Hey guys, new to forum & I’ve got a few questions :)

Hello! I stumbled upon this forum while googling a question I had about my Cpap. Glad to meet other people who can relate, lol.

About me - I’m 27 now, have always been tall, very slender and snored ridiculously loudly my whole life. I had tonsils and adenoids removed at age 5 which didn’t help; was finally diagnosed with OSA at age 20 with AHI of 64, UP3 surgery at age 21 brought AHI to 36. Have had cpap since diagnosis, but was very non-compliant when I was younger. Pregnancy made the OSA worse so I upgraded to the machine I have now and had quit wearing it again once I got back to my normal weight and started feeling better. Pulmonologist got me a TAP but I couldn’t handle the sore teeth and jaw. Just started really using it consistently (60% of days according to the report) in the last year or so, after being diagnosed with a AV heart block.

I have had the ResMed S9 auto-sense for three years-ish and I just learned tonight I can access my sleep reports, lol. I have struggled for years with common cpap issues which is part of the reason I dread and avoid wearing the thing - removing the mask overnight (I keep it on average 4.5 hours) due to the gut wrenching aerophagia. I can barely stand up multiple days a week with the sharp gas pains for the first half hour of my morning. AND the waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep - I mean, I appreciate the CPAP gives me quality sleep but I wake up to burp at 4 am and here I am three hours later talking to you guys and the toddler wakes up in half an hour which there isn’t enough coffee for.

Tl;dr, Here are my questions - I’ve tried the chin strap, my mask is full face, and sleepy me is really crafty and takes the mask off anyway - how do I outsmart my sleepy overnight self to keep the mask on? I only end up wearing it half the night. And any tips for swallowing less air? My pressure range is 7 to 12 averaging 10.6 and successful AI of 2. At this point I’d even consider wearing the TAP again with the cpap to keep my mouth more closed or something.

Any tips and ideas are greatly, greatly appreciated!

Welcome and wish you luck getting on with successful therapy. I use a boil and bite mouth guard to keep my mouth closed so I don't get air leaks through my mouth. Since the mouth guard fits my mouth, there is no discomfort. It isn't an attempt to adjust my bite. I have no idea what successful AI of two means, by the way.

That’s a great idea, probably would be a lot more comfortable than the TAP. I meant the cpap is successful in that the sleep reports says my AHI and AI numbers are both averaging at 2 episodes (hourly I’m assuming but I’ll have to check the manual) during the night with the cpap. It breaks them into the apnea hypopnea index and just the apnea index on the report I was looking at.

HI = Hypopnea Index

AI = Apnea Index

AHI = Both combined.

A combo obstructed sleep apnea and hypoapnea of 2 means you are doing fine. I think these machines are not 100 percent perfect in detection and tend to be high rather than low; for instance sneezing or coughing can be registered as apnea events I think. Anyway, the first boil & bit mouth guards I tried tended to melt VERY VERY easily when in hot water. The first ones I bought work fine if you can manage not to melt them: Century Adult double mouth piece (Amazon). Next time I bought, I bought a two pack from eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Night-Mouth-Guard-Anti-Teeth-Grinding-Clenching-Stop-Bruxism-TMJ-NEW-/142441523171?hash=item212a2d27e3

These didn't melt nearly as easily and work fine.

2 is very good, you just have to learn to keep your mask on all night. If you ever find you have taken it off, just put it straight back on again. Eventually you will get used to having it on. As for gulping air, I don't have an answer for that. Yet.

Prior to it happening to me, thought the gut full of air issue was crazy. It has happened to me once. I woke up in a lot of pain and I quickly discovered the cure. The noise I made was indescribable. Not sure why or how to stop it but a good burp worked for me.

Thank you for the link! I looked at the store today but didn’t see any of the melt/bite type mouth guards just the ones for grinding which weren’t very big at all so I’m going to try ordering that two pack. The TAP is miserable on my teeth and jaw but a guard not pulling my jaw forward would be perfect I think. I try to get a good burp in the morning but some days I end up spitting up acid and having to wait out the gas bubbles 🤢 I wish I knew what I was doing differently on the nights I don’t swallow air so I could fix it. 😫

Early on I had a full face mask that worked like a charm. They quit making it so I had to move on the something else. I could never find a full face that did not leak and wake me up so I changed to a nasal mask. I tried every chin strap available to hold my mouth shut but they all slipped and I would end up with a very dry mouth and poor leakage readings. I even tried taping over my mouth. This actually worked quite well, but I didn't think of it as a long term solution. I think that the chin straps pull your lower jaw back which closes your throat making apnea worse. The nasal masks all have forehead rests and tore up the bridge of my nose. I haven't experienced myself or heard of anyone swallowing air while they slept. I do know that people can swallow air while they are eating. I was about your age when I began to have fall on your knees stomach cramps. Turns out that** I had become lactose intolerant*, it made me cry to have to stop drinking milk. I was very happy when Rice Milk became available and cereal was back on my breakfast list. **Just something to look into. * When I recently saw an add for the new** ResMed Airfit F20** I knew that I had to try it out. It does not cut the bridge of my nose and it seals very well. My numbers have never been this good before. I have always been very compliant and now my nightly score is usually 100. When I got my S9 it was the best machine on the market. It died after about five years. I now have the S10 Autoset and it is even better than the S9. ** The EPR is fantastic with no back pressure on exhale. That feature may reduce the air swallowing.** Don't give up on CPAP, it is a life saver.