Do you notice your mouth unusually dry when you wake up in the morning? It could be due to a condition called xerostomia or dry mouth. This usually happens when your salivary glands are not producing enough saliva. It may be severe in some cases and affect the quality of life and general health of a person. Keep reading to find out more about certain causes and treatment for your conditions.

Why Do I Have Dry Mouth in the Morning?

There can be many different causes of having dry mouth, especially in the morning. Here is a bit more about it.

1. Dehydration

Fever and other conditions that lead to dehydration such as vomiting, excessive sweating, blood loss, burns, and diarrhea can cause dry mouth.

2. Smoking

If you chew tobacco and smoke a lot, you may end up experiencing dry mouth in the morning.

3. Diseases and Infections

Certain medication conditions may also cause dry mouth. The most common conditions include diabetes, cystic fibrosis, anemia, Alzheimer's disease, HIV/ AIDS, Parkinson's disease, hypertension, mumps, and stroke.

4. Nerve Damage

An injury or surgery can cause damage to one of your nerves in the mouth that will lead to dry mouth.

5. Medications

Dry mouth can be a side effect of so many prescription and even non-prescription drugs. You will experience this side effect when taking drugs for anxiety, depression, allergies, pain, and colds. Along with antihistamines and decongestants, diuretics taken for acne, obesity hypertension and epilepsy may also cause dry mouth. Certain bronchodilators and medication for Parkinson's disease may also lead to this side effect.

6. Medical Treatments

Any damage done to your salivary glands will affect their ability to produce saliva. This may happen when undergoing a treatment that involves getting radiation to the neck or head. Chemotherapy treatments for cancer may also damage salivary glands.

Why Is Dry Mouth a Problem?

Dry mouth can be quite annoying because you will have to live with a sticky, dry feeling in the mouth. You may also develop sores in the mouth, especially at the corners of the mouth. Frequent thirst, a dry tongue, and a burning sensation in the mouth are other issues related to dry mouth. If left untreated, you may even experience problems speaking or trouble chewing tasting, and swallowing. Dry nasal passages, hoarseness, bad breath, and sore throat are some other reasons why you should consult your doctor and find a treatment option.

How Is My Dry Mouth Treated?

You can try a number of different ways to treat your dry mouth. For instance:

• You may ask your doctor to change your medication if you suspect your dry mouth is the outcome of taking certain medications.
• You may start using moistening products, which include prescription as well as OTC artificial saliva, mouth rinses, or moisturizers that keep your mouth well lubricated.
• Taking pilocarpine, cevimeline, or other saliva stimulating medications will also help treat your dry mouth.

Are There Any Home Remedies for Dry Mouth?

While most OTC moistening products and other treatments work, you may consider making use of some home remedies for dry mouth. For instance:

• Drink Sugar and Lemon Mixture: Mix a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of sugar, and a teaspoon of baking soda into a cup of water. Add a dash of lemon and drink a cup daily, especially after heaving exercise to prevent dehydration and restore electrolytes.
• Celery: Munching on celery sticks will stimulate your salivary glands and increase moisture in your mouth.
• Have more liquids: Add gravy, sauce, butter, or yogurt to every dish to make it easier to swallow your food.
• Parsley: Add parsley to your diet to deal with bad breath caused by dry mouth. This herb has calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and iron, and it works as a natural breath sweetener.
• Water intake: Drink plenty of water daily. Be sure to drink at least 8 glasses of water every day. At the same time, avoid or limit your intake of sugary sodas, coffee and alcohol.
• Aniseed: You can get rid of bad breath simply by munching on aniseed. It will also work great to remove pungent food odors from your breath.
• Cayenne Pepper: Your dry mouth will affect your taste buds and make it difficult for you to distinguish sweet, sour, bitter, and salty flavors. To bolster those buds, simply sprinkle red pepper on your food. You can even prepare a meal around cayenne. It will wake up your salivary glands as well as tear ducts.
• Fennel seeds: Mixing fennel seeds with aniseed and munching on it will help combat bad breath and even improve your condition. You can also combine fennel seed with rosemary or other herbs to avoid having dry mouth in the morning.
• Rosemary and mint mouthwash: You may be using store-bought mouthwash to get rid of bad breath, but these products contain germ-killing alcohol that will make your dry mouth even worse. Simply mix a teaspoon of dried mint, a teaspoon of dried rosemary, and a teaspoon of aniseed in 2 ½ cups of boiling water to prepare your homemade herbal mouthwash. Use it for gargling.

Dry Mouth Comfort Tips

As it is quite evident that dry mouth can cause several issues and make things difficult for you, it is important to take steps to treat this condition. You can try medical treatments and homemade remedies, but you can also try the following tips to avoid having dry mouth in the morning.

• Suck ice chips or sip water throughout the day to keep your mouth moist.
• Suck on sugar-free hard candies or chew sugar-free gum to prevent dry mouth.
• Do not sleep with your mouth open and make conscious effort to breathe through your nose only.
• Install a room humidifier to add moisture to the air.