Black tongue??

[Country4ever]

I use an older model nasal mask and tape my mouth, since there's no way I could keep it closed. But the cpap still blows air into my mouth and I think it stays there for long periods of time and dries my mouth out. I didn't think it was a big deal.
But this morning I woke up with a horrible, strange smell coming through my nasal mask. I can't even describe it. It was a strange scent to me. I got up to use the bathroom and looked in the mirror and stuck my tongue out (which I do, just to keep track of if it's thinking about developing thrush....which I've gotten several times in my life). Anyhow.......my tongue was black!! I'm not talking coal black, but a very dark gray over the entire tongue. I could wipe a little of it off. I brushed my teeth and my tongue, which helped a little.

I googled "black tongue". This isn't hairy black tongue, because I had that years ago and it wasn't similar........plus it didn't have this very odd smell. Also, it mentioned how medications with bismuth can sometimes cause this. I did take 1 Pepto tab either yesterday or the day before......but that doesn't seem to be the problem. I'm wondering if having that air in my mouth all night is causing some problems?

It's been 5 hours since I woke up and my tongue is still a little dark, but I'm smelling the smell still. Yuk. It's so strange.

I probably should change over to a full face mask, but I get frustrated with our local Lincare and just keep putting it off.
The cpap wasn't dirty and doesn't show anything. I did wash it all this morning and changed the filter, but I'm thinking it's something else that happened. Just so darned strange.

Any ideas?
Thanks.

[LSAT]

You may have already seen this but.....

Poor oral hygiene. Dead skin cells are more likely to accumulate on the tongue if you aren’t regularly brushing your teeth and tongue or rinsing out your mouth.
Low saliva production. Saliva helps you swallow dead skin cells. When you don’t produce enough saliva, these dead skin cells can hang around on your tongue.
Liquid diet. Eating solid foods helps to scrape dead skin cells off your tongue. If you follow a liquid diet, this doesn’t happen.
Medication side effects. Some medications have dry mouth as a side effect, which makes it easier for skin cells to accumulate on the papillae.

[Janknitz]

I had a nasty black tongue occasionally from taking Tums, so I'm guessing it was the Pepto.

[Country4ever]

Thanks LSAT and Janknitz!

I didn't mention this, but I chewed a Rolaids right before bed. I've done that before and it didn't do anything.
The internet says that it can happen with Pepto if you eat certain foods with higher sulfur, so maybe that's it. I have IBS-D, so I need the pepto.
I brush my teeth often, but my mouth does tend to be dry-ish. I also wear a MORA (mandibular orthopedic repositioning appliance) which puts more funky things in my mouth.
Oh well. I don't think I'm going to die. The internet articles said that it usually disappears in 3-4 days, so I'll try to be patient. The worst is the smell I'm still getting from it in my nose.

I guess I should consider a Full Face mask, but I've enjoyed clear sinuses since I began using the nasal cpap.

There's always somethin'.
Thanks again.

[Muse-Inc]

Might get some Spry gum. It is Xylitol-based which starves pathogens. While it is an alcohol-sugar, it is digested in a different part of the gut than other similar sugars and thus less likely to cause gut problems.

[D.H.]

I think it's the digestive medication and/or the underlying condition that you're taking it for.

I don't know if it's caused by poor oral hygiene, but proper hygiene is very important anyhow!

Also, can anybody else detect the smell?

[Country4ever]

Hmmm.....the Spry gum sounds like a good idea. I have to be careful though, since I have TMJ.

I DO have good oral hygiene. I'm thinking I need to start back up on a Probiotic daily, which might help me not need the Pepto.
My husband has been gone all day and no one else is around, so I'm not sure if anyone else could smell it. I lost a lot of my sense of taste and smell many years
ago when I had a high fever and illness for about 4 days. I have some of it back now, but certain odors seem to be heightened for some reason. Man, this smell made me
nauseous. I'm a weird person though. Lots of funky things happen to me.

Thanks!

[D.H.]

It's possible that due to CPAP therapy, you're recovering some of your sense of smell! This might incur noticing smells that one would not ordinarily notice, at least when you're first recovering.

[Patriot Partner]

Alla seltzer can turn black

Sounds like reflux

[babydinosnoreless]

If I woke up with a black tongue I would heading to, at the very least Urgent Care if not straight to the ER. if it smelled too I might even have dialed 911 thinking pugsys aliens invaded while I was sleeping.

[Janknitz]

When I had the black tongue incident, I had great health insurance, and lived in the same high rise building that my doctor's office was in (sounds much fancier than it was!). So I got right in to see him. It was a head scratcher, but he had no idea what caused it. I think I was taking a lot of tums at bedtime (I think I was pregnant as I had horrible heartburn during pregnancy) and may not have had enough water.