Horrible chemically burned bacon smell in nose after water reservoir runs dey

[icashootnstar]

I wonder if anyone else has had this happen. I'll accidentally forget to refill the reservoir and the next morning wake up with a burnt bacon smell in my nose. It takes several weeks to go away. 
And he advice would be appreciated!

[OpalRose]

You'll need to clean the humidifier chamber with something like Dawn liquid and maybe a vinegar rinse. Hopefully the smell will dissipate.

Make it a habit to remove the chamber every morning, empty and let dry.

Don't refill or put it back in your Pap machine until you're ready for bed.

[icashootnstar]

I did go ahead an change the chamber, tubing, and mask as they were due anyway. But just to be clear, the continued burnt bacon smell is in my sinuses for several weeks after the night I accidentally allowed my reservoir to run dry and after I swapped out the components. So, clearly this is a residual effect of breathing whatever was being released when the reservoir was subjected to heat without water.

I'm very curious to hear if anyone else has experienced this and if there are any studies  including details and ramifications.

I do the recommended weekly vinegar and distilled water soak and rinse and use only distilled water. If I had to throw out any remaining water and allow to dry every morning, the CPAP would sit on the shelf!

[Sleeprider]

I have experienced a dry chamber, but only mild objectionable odor. Was your water chamber damaged by heat? Is there a tempering ring (rainbow color) in the metal, or melted plastic? The humidifier is not intended to operate at high temperatures, and if it got that hot, there may be a problem in the heat element or controller. Once you changed the chamber, tubing and mask, there should have been no residual that could be detectable.

[icashootnstar]

That's what's so perplexing. Even after changing out all the tubing and the reservoir, the smell in my sinuses has persisted all day long for the week since it happened.



There are no visible signs of damage or discoloration to the old reservoir.

[GWild]

Also - check out how the water you are using is being distilled. Is it true distillation (evaporation/condensation) or "distilled" using reverse osmosis. RO "distilled" water can have residuals that can affect odor, some even having flavoring minerals added back after the RO process is complete, negating the reasons you want distilled water in the CPAP.

[icashootnstar]

The water is steam distilled (true distillation). But I had no idea anyone sold other kinds of distilled water!
The only unchanged variable so far is that the reservoir runs dry.

[MsKista]

I don't know if it was related to the reservoir going dry but I had a similar experience. At the start, in July this year, I kept smelling something like cigarette smoke during the day. It went on for about a month. 
I read somewhere that air flow can damage some fine hairs inside and affect your sense of smell.
I finally stopped smelling smoke, but in the last few weeks I've noticed my sense of smell isn't as acute as it used to be. It must be a gradual thing and I'm only noticing the greater affects now.

[sauerkraut]

icashootnstar;
Have You tried a netty pot type nose rinse ??
It might remove the residual smell fron Your nose ..
Good Luck !!   Steve

[PeaceLoveAndPizza]

With my two bouts of Covid it buggered up my sense of smell for months. Only now getting it back from the most recent one about 4 months later.

Any chance you had it recently?