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 0771

I lost my sense of smell when I was 18 as a result of a skull fracture. Two days later I felt well enough to eat and that's when I first realized something with my taste was off. When I tasted the ketchup, it was very bland, and I kind of thought that was weird but didn't think too much about it. After two more days I noticed I couldn't smell my shampoo or conditioner or soap. When I explained this to my neurologist he was kind of like "yeah, that's probably permanent". I was pretty shocked, scared, and upset. I was trying hard not to cry. He said I had a 10% chance that my smell would return in the next 9-12 months. For the first three months I could barely taste anything. Now, five years later, I think I can taste just fine but if you had my taste buds for a day you probably wouldn't be able to taste anything or it would be very bland. I think my taste has just adapted. I do put a lot of salt and pepper on everything. It's a little embarrassing to eat with people I just met or who don't know I can't smell and my taste is decreased. I have "phantom" smells sometimes. I smelled burnt chocolate chip cookies a lot in the beginning. I also smelled a greasy meaty smell. Sometimes you just have these random smells that are very hard to explain and they can last for a few days at a time. I can't explain what it's like to not have a sense of smell. Believe it or not I can actually tell when some smells are in a room or if the smell just changed. The best example is popcorn. Every time someone pops popcorn I can tell right away that the smell of popcorn is in the air. Even if I had no clue it was being popped. It's something about the way the air feels when you breathe it in. I can't actually smell the popcorn. I think it's just me smelling the air around me changing. As much as not being able to smell has changed my life, it's not the end of the world and I constantly remind myself of how lucky I am that anosmia is the only permanent damage I have from the head injury.

case 0772

Some ten years ago I started noticing that it was becoming harder for me to smell flowers, body lotions, etc... I did not pay much attention but some two years ago I noticed that I had completely lost any sense of smell.

case 0773

First I noticed a strange odor, more or less metallic or chemical. Later my sense of smell became reduced and that odor was all I could smell. Today I seldom can smell anything... maybe once a month a very strong spice, but unrecognizable, and less often than that for a brief second I might smell something strongly odorous as I eat or drink. Of course that could be memories. I miss smells... cooking has been my hobby for many years. Now I cannot tell how much basil or oregano I have used. Even cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves are no longer possible. Dangerously, I cannot smell "bad" chicken or beef; I cannot smell the release of natural gas (on the bright side, I cannot smell methane either).

case 0774

I don't know what happened. One day I was making salad for my family dinner, and the cucumber smelled funny. So I tasted it... and it tasted bad. I threw it in the garbage. Then I started noticing that a lot of chemical items, like shampoo, dish liquid etc.... all smelled the same. They all smelled very similar to the cucumber. No matter what fragrance the shampoo is, it smells the same to me. It's almost like I can breathe in an overwhelming chemical that is in those items and it is dominant. Every day (this started after the cucumber smell) I smell a smell that resembles the powder in instant hot chocolate. It's just not going away and I can't find anyone else with the same problem.

case 0775

I experienced a gradual decline in my sense of smell for the last 12 to 15 years. I can smell pungent odors sometimes and other times I do not. At times, other people point out to me that there's a smell in the air and I cannot smell it. I pretend that I do smell it, but it's embarrassing when I'm asked to identify it and I cannot. I do suffer from seasonal allergies and take some medications. Overall, it's not a big problem but I hope to find something to help me regain my sense of smell.

case 0776

For the last 15 years I have lost my sense of smell and as a result I have no appetite. I force myself to eat. I want to be able to smell the food and enjoy eating again.

case 0777

I have an odor in my nose! Everything I smell is the same odor, even when I take showers. I even tried to put soap in my nose, sometimes it's like a wet dog smell.

case 0778

Four years ago, when I was 60, I had a severe cold. I was very, very sick. I entered a beach house and there I smelled perhaps the last smell of my life: fungus and mold. After that, I never had a sense of smell again. I think that not only the cold was the reason of my anosmia, but the fungus too.

case 0779

In my thirties I started having seasonal allergies. I used nasal spray and got weekly injections for my allergies for over ten years. During this time I lost my sense of smell. For about ten years I would get ten minute windows about once a year when I could smell and I would go around sniffing jars of coffee, toothpaste, orange juice. But for the last ten years I have not had any sense of smell at all. I do get phantom chemical smells, usually when I am asthmatic. I have trouble tasting foods, but I can sense tangy foods, so I tend to enjoy tart and tangy foods.

case 0780

A year ago I suffered from a cold. After prolonged treatment it could not be cured and subsequently developed into a sinus infection which resulted in the loss of my sense of smell.

case 0781

On more than one occasion I smelled something that others couldn't smell. The odors range from floral/perfume, wood or paper smoke, petroleum or solvent based (petrol, WD-40, butane) to cooked foods. When this does happen I always look for a source of the odor but never find it, so now I simply attribute it to what I call a "nasal hallucination". About five years ago I used unapproved homeopathic nasal swabs for a few months and my sense of smell seriously deteriorated. The olfactory hallucinations diminished.