foul ashy smell everywhere

Dog Slobber wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:37 am

I do better than that, I never believe anything, it keep me one step ahead of the crowd, and I don't have to unlearn anything to keep current with the crowd. Jim

They are out there!

Goofproof wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:51 am

They are out there!

Really? I can't see them from in here.

Not to be discounted--strange smells that only you can smell may be a sign of stroke or brain cancer.
(I try not to mention cancer on or right before the weekend)
Call your doctor.

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:57 am

...strange smells that only you can smell may be a sign of stroke or brain cancer...

Had this since I first developed chronic allergies/sinus issues as a pre-teen. Mom also occasionally smelt that ashtray scent; she had worse and more allergies than I have. Think it might in incipient sinus problem or maybe it's fungus. Only lasts a few minutes, might occur several times over several days then disappear for months/years. I get taste perversion side effect on antibiotics.

Not to discount the need to investigate if persistently smelling weird odors.

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:57 am

Not to be discounted--strange smells that only you can smell may be a sign of stroke or brain cancer.
(I try not to mention cancer on or right before the weekend)
Call your doctor.

Thank you and others, sorry to have been off this thread for awhile but it gives me many laffs to read the side riffs now. So, in the meantime, I went to a different GP, and since the smell is not as bad as it used to be, and he didn't see anything in the nasal passage, he said continue with the Flonase. HOWEVER, the sweet/ashy taste in mouth is probably from the recent apicoectomy on Tooth 19, which may still be infected. Seeing the oral surgeon again this week. I do not think it is a brain tumor or stroke because the smell (not taste) is only on one side, and that's the side that the first GP actually _saw_ an "ulcer" way up there, with her groovy probing tool. It makes sense to me that the ulcer was causing the smell, and that it is better but not 100% cured. Nevertheless, as soon as Medicare kicks in next week, I will go to an ENT and get the whole airway checked out.
What makes this difficult is that there seem to be two unrelated infections. (BTW, got my bloods tested the other day and everything is normal except Vitamin D is low; no infection showing up.) Thanks and I should know more soon! It is really driving me crazy and my beer doesn't taste good!

Muse-Inc wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 30, 2019 5:29 pm

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:57 am

...strange smells that only you can smell may be a sign of stroke or brain cancer...

Had this since I first developed chronic allergies/sinus issues as a pre-teen. Mom also occasionally smelt that ashtray scent; she had worse and more allergies than I have. Think it might in incipient sinus problem or maybe it's fungus. Only lasts a few minutes, might occur several times over several days then disappear for months/years. I get taste perversion side effect on antibiotics.

Not to discount the need to investigate if persistently smelling weird odors.

Yours and your mom's smell problems sound different because mine is there all the time, and it has been many months. It gets worse when activated by something smelly (good or bad), like smelling the coffee in the morning, yuck. Nose doesn't run, not sneezing, so I don't think it's allergies, and the first doc did see an ulcer up there. Will keep investigating though! Thanks

UPDATE:
I am seeing an ENT doctor next week, so may have more info after that, but I starting to suspect that the CPAP did have something to do with this strange ailment. I am pretty sure the nasal "ulcer" is fungal in nature, a localized non-invasive occurrence that is worse on certain days. Here is the CPAP possible connection: While taking my reservoir off the CPAP and washing it in vinegar, I noticed a silicone gasket inside the machine casing that had mold on it. As I mentioned in the OP, we recently moved to a very humid seaside location. Last summer was horribly humid and we don't have central air. This gasket does not seem to be in a place that spores could get into the air tube, but I wouldn't rule it out. I scrubbed the gasket, soaked it in vinegar, and the mold is gone. The next night, I used the machine dry (empty reservoir) for the first time in many months. I also did NOT use any nasal spray the night before. (Had been only sporadically trying it.) In the morning (yesterday) there was (1) no drainage gunk in mouth/throat and (2) the smell through the nose was not too bad. As a test, last night I refilled the reservoir (again, no nasal spray). This morning I had a small amount of drainage (yuck) in mouth and the bad smell was significantly worse than yesterday. I used XLEAR spray after clearing the yucky drainage, and the drainage from that ran clear. However, the bad smell through nose stayed bad all morning. Here is what I suspect, and we may never know for sure:
1) mold from the gasket did get into my nose
2) extra humidity from the reservoir is NOT a good thing in this case.
Thanks to the reader who suggested a humidity adjustment! The machine seems to do that (doesn't use as much water on rainy days), but I should probably just eliminate it. Additional thoughts welcome.

surf_rower wrote: ↑

Thu May 30, 2019 8:56 am

we recently moved to a very humid seaside location

There is a good chance you don't even need a CPAP humidifier. The best way to test this is to turn it down a notch per night. If you start to get nasal dryness, you may have turned it a notch too far.

Mold usually does not usually survive an application of vodka.
Only advised for washable surfaces.

Vodka only on surfaces?? Would it work on the inside surface of the water chamber and hoses ie use vodka instead of distilled water it would save me from buying an ozone disinfectant machine

"Get me the patent office on line three. I need to find out if any frogs have recently submitted paperwork for 'Vodklean.' Thanks."

"VODKLEAN--For when your mask starts to smell like somebody's ash."

jnk... wrote: ↑

Fri May 31, 2019 8:15 pm

"VODKLEAN--For when your mask starts to smell like somebody's ash."

OP checking in for my monthly update. Thanks to all who had suggestions. We are making progress.
One, I found a name for exactly what I have:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parosmia
Two, I had a CT scan yesterday and the report says:
Haller cells: Bilateral soft tissue density obstruction.
Osteomeatal Complexes: Soft tissue density obstruction RIGHT infundibulum.
Could be residual from the respiratory tract infection I had in the winter, though nobody said it was an infection.
I'm sad because it seems that parosmia, no matter what causes it, rarely goes completely away.
I moved to the sea and cannot smell the sea.

- Surf Rower

Wish we could help.
At least you know it is not something worse.
Though you probably think this is as bad as it gets.
My youngest son lost his sense of smell in an accident as a child.

jnk... wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:40 am

Goofproof wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:51 am

They are out there!

Really? I can't see them from in here.

~~~ but can you smell them?