Bad taste from mask

I'm still adjusting to CPAP treatment. It's been less than one week since I started.

One thing I'm having trouble adjusting to is the taste of the air. Every breath tastes like sour milk.

I've washed the mask in water & white vinegar and flushed the hose with the same solution. I'm using fresh distilled water in the humidifier. I brush my teeth and use mouthwash before bed. (I don't believe that I'm the source of the odor, because my wife and kids would have told me so.)

Is this normal?

Is there anything I can do to alter the flavor? I've thought about adding a few drops of flavored extract to the humidifier, but a little voice is telling me that might be a bad idea.

Advice?

Thanks,
Dave

A CPAPtalk member created aromatherapy for CPAP. It's a favorite among users. No it's not drops into the machine.. I'm not sure if that would be the best idea or the most affective. The aromatherapy goes onto a card in front of the intake of your CPAP machine. So that draws it into the air. Here's a link, there's lots of flavors:
https://www.cpap.com/productSearch.php? ... omatherapy

Thanks Katherine - I'll check it out.

I guess it's reassuring to know I'm not the only one with a stinky mask.

I find it hard to believe it is the mask...I've had 2 of this mask over tha past year with no indication of a smell. Have you checked/replaced the filter on your CPAP?

LSAT wrote:I find it hard to believe it is the mask...I've had 2 of this mask over tha past year with no indication of a smell. Have you checked/replaced the filter on your CPAP?

I just swapped out the CPAP unit (and filters) yesterday (unrelated reason). The humidifier, hose, and mask are the same, but the machine & filters are new.

Still stinky.

LSAT wrote:I find it hard to believe it is the mask...I've had 2 of this mask over tha past year with no indication of a smell. Have you checked/replaced the filter on your CPAP?

Update: I super-double-triple cleaned the mask yesterday and left it out to air dry. I gave it a whiff while I was reassembling it last night and it's definitely the mask. The thin membrane that covers the gel and the gel both have that same smell.

desert rider wrote:

LSAT wrote:I find it hard to believe it is the mask...I've had 2 of this mask over tha past year with no indication of a smell. Have you checked/replaced the filter on your CPAP?

Update: I super-double-triple cleaned the mask yesterday and left it out to air dry. I gave it a whiff while I was reassembling it last night and it's definitely the mask. The thin membrane that covers the gel and the gel both have that same smell.

I've had a few people complain with the respironics comfort gel that they notice a particular smell while wearing it. The rep i've spoken too from respironics has also heard the same thing. So it very well may be the mask.

If you like the gel, i'd try the new resmed soft gel, this gel does not seem to have the "odor" that the respironics gel sometimes has.

Good luck.

I've had the same problem, but it turns up to be the hose. The vaporized water from the humidifier condense at the hose's wall, and after a few hour it began to smell. It also creates a *perfect* environment for bacteria proliferation.

After I began cleaning the mask and the hose daily (just with water) the smell has gone.

Also - don't forget to change the water in the humidifier daily, as well.

desert rider wrote:Every breath tastes like sour milk.

I've washed the mask in water & white vinegar

Maybe the sour smell is...too much vinegar?

I vote for the hose (joining in the fray, er discussion, er debate, er madcap ideas). When I left one of mine to air day during the floods in Sept, it never really dried and I forgot to check it; when I hooked it up, ugh really sour smell, couldn't get it disconnected fast enough...wondered what my sinuses would do with those few breath of...I don't even wanna guess what it was that I was breathing in. Soaked in vinegar & water, washed & rinsed thoroughly, let it drip for 30 mins, attached it to my xPAP and let it run for 30 mins to dry it out. Note to self: figure out a hose drying method or gadget.

It may be the particular plastic the CPAP manufacturer uses.

I just switched from an older Respironics to a new ResMed machine and mask yesterday. I went back to the Respironics after an hour of trying to get rid of the smell of cheap hotel carpeting in the hose, mask, and even the water reservoir in the ResMed. Soap, vinegar, brushing with my CPAP brushes -- nothing worked. I suspect that whatever plastic ResMed uses is outgassing.

Since cheap hotel carpeting is one of my triggers for my borderline asthma, the ResMed is going back today, and I will be sniffing the hoses, masks, etc., of its proposed replacement before ever leaving the sleep center. (That won't necessarily be definitive; there are so many smells in health care settings that they may mask it until I get it home to my clean bedroom. But it will be a start.)

You're responding to a 2009 ad... poster's long gone!

BlueLu wrote:It may be the particular plastic the CPAP manufacturer uses.

I just switched from an older Respironics to a new ResMed machine and mask yesterday. I went back to the Respironics after an hour of trying to get rid of the smell of cheap hotel carpeting in the hose, mask, and even the water reservoir in the ResMed. Soap, vinegar, brushing with my CPAP brushes -- nothing worked. I suspect that whatever plastic ResMed uses is outgassing.

Since cheap hotel carpeting is one of my triggers for my borderline asthma, the ResMed is going back today, and I will be sniffing the hoses, masks, etc., of its proposed replacement before ever leaving the sleep center. (That won't necessarily be definitive; there are so many smells in health care settings that they may mask it until I get it home to my clean bedroom. But it will be a start.)

I imagine the problem has been corrected, as the post you are posting on has been dead for over seven years. Odd's are he's not got the problem, or or even the same machine and mask or active on the forum. The posts are dated as to when they were made. Probably his problem came from where he got his machine from, storage or cleaning or used machine. masks stored in the same smelly area. Also XPAP treatment sometimes effects our sense of smell. Jim

Julie wrote:You're responding to a 2009 ad... poster's long gone!

thus, more indication that posts from unregistered people should just be ignored.

Best idea is to completely dry the machine every morning. That is, dump all the water from the reservoir, wash the face piece with soap and water (and dry it). Run the machine for about an hour to "blow dry" everything. That will cut down on bacteria for both odor control and infection control.