Loss of Sense of Smell from nasal pillows on CPap

andyport · Post by **andyport** » Thu Jul 11, 2019 4:40 pm

I tried to respond to Black Spinner but after registering and logging in lost the stream.

I have had a Cpap for about 14 years and adapted very well......no longer made and cannot get a new one so keeping my old ones OK. I have a Puritan Bennett Sleep Breeze with nasal pillows only.

No face or mouth mask. I have noticed for about 5 years that my sense of smell has diminished considerably. I cannot smell spoiled milk.......I can taste it but not smell it. I have my husband smell things.

I do not have any horrible taste in my mouth and have a humidifier on my machine. My nose does not feel dry but I occasionally use saline nasal spray.

I HAVE ASKED A FEW RESPIRATORY THERAPISTS ABOUT THIS SYMPTOM AND NONE HAVE HEARD OF CPAP CAUSING THIS. I do not breath thru my mouth at nite. Some of Black Spinner's answers suggest going to ENT

doctor and the various diseases that can cause loss of smell.

ANY IDEAS???? Don't seem to have any of the diseases listed as possible cause of anosmia.

zonker · Post by **zonker** » Thu Jul 11, 2019 5:59 pm

andyport wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 11, 2019 4:40 pm
I tried to respond to Black Spinner but after registering and logging in lost the stream.

I have had a Cpap for about 14 years and adapted very well......no longer made and cannot get a new one so keeping my old ones OK. I have a Puritan Bennett Sleep Breeze with nasal pillows only.

No face or mouth mask. I have noticed for about 5 years that my sense of smell has diminished considerably. I cannot smell spoiled milk.......I can taste it but not smell it. I have my husband smell things.

I do not have any horrible taste in my mouth and have a humidifier on my machine. My nose does not feel dry but I occasionally use saline nasal spray.

I HAVE ASKED A FEW RESPIRATORY THERAPISTS ABOUT THIS SYMPTOM AND NONE HAVE HEARD OF CPAP CAUSING THIS. I do not breath thru my mouth at nite. Some of Black Spinner's answers suggest going to ENT

doctor and the various diseases that can cause loss of smell.

ANY IDEAS???? Don't seem to have any of the diseases listed as possible cause of anosmia.

welcome aboard. what diseases have you ruled out? have you searched online for causes of anosmia?

how old are you?

is this list similar to the one you saw?

https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/los ... m-20050804

good luck!

TheDuke · Post by **TheDuke** » Fri Jul 12, 2019 9:01 am

I too have very little sense of smell now, but I don't blame my CPAP. I suspect my dulled senses are caused by a combination of age and a lifetime spent in industrial chemistry, and chemical laboratories. I smelled a lot of rather hostile substances every day-fluorine, chlorine, hydrogen sulfide etc. etc. Incidentally, I have never used nasal pillows, I have always had a nasal cushion mask, most notably the original ResMed Activa.

TheDuke

Dog Slobber · Post by **Dog Slobber** » Fri Jul 12, 2019 9:40 am

Why do you think it's CPAP related?

Julie · Post by **Julie** » Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:01 am

Definitely not from Cpap (or OSA), but more likely just age related.

PS B Spinner hasn't been around in yrs.

zonker · Post by **zonker** » Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:52 am

Julie wrote: ↑
Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:01 am
Definitely not from Cpap (or OSA), but more likely just age related.

PS B Spinner hasn't been around in yrs.

true that. i suspect that this might be another case of a google search picking out a specific thread here.

surf_rower · Post by **surf_rower** » Sun Jul 14, 2019 2:24 pm

Do you also smell the _wrong_ smells, or just nothing?
I have a thread about this called "Foul Ashy Smell Everywhere." I just posted to it, but can summarize here.
Not only do I have anosmia, but parosmia. Please don't accept "it's just age" and give up - see an ENT, especially if it happened relatively suddenly. I am 65 and had stellar smell ability until this started a few months ago. It got much worse after a severe cold(?) in Jan-Feb this year. I too suspected something fungal from my CPAP, but now I do not think it was from that. I had a CT scan yesterday and there is an obstruction. (Nothing hurts.) Will talk to my ENT about that tomorrow.
In my case there are two likely culprits, one or both: I was hit in the head, nose and ear, last summer by a thrashing rope on a sailboat and my ear hurt for a few weeks. And I had a very severe cold this winter.
Or, something else, maybe your garden variety nasal polyps?

