CPAP *causing* strange odor??

Hi all! My boyfriend began using a CPAP a few months ago, and ever since he's had this strange Pine-Sol/rubbing alcohol smelling breath. It's worst in the morning when the CPAP is taken off, but it lingers all day, and it has become difficult to be physically close to him. The smell is definitely a "mood killer," if you know what I mean. He cleans his CPAP regularly and correctly and uses distilled water.

Can anyone tell me what causes this??

Can anyone else smell it? Maybe it's not him.
Never heard of this in connection with CPAP.
I suggest a doctor visit--Don't know what the smell would be,
but probably something you shouldn't have been ignoring ALL THESE MONTHS.

Have him checked out for a yeast infection - but not down there.... Internal yeast can cause sugars he eats to be changed to alcohol.

You said he regularly and properly cleans his cpap. What does he use to clean and it and how?

chunkyfrog wrote:Can anyone else smell it? Maybe it's not him.
Never heard of this in connection with CPAP.
I suggest a doctor visit--Don't know what the smell would be,
but probably something you shouldn't have been ignoring ALL THESE MONTHS.

It's him; anyone who stands close enough to him can smell it. And believe me, it's not something I can "ignore" since I sleep next to him. I have a couple doctors in my immediate family I could ask, but I can't think of a medical reason for this. It's just strange-smelling breath after CPAP use, after all.

Gerryk wrote:You said he regularly and properly cleans his cpap. What does he use to clean and it and how?

He uses hot water and vinegar, and lets the parts air-dry. The filter was just changed a couple weeks ago, and the smell continues.

Has he cleaned the mask and does he clean the hose and if so how does he clean the hose?

Have you taken his mask and put it on, then turned the machine on and see if their is any smell?

Alcoholic smelling breath is also a symptom of diabetes

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 136AAOoI7L

BlackSpinner wrote:Have him checked out for a yeast infection - but not down there.... Internal yeast can cause sugars he eats to be changed to alcohol.

There is a chance that it cleared up the tubes to his sinuses as well. There are thousands of fungus related infections that can cause this.

Get him to a doctor.

Did this breath situation just start when he began CPAP? If that's the case, one factor could be that his mouth and airways are becoming drier than normal. Saliva is a natural breath-cleanser. When the saliva flow diminishes or is dried out, foul smelling germs can overrun the oral cavity. These bacteria can produce sulfur compounds that smell nasty. I've found that Thera Breath oral rinse works really well to fight this condition. It really cleans out the mouth and helps knock out such sulfur compounds. It helps keep the mouth wet, so I use it before bed. Also, it doesn't contain alcohol, so it doesn't dry out an already dry mouth even further.

Mouthwashes that contain alcohol have been proven to be WORSE than no mouthwash at all!

The Thera Breath does not contain alcohol.

I have Resmed equipment and they suggest using baby shampo to clean all your equipment. You can use a diluted mixture of vinegar ( 1 to 7 ) to clean your water chamber.No vinegar in any of the other equipment.

Make sure that he doesn't have diabetes.

Z wrote:Hi all! My boyfriend began using a CPAP a few months ago, and ever since he's had this strange Pine-Sol/rubbing alcohol smelling breath. It's worst in the morning when the CPAP is taken off, but it lingers all day, and it has become difficult to be physically close to him. The smell is definitely a "mood killer," if you know what I mean. He cleans his CPAP regularly and correctly and uses distilled water.

Can anyone tell me what causes this??

Is he by chance also in the middle of a low-carb weight-loss program or a high-protein diet?

Things that cause "strange" smells can be diabetes (like mentioned before), but also "keto-breath" sytmptoms like discussed here:

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcar ... Breath.htm

Being highly odour sensitive myself, I feel for you....

Grant