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 0463

During a bad cold as a child I temporarily lost my sense of smell and taste. I had further colds and allergy problems as an adult. Then at age 50 I lost all of my sense of taste and smell. A doctor recommended polyp removal which I have not done yet. The loss of my sense of smell and taste has led to obesity because I crave salt and sugar, which are the only sensations I get from eating.

case 0464

I worked for about 2.5 years in a chemistry lab and now can no longer smell the solvents, etc. in the lab. I also cannot smell sweeter foods (like baked desserts, fruits, and breads), but I can still smell savory foods. A friend said that she had the same problem, but her sense of smell came back after she stopped working in her lab.

case 0465

I moved to Australia from the US four months ago and had a hard time with getting used to the food. Now everything smells strange to me. It all has the same odor and taste. I found a store that sells imported American food and brought it home and it had the same strange smell and taste so now I know it is me and not the food. Even air fresheners, soap and my tooth paste which I brought with me from America have the same strange smell.

case 0466

One year ago I lost my sense of smell almost entirely. I was changing my cat's litter box which I knew to have a very offensive odor, and I realized I did not smell it at all. I then held a bottle of cologne up to my nose and realized that I could not smell it. Over the last year I have caught a whiff of something here and there, maybe once a week. I have also experienced distorted smells a few times where there was this overwhelming smell of a dirty ashtray. I cannot distinguish flavors, but can tell sweet, salty, and bitter. I went to see an ear nose throat doctor who was convinced that once he sprayed decongestant up my nose I would be able to smell — he was wrong.

case 0467

I have lost my sense of smell. I am a construction worker and thought that my loss of smell came from the dust and paints that I had to work around. But my brother who is two years older has the same loss of smell, so I now wonder if this may be genetic. Now I find this a real hazard as I cannot smell the gas from my stove.

case 0468

In the past year I have noticed that my smell perception has changed. Certain things such as deodorants and soaps are now perceived differently by my sense of smell. Often the perception is that deodorants are sharper and less pleasant. Similarly, I seem to smell the sharpness of cooking oils from roasted peanuts. I still enjoy eating but somehow the smells are changing. My body odor also seems to have changed; the deodorant I use has a somewhat different odor, but not unpleasant. My wife has not noticed this and I therefore believe that it is my smell sense that has somehow changed. 

case 0469

I had surgery for a broken leg. Before the surgery the smell of my children's cockatiels' dirty water and cages didn't bother me but now I have a difficult time dealing with the smell.

case 0470

About a year ago I started smelling smoke. I thought it may be my car. I work in a kitchen and started asking my employees if there was something burning. Nothing was burning. I was afraid to say anything to anyone for the fear that they would think I was crazy. Today, I talked to somebody who told me about her sister who has been smelling a weird smell for almost two years. Then she mentioned phantosmia. I looked it up online and found several stories about people smelling smoke just like me. I'm still not sure what the cause is, but it was nice to know that I'm not alone.

case 0471

I never had a sense of smell. It wasn't a major issue. My parents never asked doctors to look into it and neither did I. I took an anthropology class a few years ago where I heard the word "anosmia" for the first time. I looked it up online and found out that I am not the only one who has never smelled anything.

case 0472

Five months ago I suffered a fractured skull and ever since my smell and taste has gone completely.

case 0473

I lost my sense of smell after a three-week cold. I have no ability to detect unpleasant odors, and limited sense of taste. I can no longer smell garlic (even though I can smell onions somewhat).

case 0474

Two years after I lost my sense of smell polyps were discovered in my nasal cavity and surgically removed. It did not bring back my sense of smell. When I get colds, I sometimes can smell, but this is very rare.

case 0475

I have had simple partial seizures which caused parosmia. The smells I am experiencing are like hyper-exaggerated versions of a smell. I can recognize what the smell is supposed to be, but the new smell is unbearably foul. It is triggered by chemicals (alcohol, perfumes, cleaning fluids, preservatives in food), lack of sleep, sudden fright, block in nasal passages, or allergic reactions. The foul smells happen all the time, just about every day. They became markedly worse after menopause. This morning I smelled moth balls which caused a bad seizure. For hours I kept having seizures which smelled like a grossly exaggerated moth ball smell.

case 0476

One day I noticed that food did not taste normal. I no longer had the urge to eat the foods I liked the most. I would crave something and when I got it, the taste was not there. Later on I realized my smell was fading too. Over time I could not smell strong chemicals such as gas, paint, or odors of any kind and my family would ask me, don't you smell that, it is strong. I did not smell it. I can tell when something has sugar or salt in it but I do not taste it, I just know it's there. If you gave me a piece of steak and a piece of pork I could not tell the difference except for the texture and how they chewed. Every once in a while I get a whiff of something but still could not say what it is. I am 68 and I have no sense of smell at all. I wish I could get my sense of smell back and I talked with my doctor several times but he has not offered any treatment options.