Loss of smell and horrible taste/smell in mouth and nose

[ccipaul]

I have almost completely lost my sense of smell unless it is very, very strong and I am right up on it. I have been this way for almost a year now. I have been using a full CPAP mask for about 3 years. I hate it.

Worse than the loss of smell is dygeusia (terrible taste in my mouth and nose.). Almost every morning I wake up with severe dry mouth. I am beginning to think that the CPAP is responsible for both problems. Any comments?

[snuginarug]

Have you talked to your doctor about this? If so, what did he/she say?

[BlackSpinner]

I have almost completely lost my sense of smell unless it is very, very strong and I am right up on it. I have been this way for almost a year now. I have been using a full CPAP mask for about 3 years. I hate it.

Worse than the loss of smell is dygeusia (terrible taste in my mouth and nose.). Almost every morning I wake up with severe dry mouth. I am beginning to think that the CPAP is responsible for both problems. Any comments?

If you use a nasal mask only you are opening your mouth and wasting your therapy air. If you are using a full face mask
then add a chinstrap and go and see a good ENT.

You have an ENT don't you, one that you have seen about this loss of smell? If not, why not?

Thrush also will give you the bad taste problem.

[chunkyfrog]

I had a bad smell coming in through the mask--I was just overdue on cleaning.
Remember: nothing scented or disinfectant.

[RandyJ]

I have almost completely lost my sense of smell unless it is very, very strong and I am right up on it. I have been this way for almost a year now. I have been using a full CPAP mask for about 3 years. I hate it.

Worse than the loss of smell is dygeusia (terrible taste in my mouth and nose.). Almost every morning I wake up with severe dry mouth. I am beginning to think that the CPAP is responsible for both problems. Any comments?

Do you take Lunesta by any chance? Other posts here talk about it giving a horrible lingering taste in mouth.

[Perrybucsdad]

You say you lost your sense of smell about a year ago. Did you have any surgery to your nose, throat, sinuses, or brain in that time frame? The reason I ask is I had two brain aneurysm that required two surgeries (craniotomy). My doctor had warned me that there was a chance I could lose all or some of my sense of smell as there are two nerves that run from the brain to the nose. With my surgery, those nerves were being stretched, and could (and were) damaged. I would presume sinus surgery, nose surgery, nose trauma, etc could also possibly have that same effect.

[Tcamillemars]

I have lost my sense of smell, too, and have no idea why. There are a few things I can smell, but many more that I can't.

[DaveLP]

Nasonex or Flonaise helps with allergic causes in the absence of other medical reasons. Sinuses tend to constrict in the presence of pollen, dust, and other allergens. Allergies would be a prime cause, but you doctor is the only one who can get to the root cause.

[snardo]

On the subject of loss of sense of smell, do you have routine sinus problems that you treat with some type of nasal spray? My dad has been a daily user of Afrin (I think that's the stuff) for decades to help relieve chronic stuffiness and/or drippage and, as a result, has almost no sense of smell left. I've also heard from reliable sources that the OTC medication that is supposed to reduce the duration and severity of a common cold may have similar effects - this is limited to the kind that you swab around inside your nasal passages. Seems like maybe we should be careful about what and how often we put things up there.

I don't think I can add anything to the discussion about the bad smell/taste - best to go see an ENT on that.

[JohnBFisher]

Another possibility that's happened to me is a sinus infection that was not draining well. Whenever I have a cold, I now use a saline nasal spray to try to keep my sinuses moist and clear. Due to the size of my sinuses I am not always aware (other than via the sinus headaches) that I have a low grade infection in my sinuses.

As another poster noted, you should probably talk with your GP about this.

[M.D.Hosehead]

You can't assume any of the above suggestions are the cause of anosmia in the OP's case.

OP should consul a doctor. Here's an incomlete list of possible causes (from wikipedia):

Causes of anosmia include:

Upper respiratory tract infection (e.g., sinusitis or the common cold)[3]
Nasal polyps
Idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism
Hypothyroidism
Head trauma, damage to the ethmoid bone[4]
Dementia with Lewy bodies
Tumors of the frontal lobe
Parkinson's disease[5]
Alzheimer's disease[6]
Toxins (especially acrylates, methacrylates[7] and cadmium[8][9])
Old age[10]
Kallmann syndrome
Post-perfusion syndrome
Laryngectomy with permanent tracheostomy
Esthesioneuroblastoma is an exceedingly rare cancerous tumor that originates in or near the olfactory nerve. Symptoms are anosmia (loss of sense of smell) often accompanied by chronic sinusitis.[11]
Intranasal drug use
Samter's triad
Foster Kennedy syndrome
Cadmium poisoning
Smoking
Neurotropic virus[12]
Schizophrenia[13]
Pernicious anemia
Zinc deficiency
Idiopathic intracranial hypertension
Suprasellar meningioma
Refsum's disease
Adrenergic agonists or withdrawal from alpha blockers (vasoconstriction)
Sarcoidosis[14]
Zinc-based intranasal cold products

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.