Constantly smelling exhaust fumes

Hi Everyone!
For the past 12 days I continually smell exhaust fumes. I feel like my nose is attached to a car tail pipe. It is freaking me out and is stronger than ever. This allergy season has been especially brutal and coupled with CPAP I keep a sinus headache. I haven't had any sinus infections. Has anyone else experienced this while on CPAP? Does CPAP have anything to do with it? I have an appointment with my PCP tomorrow.

Could your cPAP be pulling in fumes from your garage..or from a window along side your garage? Do you have the filter installed. Why not register and post the machine and mask you are using.

How old of a machine is it? Is it getting hot? I wonder if hot parts, such as plastics or glues or something else could give off an odor that you think is smelling like exhaust fumes. Still not a good thing if it is.

when I run out of water in the humidifier it can smell something like exhaust. Maybe you could check that.

Does your water heater, stove , or furnace use natural gas for fuel?

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have no natural gas in my condo, no garage, my machine is in good shape at 2 years old. I let my humidifier run dry one time so I am diligent about keeping fresh distilled water in the water chamber. I smell it all day long from the first second I pull my mask off in the morning until I put it on at night. Can't wait to see the doctor tomorrow. I googled "smelling gas fumes all the time" and found some possible scenarios like a fungal infection of the sinuses, onset of a migraine, epilepsy etc. I am guessing a sinus problem.

EDIT: We cross posted after I posted the following, but this info may help someone else, so I'll leave it here.

I had a situation where there was a smell in the bedroom area of our house. it was kind of like the smell you get right after you cut the car off in the garage. It turned out to be one of our high efficiency natural gas furnaces that services the bedroom area. It recirculates the gases from the burner and runs them through the burner again before exhausting them through a blower to the outside vent pipe.

The 3" PVC pipe T-fitting that does the recirculation had a stress crack in it. Some of the fumes were getting into the house through the ducts. Our Kidde CO detector didn't alarm, but the reading was 8ppm or so. It isn't supposed to alarm until something like 140ppm. After the HVAC guys found it and fixed it, it gradually returned to a base reading of 0 and has been there ever since.

If you think you are smelling something like exhaust fumes, it could be coming from any gas appliance. You may have a blocked gas vent. I'd have it checked out. It's a good idea to have a CO detector, especially in the sleeping area.

smitthgirlzzzz wrote:Thanks for all the suggestions. I have no natural gas in my condo, no garage, my machine is in good shape at 2 years old. I let my humidifier run dry one time so I am diligent about keeping fresh distilled water in the water chamber. I smell it all day long from the first second I pull my mask off in the morning until I put it on at night. Can't wait to see the doctor tomorrow. I googled "smelling gas fumes all the time" and found some possible scenarios like a fungal infection of the sinuses, onset of a migraine, epilepsy etc. I am guessing a sinus problem.

Wait...You smell the fumes when you are NOT using the CPAP??? I would guess some sinus problems or possibly polyps in the nose

I smell it everywhere I go. I smell it at work, in my car; at the grocery store, everywhere. It is very strong today.

After I started getting allergy shots, I started smelling asphalt/crude oil smell every time I got in my car. It finally dawned on me that I was smelling the spilled oil on the roads. I had had a stuffy nose for so long that I smelled this stuff now. Maybe your nose is clearer somehow with CPAP.

Is there any chance the smell is something on you? Hand cream, ointment, etc. Perhaps something in your clothes? Hair products? Is there someone who can see if they smell something in any of these items?

I'm guessing sinus infection. I occasionally get some nasty smells in my nose and a round of antibiotics cleans it out.

You might try some Neilmed Sinus Rinse.

This is so werd! I started smelling exhaust fumes very strong yesterday at work. I asked my coworkers if they smelt it and they said no. I have smelt it all day today also. It is driving me crazy!!!! By chance I googled, (smell of exhaust in nose), and discovered that several others have posted on the same smell! I have read several post but no one seems to know why they have this condition. If any one uncovers any reasons for this condition, please share.

Are you ladies talking about human exhaust fumes?

Just do a search for "aerophagia".

(I think your coworkers are just being nice.)



Seriously, I hope you get the problem resolved quickly.

Hubby used to complain about a smell like burning cigarette filters. It turned out that his sinuses were fcrammed full of polyps. He had them taken out, and the smell disappeared. This was more than 10 years ago, and the smell hasn't returned.

Hope you can get to the bottom of your issue. Let us know, please.

For me, sinus issues often create the lovely...NOT...odor of cigarettes, overfull ashtrays...nastly ugh ugh ugh

To smithgirlzzzz regarding the smell of gas fumes. I have this symptom also but I don't think mine is related to anything like home or car problems. I just have this odor in my nose all day long and it lasts for several weeks. I am having this smell now while I am typing this. I am wondering if it is caused by some kind of chemical reaction to food, or something in the ozone or other weird phenomena. If anyone has suggestions or discovery comments please reply. Thanks.