I've been on CPAP since 2-5-07, started with a face mask for a month, then changed to an Optilife nasal mask, now on Mirage Swift. Yesterday I went on a garden tour and everyone was commenting on the fragrance of a yellow rose. I was inhaling as deep and fully as I could and nada - couldn't smell a thing! I have noticed that I don't seem to have as acute a sense of smell as I used to. My kids complain that my air freshener is overwhelming and most of the time I'm not even aware of it (Glade Plug-in). So, does anyone have a feel for this? Does CPAP reduce your sense of smell? Does it ever come back? Is it even related? Food has very little taste anymore, either, when I think about it...

Hi Carlson - I hope other people chime in on this, but my personal experience has been similar to your's. I use the Mirage Swift also and I do not use a humidifier, so my nasal passages are somewhat dried out when I wake up each morning. I would assume that this affects my "smell-ability" to a degree, since nasal passages are meant to be moist. If you're at a higher pressure setting, I would assume that the problem only gets worse. I haven't lost all my abitility to smell or taste, but I have noticed I've lost some of it... and I don't think it ever "came back".

It's a choice I've made not to use the humidifier, because I felt that the additional benefits did not outweigh the problems and incovenience of using it... ie- buying distilled H2O, emptying out the water each day, making sure the container, mask and hose are disinfected regularly, etc. I also felt that if I didn't clean it often, I could get sick from bacterial infections that might grow more readily in a damp environment.

So, to make sure I use my CPAP every night, I wanted to make it as easy as possible to remain compliant by eliminating as much of the "work" as I could.

Do you use a humidifier?

I know that ever since I switched from a full face mask to a nasal interface, I've suffered from severe nasal drying, and now that you mention it, it does seem like my sense of smell is eroding pretty badly.

It hasn't caused me enough grief yet to put up with the humidifier, though.

Carl

Nice to know I'm not crazy...well, maybe I am, but not about my sense of smell!

I do use a humidifier. I've tried without it and the dry mouth and nose are horrible. But with it, I feel like I'm sleeping in a swamp most of the time and I really hate that. I try to fall asleep before the humidifier kicks in full blast. If I wake up in the middle of the night it's hard to fall back asleep. I've tried turning off the humidifier but keeping it filled with water but that's just not enough. Breathing hot wet air has been really hard to get used to...

Inconvenience is an understatement. There is no more jumping out of bed to start the day. Now I have to wash my mask, empty and wash the humidifier tank and hang the hose. No more jumping into bed at the end of the day, either. Now it's assemble and fill the tank, reassemble the mask and hose, put my hair up, fit and refit the mask...This is severely cutting into my sense of spontaneity and affecting my impulsive nature. I guess this is what getting old is all about.

There are some humidifiers (that are not heated) but provide more moisture than the "standard" heated humidifiers with the heat turned off. You might want to check it out. This is sort of a middle ground between full-on heated and no heat, but with a bit more moisture transfer.

Check out this one from Respironics:

http://www.cpap.com/productpage/respironic...ifier-hose.html