Why do I have a dry mouth at night? Dr Mark Porter explains
Our resident doctor on what causes a dry mouth at night and how to deal with it.
Image credit: Getty Images/Sergey Dementyev
Our resident doctor on what causes a dry mouth at night and how to deal with it.
I never had a problem until a year or so ago, but it’s now so severe I wake regularly from around 3am onwards and have to take sips of water to ease it.
Oddly, it seems a bit better during the day.
Dry mouth (xerostomia) is a common complaint and is due to myriad factors including anxiety, diabetes (Types 1 and 2), Sjogren’s syndrome (an immune disorder that, among other things, leads to a drop in saliva and tear production) and the side effects of some medicines such as bladder pills, codeine/ morphine-type painkillers as well as older antidepressants/neuralgia treatments like amitriptyline.
However, the fact that it mainly affects you at night makes me wonder whether there may be a simpler cause: could you be a mouth breather when asleep?
We are designed to breathe through our noses most of the time – it helps warm and moisturise incoming air – and extended periods of mouth breathing will lead to a very dry mouth.
The main reason people mouth breathe when asleep is that their nose is blocked – a common problem in people with allergies (rhinitis), nasal polyps and, in the short term, colds.
If this rings a bell, a steroid nasal spray can help by reducing swelling and clearing your nose.
Your GP will be able to advise, as well as look at other possible causes and solutions if your nasal passages are not the problem.
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