Hi My name is Cindy,

I just started to use the C-Pap machine on August 5th with the new breeze pillow.  I like the comfort of the pillow and do not want to use the full face mask again.  Can anyone tell me why my mouth is filling up with air.  I also take it off at night and do not know it is off.
Thanks

I thought about your question because I experience the same thing.  The best I could come up with is another question!

I know that while I’m receiving CPAP if I deliberately pause breathing, my mouth will fill with air expanding my cheeks.  I am sure this is because of the constant inbound airflow.  I assume that my airway is open for two-way (one way at a time) traffic but the inbound is stronger than the outbound.  If I were not forcing my lung evacuation (such as in a PFT) would it follow (without breath pausing) that the excess air in my mouth is a spillover due to the planned therapeutic imbalance of air pressure?  

As an example, what if in the figure below the subject was exhaling concurrent with the inbound positive air pressure?  So there would be an additional arrow pointing in the opposite direction opposing the inbound.  Would there be an air overflow into the mouth?

                                      


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Success Nourishes Hope

Cindy, you're using one of my favorite masks...the Breeze with nasal pillows.  

I leak treatment air into (and out of) my mouth, much the way you described.  Here's a clickable link to a discussion where I describe what I did to control my mouth air leaks:

Sep 02, 2005   subject: weird mouth thing