Janknitz · Post by **Janknitz** » Sun Jul 14, 2019 3:19 pm

Have you come across any medical studies indicating that loss of smell is associated with use of CPAP nasal pillows?

I think loss of smell happens to some people as they age. I don't think there's any evidence directly linking CPAP nasal pillow use to loss of smell.

In fact, I think just the opposite: "https://www.aastweb.org/blog/osa-and-smell

A finding that the sense of smell improves soon after a person with OSA begins continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment corroborates a possible link between olfactory dysfunction and OSA

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5291379/ Significant improvement of olfactory performance in sleep apnea patients after three months of nasal CPAP therapy – Observational study and randomized trial

However, age may be a factor: https://link.springer.com/article/10.10 ... 19-01889-1

When the patients were divided into two groups—those whose olfactory functions showed improvement and those whose functions did not—it was found that the mean age of the patients whose olfactory functions did not improve was significantly higher statistically. A significant adverse correlation was found between age and post-treatment olfactory functions, specifically in odour threshold and odour identification scores.

In other words, CPAP improved the sense of smell for younger folks, but not older folks. It does not mean that CPAP harmed the sense of smell.

And the really bad news is that olfactory dysfunction can be an early sign of dementia: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4233420/

In sum, we hope that the potential of utilizing the olfactory dysfunction for diagnosis and perhaps even as intervention outcome, together with an awareness of available inexpensive and easy to implement assessment tools, can lead to its wider clinical use (integrated with research efforts). The latter mentioned proposal may very well improve dementia diagnosis and allow an establishment of differential profiles. Implementation of olfactory tests in standard neuropsychological screening and diagnostic batteries, from preclinical and early stages of dementia, will clarify if olfactory dysfunction holds any potential for aiding research progress in the field of dementia

I don't see evidence to blame CPAP for loss of smell.

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Sun Jul 14, 2019 3:19 pm

Poorly managed diabetes can affect nerves anywhere in the body, including smell
Longtime tobacco use can dull that sense, too.
Age messes up everything.
It could be anything--EXCEPT your nasal pillows.
Ask your doctor for a referral to a neurologist.
This is nothing to ignore.

tlohse · Post by **tlohse** » Sun Jul 14, 2019 9:15 pm

I don’t know if this could happen but since nasal pillows are usually right on the nostrils when worn is it possible that the air flow blew the smell out of the nose? It’s worth a thought.

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Mon Jul 15, 2019 8:13 am

tlohse wrote: ↑
Sun Jul 14, 2019 9:15 pm
I don’t know if this could happen but since nasal pillows are usually right on the nostrils when worn is it possible that the air flow blew the smell out of the nose? It’s worth a thought.

No, that is not possible.
See your DOCTOR.

surf_rower · Post by **surf_rower** » Mon Jul 15, 2019 12:09 pm

Agree it is not from the CPAP.
I've read a ton of articles on hyposmia, anosmia, and parosmia the last couple days. It is usually from an upper respiratory infection (cold, bronchitis, etc.) or a head trauma. It _can_ also be an early sign of Parkinson's or Alzheimer's. BUt if you lose your smell or have weird smells after an URTI or head injury, it is most likely from that. And yes, see the doc, though 4 of my docs knew _nothing_ of this so make sure you are getting someone who knows WTF "parosmia" is.

Loss of Sense of Smell from nasal pillows on CPap

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