This may be an odd question, but...

[TyroneShoes]

I am now told that soon after I started therapy (~4 months ago) my sweat began to "smell different". I think I have noticed it also. Not worse, not better, just...different, almost like I am a completely different person. Probably better, actually.

Since I am a human and a mammal I probably have never been nor will actually ever be much of a rose garden, but if something this basic seems to change significantly, it seems like something to pay attention to, and at the very least makes me curious.

The connection with the beginning of therapy is undeniable, and once this changed it never changed back; I have never seen a change like this before, nor would I ever have expected it would even be possible. But I also did not ever expect to get through the night without a trip to the little girl's room due to back teeth floating regularly about 3 AM, and that seemed to stop immediately when I began therapy, and that connection is pretty well accepted to be caused by the therapy.

I wonder if this might be connected to no longer being strangled in my sleep 56 times every hour, and no longer having all of those stress hormones pouring into my bloodstream all night long.

Your thoughts are most welcome. Does anybody have a similar experience? Does anyone care to put forward a theory?

[surferdude2]

I notice the same thing and it actually varies from one day to the next. It doesn't seem to correlate to any thing in particular but I have only noticed it after I started PAP therapy. It's a well known fact that the olfactory system tends to ignore persistent odors so perhaps the air flow from our masks washes away all the persistent odors and when we first remove the mask in the morning we have to go through the time period it takes our olfactory system to ignore it again.

And if that's true, it would imply that we now know how we smell to others when they first approach us.

[surferdude2]

Another possibility is that on some particular nights, or even all nights, when undergoing PAP therapy we are so comfortable that even when we have too much cover on and are pretty hot, we sleep right through it. As a result we perspire more and reap (or reek! ) the rewards that go with that.

[graeme]

Beware of "sniffer dogs" at the airport!

[TyroneShoes]

All theories are good here, but I don't see this as possibly being able to detect odors better or differently due to XPAP therapy, as much as simply detecting not more or less, but a distinct difference. And the one who first noticed it (in my case) was not the one wearing the mask, which undermines that theory, pretty much (luckily, the change was not a step in the wrong direction, at least).

The difference is indeed significant. I do not have a dog, but if I did I wonder if this might confuse him, as this is how dogs recognize us, basically. I would hate to get eaten by my own pet just because he thought I was a burglar (and I never saw that particular disclaimer printed on the label of my XPAP machine).

[surferdude2]

Well then, another possibility is that we now have a higher testosterone level and with that comes the musky odor that attracts the opposite sex. Now that you bring it up, I have noticed the young chicks are paying extra attention to me lately. Yeah really! Some even in their early seventies seem to be enamored by my savoir faire and suave debonaire attitude/appearance.

[3porpoise]

I wonder if this might be connected to no longer being strangled in my sleep 56 times every hour, and no longer having all of those stress hormones pouring into my bloodstream all night long.

Hi TyroneShoes,
Absolutley! IMHO. That's been my experience. Pre Vpap Nightly symptoms I experienced were waking in the night soaking wet ,gasping, teeth floating. On Apap it increased to 5x nightly to ASV rarely. Of course if I fall asleep w/o ASV oh oh. Cortisol levels were measured first thing in am as twice the max limit.
3

[TyroneShoes]

I found this:

"Apparently, as we experience fear, stress or anxiety (or all three at once!) our body produces hormones that course through our bodies, and this change creates an imbalance in the sensitive ecosystem of our finely tuned selves, creating certain toxicity and causing changes such as a distasteful odor emanating from our bodies, where before there was none.

According to a wide range of studies, scientifically this is what happens:
When you are stressed your body starts to secrete male hormones such as adrenalin and adrenal cortex hormones, which activate the secretion of lipid acid. Lipid acid get stuck in the sebaceous glands which produce cell damaging free radicals. Free radicals oxidise lipid acid to create lipid peroxide resulting in auto-oxidization casing body odor.

In other words, stress is the main cause if body odor."

But this is just from some uncredentialed internet person, so who knows how much truth there is. I also don't understand the characterization of these hormones as "male"; I'm pretty sure the fair ones have them as well.

Assuming it is correct, it plays into my theory.

[Galactus]

I think I sweat more now than I did before therapy, but I know I'm not up 3x a night looking for the bathroom.

[TyroneShoes]

Also, if I have a lazy off day and skip showering, I am not quite as...uhh...socially unacceptable as I used to be.

---

Well then, another possibility is that we now have a higher testosterone level and with that comes the musky odor that attracts the opposite sex. Now that you bring it up, I have noticed the young chicks are paying extra attention to me lately. Yeah really! Some even in their early seventies seem to be enamored by my savoir faire and suave debonaire attitude/appearance.

I am sure you must be quite irresistible.

I hope XPAP has not played hell with my pheromone output...I need all the help I can get.