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 0511

After my first pregnancy I became very sensitive to many things such as cold, allergy etc. I also noticed that I started to sense foul smells which are not noticed by others. This made me very conscious about cleanliness and I get annoyed with dirt, smell from toilets etc. Too much cleanliness affects the relations with the people I live with.

case 0512

For the past nine years or so I have completely lost my sense of smell. It all began about 13 years ago when I used to have very frequent olfactory fatigue for very long spells. My nose also blocks very often with or without discharge. I was given drugs for curing colds by my doctor. Initially it seemed to be working but the relief is only temporary. Though I no longer have any sense of smell, once a while when I come into some very good news I can all of a sudden smell my surrounding for a brief moment but then it dies out again.

case 0513

I cannot be around smelly activities like cooking. If I am around odors, all of a sudden I get a terrible smell coming from my left nostril. I have seen three ear nose throat doctors and had an MRI which showed enlarged blood vessels in my left nostril. The doctors say the enlarged blood vessel is not the cause of my problem, but I disagree. Now I always carry a syringe around with me just in case the smell occurs. When I irrigate my nostril, the smell is gone and my taste returns to normal.

case 0514

I quit smoking cigars 30 days ago and since then I have completely lost my sense of smell. It is so bad that we had a gas leak in our back yard that everyone noticed but me.

case 0515

I used to have a superb sense of smell until I was 18. Ever since then my sense of smell decreased. I noticed it first when I was around 22 and visited Hawaii for the second time but could no longer smell the flowers in the air. Nobody seems to know what is going on and my doctor says that I just have to live with it. I hate it, because smell is such a fundamental sense.

case 0516

I lost my sense of smell after I sustained a blow to the head probably had a concussion (although I didn't go to a doctor for the head trauma). I noticed two days later while I was cooking that I couldn't smell the food. This prompted me to make a doctor appointment (one of many since then) and nobody can diagnose the problem. I can't say I've become depressed from this, as I have read many people do after losing their sense of smell, but I certainly miss it terribly. You don't know how important your sense of smell is until you've lost it.

case 0517

I completely lost my sense of smell and never went to see a doctor as I assumed there was nothing I could do for it. Everything just smells like air! I still have my sense of taste.

case 0518

Last year I started to have smell hallucinations though at first I thought the smells were real. I also started to suffer from a tingling in my hands and from visual disturbances. At first I thought I was having a stroke. I did some research and found that all these symptoms were associated with migraine. However, the smell is more or less constant. Sometimes it is a sweet, sickly smell, but it can also be a smell like burning rubber with overtones of kipper, and sometimes an unearthly electric/chemical type of smell. My perception of taste has also altered. The only flavors I can tolerate are cinnamon, cumin, and celery. The smell/taste problem is making me feel suicidal.

case 0519

Four years ago I had a myomectomy which went very well. Since this surgery I have a heightened sense of smell which has slowly become worse. I am more sensitive to smells in the morning and I am particularly nauseated by human body odors. Strong body odors make me gag and want to throw up. Twenty feet away from someone I can tell if they have not washed their hair that day. Nice smells also bother me. Perfumes in detergents or on women cause me to have an allergic reaction, red itchy swollen eyes, stuffy nose which I must relieve with a couple of days of antihistamines. The condition is causing me to become socially dysfunctional and killing my appetite. I assumed it was from the surgery however I am concerned the cause is something else as it has not worn away and in fact is getting worse.

case 0520

I first noticed that my sense of smell was not like that of many other people when I was about 13 years old. People would smell things that I couldn't, or smells that seemed good to me were offensive to other people (e.g. cat pee). I was in college before I could identify the smell of a skunk. When I was 24, I hit my head and had a concussion. Shortly after, I noticed that I could smell things easier. Sometimes while walking, I would stop and realize that there was a fruit tree nearby. I also began agreeing with people when they smelled something, sometimes being the first to notice. I assume that my sinuses opened up during the accident.

case 0521

I was hooked on cough syrup which had codein phosphate and ephedrine in it for more than seven years. I am told that excess of ephedrine deposit in your body causes hypothyroidism, which in turn gives rise to anosmia.

case 0522

I have had allergy symptoms for about a year now. In the last few weeks I cannot smell at all, even when my nose is not blocked. I am very concerned with this aspect especially after reading possible causes.

case 0523

My sense of smell comes and goes. For three years I couldn't smell anything and felt depressed. I started drinking dragon fruit-flavored sugar water and noticed it really awakened my sense of smell. After I drink a bottle of it I start smelling everything. It really makes me happy to be able to enjoy smelling more often. I haven't recovered my whole sense of smell but it's coming and going again which is fine as long as I get some smell in occasionally.