Why do you get a dry mouth, especially at night?

Typically, the dry mouth is particularly bad at night and those affected wake up with a sticky, dry feeling in their mouth and bad breath. The reason for this is that saliva production decreases significantly at night. At the same time, sleeping with an open mouth, i.e. mouth breathing, favors a night-time worsening of the dry mouth.

In addition, one tends to drink during the day when one feels a dry mouth. This is not possible during sleep. Therefore, the mucous membranes lack fluid and moisture, especially at night and in the early morning.

Can dry mouth be a sign of pregnancy?

In fact, dry mouth can be a sign of pregnancy. Typical signs of pregnancy include the absence of menstruation, nausea, ravenous appetite, tense breasts, fatigue, frequent urination and an elevated basal body temperature. A dry mouth can occur during pregnancy, although women drink more fluids. The cause of dry mouth in the first months of pregnancy is the woman’s pronounced hormonal fluctuations.

Dry mouth and other symptoms

A dry mouth can be accompanied by characteristic symptoms. The most important symptoms are dried out mucous membranes, and the oral mucosa is often atrophied, reddened and very sensitive to pain. As a result, the tongue may even stick to the mucous membranes.

The lips are usually dry and cracked. This can lead to taste disorders, chewing and swallowing difficulties and pain when speaking. A dry mouth can be accompanied by a burning tongue and bad breath.

Increased blood sugar causes the body to excrete more water. This makes the mouth feel extremely dry. This water loss causes the body to send out an increased feeling of thirst in order to rebalance the water balance.

If these symptoms persist despite sufficient drinking, this can be a warning signal. One possible disease is diabetes, colloquially known as “diabetes”. In addition, dry skin, fatigue, poorly healing wounds and itching are common.

In such cases, you should quickly see your family doctor and have your blood sugar levels checked. This disease is not to be trifled with, because without treatment the chronically high blood sugar can cause serious physical damage.In addition, there are various drugs that cause both dry mouth and increased urination. These include torasemide and Citalopram®.

If these drug side effects occur, the doctor may consider alternatives to reduce the undesired effect. A burning tongue can be an accompanying symptom of dry mouth. Burning tongue, also known as glossodynia or burn-mouth syndrome, describes discomfort in the mucous membranes of the tongue or mouth.

Burning often occurs at the tip of the tongue or at the lateral edge of the tongue. The discomfort often increases during the course of the day, while the discomfort is relieved when eating. A burning tongue can be accompanied by taste disorders.

There are several ways to treat the burning of the tongue. The therapy depends on the cause of the symptoms. Dry mouth can also dry out the lips.

If the small salivary glands no longer moisten the mucous membrane properly, the dryness causes the lips to burst open. They become cracked and rough. This unpleasant symptom can be prevented with lip balm or special creams, but this does not treat the cause.

It is advisable to apply these remedies in time, otherwise you will have to wait a long time for these wounds to heal. See here: Dry lips – these are the causesTaking the dry mouth together with a dry tongue, one notices this mostly when the tongue sticks to the palate. This often occurs when one is excited, such as before an important lecture.

But it can also indicate various diseases. If the body lacks fluid, a dry tongue indicates a “heat disorder”. This includes fever or diarrhea, where a lot of fluid is lost from the body.

If the mouth still appears dry despite sufficient fluid intake, the salivary glands may be diseased. They then no longer produce enough saliva. This includes diseases such as mumps or salivary gland inflammation.

Worse diseases such as salivary gland tumors can also occur. These greatly restrict the function of the salivary glands. As a result, less saliva is produced.

Particularly in women, an autoimmune disease called Sjögren’s syndrome can occur after the hormone changes in old age (menopause). It is accompanied by severe dry mouth, reddened mucous membranes, burning of the tongue and dry eyes. Cancer patients with previous radiotherapy in the head and neck region in particular suffer greatly from xerostomia (the technical term for dry mouth). The salivary glands are then so badly affected that they can produce almost no more saliva and the affected patients have a constantly dry mouth.