girl I was told enough times to close my mouth and keep it close for it to had become a habit, so even though my lower jaw is not aligned with my upper jaw I learned to push my chin and lower jaw forward to keep my mouth close while I'm awake. But since my muscles relaxed during sleep it's easy for my mouth to open when I'm sleeping, especially if I'm lying on my back. And though I've always felt my nose is stuffy, I've gotten used to not breathing much air, except during apnea episodes. So don't know if a nasal pillow mask would work for me. But thanks for your recommendations. I will look into the Swift FX mask.

Like you, I can't stand anything heavier on my face than my super expensive, thin, light-weight glasses. Anything heavier tend to give me horrible tension headaches. That's why the big, uncomfortable mask I have prevents me from really being able to sleep. So I need to find the lightest, most comfortable mask I can get.

Maybe your husband has a jaw problem that makes causes him to be a mouth breather too. I realized that my mask it's too big. I believe it's a medium. The technician that fitted me probably thought that at the time it was a good fit since I was about 130 lbs. heavier then. My face it's much smaller now since losing all that weight.

Thanks for telling me about the website, will check out cpap.com to read the mask reviews there.

Thanks for your help.
Be well,
Sonia



amott1973 said:

HI Sonia. I'm historically a mouth-breather, both at night and during the day. I'm just chronically stuffy and have a hard time getting enough air without breathing through my mouth. That said though, I found that using a nasal pillow mask (first the Swift, then Swift II, then Swift LX, and now the Swift FX) I actually DON'T breathe though my mouth at night anymore. I actually have a chinstrap (somewhere) because I was so sure I'd need it, but I guess with the constant air pressure from the nasal pillow mask it gets enough air up there that I don't feel the need to breathe through my mouth.

You had mentioned that it's hard for you to get used to anything heavy on your face. I have the same thing. Wearing sunglasses is even uncomfortable unless they're really really lightweight. I have to say the new Swift FX, just got it on Friday, is even less obtrusive than the other Swift models. I can still take a drink or read easily with it on. I also found that nasal masks and full face masks (cause I've tried a bunch!) hit some pressure points right near my nose over my sinuses that make them unbearable to me.

I guess the real point is to keep trying different masks till you find one that works for you. My stepmother in law went through something like 6-10 masks at first to get one that would work for her. She drove her DME crazy, but she kept at it and did find one. She was a good inspiration for me when it came time for my to get on CPAP.

One other thing, my husband uses a full face mask. He has some anatomical things that make it mandatory for him. I noticed though that his has the bottom part of the mask hitting right below his mouth, kind of in that dent between your lower lip and chin. Maybe not all full face masks are supposed to be there, but you're right in that yours could be too big.

Also, when I'm looking around at masks I like to use cpap.com as they have tons of reviews and lots of good pictures of each mask from different angles. I feel like I get a good feel for the masks' strengths and weaknesses from the reviews too.

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Mike on February 21, 2010 at 12:48am

yes, if i were in your shoes, i'd head to an ENT. i'm not usually a proponent of surgery, but you might be a good candidate for some low risk procedure to increase airflow through your nose. make sure if you go to an ENT, you're going to one who has a very cautious attitude toward surgery.

Sonia S. said:

Hi Mike,

I don't choose to breathe through my mouth. My mouth opens every night when I relax enough to sleep. Even with my CPAP's humidifier I still need to drink water at least a couple of times during the night to relieve my dry mouth and throat. I think one reason my mouth opens is that my lower jaw is not aligned with my upper jaw, it's more pushed back, causing my mouth to open when I'm laying down and relaxed.

Also, my nose usually feels congested. I've always, for as long as I remember, have had trouble breathing well, but have never had Asthma and don't think I have real allergies, like to pollen since my eyes don't water and don't get runny or itchy nose. My nasal passage and nostrils have always felt swollen or stuffed up or not big enough to allow enough air. I spend a great deal of time trying to clear my nose, but there's usually nothing there to clear.

I will take your suggestion to see a nose specialist.

Hoping that by learning better breathing and getting a new, more comfortable mask will help me breathe better.

Thanks for your reply and suggestions.

Sonia


Mike said:

I would change your perspective on this question a bit: why are you mouth breathing? breathing through the mouth is sub-optimal as there are many benefits to breathing through your nose. also, breathing through your mouth tends to by a symptom of something wrong with your nose that should be corrected. do you have allergies? sinus problems? my take is you should see an ENT (Dr. Park or someone like that) and work with that physician to fix your nose so that you can breathe out of it. Then you will have a clearer path to effective CPAP treatment, using a less bulky, more comfortable mask than the full face mask. Make sense?

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Permalink Reply by Sonia S. on February 21, 2010 at 1:17am

Mike,
Can you recommend a good ENT that's located in NYC?

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Permalink Reply by Mike on February 21, 2010 at 1:35am

Yes. Dr. Steven Park is a good ENT in NYC He also has a very conservative, cautious approach to surgery, and says that only 10 percent of his patients are good candidates for surgery. That's rare to find in an ENT. In other words, you'll be in good hands with Dr. Park.

Sonia S. said:

Mike,
Can you recommend a good ENT that's located in NYC?

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Permalink Reply by Sonia S. on February 21, 2010 at 1:40am

Good, I will talk with him. I'm listening to his telecon. on masks that he's giving on Tuesday. Do you know if he accepts Medicare or Medicaid? I have both.

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Permalink Reply by Mike on February 21, 2010 at 1:48am

I don't know about what insurance he accepts. Best to call his office on Monday to ask.

Sonia S. said:

Good, I will talk with him. I'm listening to his telecon. on masks that he's giving on Tuesday. Do you know if he accepts Medicare or Medicaid? I have both.

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