The Cpap is not the reason for my eye problem

Hello, I did some detective work and found that the Cpap nadal madk and straps are not the cause of the very strange irritation/allergy around the corners of my eyes and lower lids. The cause of this allergy is the biotin supplement I have been ingesting. It is 10.000 mcg and much too strong, ergo the skin condition. Thank goodness it is not due to the Cpap because after two miserable weeks I am finally getting good results!

You really needed to post this on your orig. thread where people have bothered to answer it... glad you found an answer tho'.

another case of poor cpap being blamed for the murder when it just happened to be in the room at the time.

palerider wrote:another case of poor cpap being blamed for the murder when it just happened to be in the room at the time.

I was certain it was Col. Mustard in the conservatory with the candlestick

palerider wrote:another case of poor cpap being blamed for the murder when it just happened to be in the room at the time.

That's a real problem.

Patients and doctors tend to get CPAP blindness about medical problems. They see "CPAP user" and blame everything on the CPAP or apnea instead of looking for the real cause.

I have a buddy who got tagged as "pre-diabetic" by one of his doctors. After that, he said every time he went to a doctor, they took the easy way out and blamed every medical problem on his "diabetes" even though he had lost weight and had good blood sugar.

"Broken arm from a car accident? You must have passed out from the diabetes and caused the accident. I've alerted the DMV. You probably had brittle bones as well."
"But doc, I was stopped in traffic at a red light and got rear ended by a dump truck that totaled my car."

Here I am again after one week of trial and error, severe frustration and near panic!
I mistakenly thought my skin allergy was due to excess Biotin supplement; however this week I realized it is due to the masks.
The irritation around my eyes at the corners and lower portion, is caused by the silicone mask AND the soft clothmask as well I had stopped using the mask for two nights and the irritation almost disappeared without any topical cream. Then I used the Elan soft cloth mask for one night and the allergy came back! I've ordered some face liners from Remzzz and am praying that will do the trick. I am planning to wear an eye mask tonight, hoping it will help to protect my eyes.

Could my allergy be caused by the air that comes through the plastic tube?

Can anyone tell me how frequently they are washing the tube and mask in soapy water? Should this be every day? At www,directhomemedical.com they offer a machine that cleans every item and guarantees a 99.9% Germ killing.
Has anybody tried this machine?

If air could cause allergies, we'd all be dead, or wish we were!

Most of us wash the cushion (not whole mask) at daily or weekly intervals, tho' many use wipes instead or in between. Washing the hose is rather pointless except at very long intervals, if those, tho' some people insist on doing it more often regardless of the sense of it.

You have looked into what soap and lotion you use (just in case they coincidentally react somehow with something in the silicone? Reaching, but you never know.

Lucycat45 wrote:Here I am again after one week of trial and error, severe frustration and near panic!

Could my allergy be caused by the air that comes through the plastic tube?

Can anyone tell me how frequently they are washing the tube and mask in soapy water? Should this be every day? At www,directhomemedical.com they offer a machine that cleans every item and guarantees a 99.9% Germ killing.
Has anybody tried this machine?

Germ killing almost certainly has nothing to do with an allergy type reaction. If you want to be sure, clean really thoroughly, use some properly diluted Control III disinfectant from our host, cpap.com, and then rinse and clean really thoroughly.

I'm skeptical about home CPAP cleaning machines other than a simple air blower to dry things out after washing.

There might be a manufacturing residue of some kind on or in the silicone or other mask parts. You might get this off by very thorough cleaning. or airing out. In theory, the silicone itself is almost never allergenic, but there might be some contaminant on or in the silicone. Some people have tried putting the silicone (clear rubbery) parts into a pot of boiling water with baking soda. (At your own risk for melting the parts, but silicone is pretty heat resistant). I probably wouldn't put cloth or fabric into boiling water.

There's also the possibility that there's something on your skin or hands that causes a reaction when it's pressed against your skin and kept moist by the mask. You could also be reacting having moisture held against your skin by the mask. Clean your face. hands and mask carefully before masking up. Avoid makeups or creams.

There could be something in the CPAP air you react to, but I wouldn't expect it to be where the mask touches. You're probably not that allergic anything in the room air, and the filters in the machine should reduce the dust. Unless there's some sort of reservoir of dust or other allergens inside the machine that it's spraying into the air, it shouldn't cause problems. There shouldn't be anything inside the machine that is allergenic in that fashion. Make sure the machine itself isn't sitting someplace where it sucks up allergens like dust under the bed where the cat sleeps.

I dishwash the plastic mask parts once a week.

Please put your equipment in your profile. There's a link in my signature line about how to do this.

BTW, you might want to try some Benadryl tablets before bedtime. I wouldn't want to take them every day of my life, but it might give you a clue about allergies. Read the label directions about long term use and reactions.

Be sure to get JUST Benadry (dipenhydramine), not some combination cold/flu remedy.

A topical cream such as Benadryl or cortisone cream in the morning might be good, too. I'm not sure I'd use them under the mask.

I just read your second update that the problem is not biotin...but for what it's worth, I wrote this beforeforehand. Maybe somebody else will find it useful:
You can get safe levels of biotin by eating the white pulp (the continuous layer near the skin) of oranges or any other citrus fruit. Quarter the citrus fruit then cut those pieces in half, that will allow you to get at the white pulp quite easily with a sharp paring knife. Or you can simply eat it along with the fruit - or do as I like to do and put the pulp in a fruit smoothy. A little lemon juice and honey help mask the mild bitterness. Orange juice without the pulp will provide very little biotin. BTW, good luck with the cotton Remzzz. I use them and like them. There are lots of tips on this forum for using and reusing them... search for Remzzz in the search box above