Nightmares, Drymouth, Chest TIghtness

Hello FIrst post. I am using a BiPap and a chin strap. I still am waking up quite a bit at night, sometimes with chest tightness. ANd sometimes with nightmares. I believe I woke up tonight with air coming out of my mouth. WOuld the air coming out of my mouth lead to a nighmare and chest tightness? I have no heart problems have been tested. Did I have an apnea event because I was mouthbreathing? SHould I pay for a fancier strap or just get a full face mask? I have a nasal mask. Thank you!

Hello @ExuberantHarlequinClam8370, and welcome to MyApnea.Org! Chest tightness and nightmares are not necessarily associated with BiPAP. However, what patients sometimes describe as chest tightness may be muscle pain associated with the increased effort needed to exhale against the air pressure. You did not mention how long you have been using BiPAP, but this usually resolves over time as you build strength in the muscles used for breathing. I do encourage you to speak with your physician just to make sure there are not other issues that may be contributing to the feeling you explain. If you are mouth breathing with the chin strap and having dry mouth, it is possible you may need a full face mask. You can try to increase the humidity level to see if it helps, but chin straps are only sometimes effective for keeping the mouth closed. Please keep us posted on your progress, and best wishes!

What pressures were prescribed by your doctor for the BIPAP? If they are fairly high, which is often the case, make sure your mask specification is up to those pressures. If using a mask that doesn't allow sufficient flow, then I could see you laboring for breathand possibly having your breathing muscles tire and get sore. Not sure about nightmares but as a former volunteer firefighter I recall that firefighters stress when wearing a mask and oxygen is interrupted. We actually trained for this situation so panic wouldn't set in if it actually happened.

Looking at older posts, others with dry mouth have used a specialized mouth rinse called Biotene (or something like that). I get dry mouth myself and have found the humidity control set full to be not very effective. I will be looking for some of the mouth rinse to see if this helps.