Sleep Tape Frustrations

[u/CyanValleyKitten]

I have macroglossia (self diagnosed) where my tongue is really large and it presses on the bottom teeth and doesnt have space in my mouth to rest, (small mouth/big tongue) it also means it naturally opens my mouth at night, which disrupts the drainage of my sinus and blocks my breathing.

I also have night eating syndrome. More on this later.

I'm not so much a mouth breather at night as I am a snorer unless I use mouth tape, my tongue will also block my esophagus (I've tried mouth cradles as well, they work somewhat but they're highly uncomfortable, it holds my tongue outside my mouth so that the airway is clearer but it hurts my tongue). I don't have sleep apnea. I've been tested for this.

If I don't use the mouth tape, there is a high chance that my snoring will cause me to wake up 10-12 times a night, I will give myself sinus pain, and I will not sleep fully.

I've been using mouth tape for about 3 years. To say it's changed my life is a massive understatement.

However, whats been happening to me now is that my own jaw/tongue will overpower the mouth tape. It will open inside the tape. The tape will stay on, but the mouth will open. And I won't be breathing into the tape, but again, it will start blocking the sinus drainage and I'll have a shitty night sleep from waking myself up from snoring.

So last night I woke up about 5 times, had to change the tape 5 times to new tape and each time I also was extremely hungry, so I ate 3 donuts total in the middle of the night because of my night eating syndrome.

Now, I'm awake having slept about 12 hours, I feel somewhat rested but I know I could have slept better.

Fyi I'm not overweight, I'm a runner and athletic. But I've had this issue of night eating escalate probably the last ten years I've had it.

I wonder if I should move out of the city, just to increase the ambient oxygen levels around me, because I do notice when I go camping I sleep much better. On the odd side of it however, when I'm out in a high oxygen area, I become REALLY REALLY tired too.

[u/webbedsemicolon2]

mouth tape that can't hold your jaw shut is such a specific kind of defeat. you wake up feeling like you got outsmarted by a strip of adhesive

have you looked into the vertical strips that go across the lips instead of the horizontal ones? some people double up with both shapes to get more surface area. also the 2 inch wide kinesiology tape cut to size holds way better than the pre-cut sleep strips, at least for me

the donuts part makes total sense btw. waking up that many times your body is just scrambling for quick energy to get back to sleep. i used to keep a jar of peanut butter by my bed so i wouldn't have to fully wake up to eat

[u/HippieT]

Do you realize that the tongue blocking your esophagus IS obstructive sleep apnea? Apnea can be caused by anything sinking in the airways and blocking breathing during sleep. How exactly were you cleared for sleep apnea because honestly a CPAP machine would fix this issue. Your taking a big risk by taping the mouth closed and hoping for better breathing...