I lost my sense of smell four years ago. The doctors told me that it is natural and that it is not a sickness

case 0614

After working in an air-conditioned office for a year with one cold after another, I lost my sense of smell and most of my taste. I was diagnosed with viral anosmia.

case 0615

Eight months ago I fell on my head. I had a massive headache for two days. When I cooked scrambled eggs I noticed that I could not smell the onions and garlic sautéing in olive oil. I love to cook and immediately noticed my sense of smell was almost totally (maybe 95%) gone. To this day my sense of smell has not come back. Food tastes differently. The flavors are not as strong as they used to be; most flavors taste watered down. Food has lost its richness.

case 0616

Twice in the past three years I have had an episode of acute smell sensations that made me feel like I am going to faint. The odor is so strong that it takes my breath away for several seconds. The first incident occurred while I was being treated with antibiotics for a spider bite. I am currently experiencing a similar episode. Yesterday I bought a room deodorizer that you plug into an electric outlet. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling ill. All day today I have had acute smell sensations. It is a horrible feeling because you do not know when you are going to feel the sensation.

case 0617

A couple of weeks ago I started smelling a burning odor anywhere I went. It can be very annoying.

case 0618

Following knee surgery I began having a horrible smell which I first thought was hospital smells, then at the rehab center I thought the smell was from the facility, but when I went home I kept smelling and it got worse. The smell seemed to be coming from my skin and everywhere. No one else could smell it which made me question my sanity. A doctor visit at least helped me to know I was not crazy and we have a plan of action to address the issue. He believes it is related to the high doses drugs I was on for an extended time due to complications. The hope is that it will resolve now that I am detoxing from those drugs.

case 0619

I had polyp surgery. Several months after the surgery, I started getting whiffs of rancid or rotting meat constantly. Since my first sinus surgery I have had two other surgeries. My polyps are gone or under control, but I have no smell. On occasion in the past ten years, with the help of steroids, I have been able to lightly smell for about three times. My doctor now says there is nothing he can do to bring back my smell.

case 0620

I can't remember ever having been able to smell. I can taste, however. I'm not sure if I can taste as well as others, but I can taste. I have a deviated septum and it's very hard to breathe. I can't sleep without nose spray. I had septoplasty surgery and it helped for about two weeks and then my nose redeviated. My doctor said that I have a 50/50 chance of being able to smell afterwards, but it didn't change one bit. I still can't smell and I'm not able to breathe without my nose spray. I tried to see if I could even smell anything but nothing worked at all.

case 0621

Six months back I noticed that I constantly smell sandalwood. I took zinc supplements and they helped. This kept happening once in a while but got cured immediately using zinc supplement. Since last week I have started getting a rotten smell instead of the sandalwood scent. It is not constantly but at times I get this smell. I have started with Zinc again. It is helping.

case 0622

A couple of years ago I said to my doctor that my sense of smell sometimes drops out for no apparent reason and then it can return and I have sharp smells of everyday odors, like a woman's strong perfume or car fumes. Now, at the tail end of a cold, my sense of smell came back strongly for half a day but now it's gone again. Not that I am too worried about it, as it can be handy not to smell. It's a minor ailment in the greater scheme of things.

case 0623

I badly banged the back of my head and fractured my nose and skull. Since I came out of the hospital after my accident I have no sense of smell and it is really getting me down. Food is not as good as it used to be...

case 0624

More than 20 years ago, I had a severe case of the flu. I then realized that I lost my sense of smell. With time it returned a little but is has never been the same. I think the air conditioning in houses, business and cars worsens the problem. When I travel overseas and I am more in an open environment, I can smell some of the nice smells and less of the bad smells.

case 0625

I am not sure that I ever had a sense of smell. My earliest memory of not having a sense of smell was when I was about 8 when my aunt asked if a particular plant was lemon or orange, I had no idea how to tell the difference by smell. When I was about 13 someone in my class let off a stink bomb in assembly and our class was made stay behind until someone confessed. I had no idea what the fuss was about. When I was about 19, I went to the doctor about it and was sent for an X-ray and was told that everything was in the right place and therefore I should be able to smell. I was given a few vials to sniff, vinegar, ammonia and others. Needless to say, there could have been water in the containers as far as I was concerned.

case 0626

My sense of smell declined, which I noticed because my experiences of dog waste and food that I was cooking changed over the course of two years.

case 0627

A steak dinner was good to everyone else, but tasted bland to me. Then I noticed everything was bland. Nothing had taste, and I could not smell either. I can still taste sweet, bitter, sour, spicy, and salty, but I can't distinguish the difference of lemon or lime, chili powder or ground pepper, or taste any flavors. I live on textures of food, and try my best to remember what it used to taste like so I can enjoy it. Sometimes I get depressed about not being able to taste, especially in a group of people but that is just how my life is so I try not to get down about it. Smelling is more of an everyday problem than tasting. I am always worried if I stink even though I shower and use deodorant. I am always worried I will not smell smoke in the house, so I check my smoke alarms often. Once I forgot I had oil on in a pan while I went into another room, and it was only when I looked up a few minutes later that there was black smoke pouring from the stove. I only eat leftovers the day or two after I make them for fear of it being spoiled.