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 0053

I have been a welder for decades and I have noticed several coworkers that have lost their sense of smell. I am thinking it was from my work environment: diesel, welding fumes and grinding particles in the air. I started losing my sense of smell about the age of 45 and now I can hardly smell at all and have very little taste perception.

case 0054

Over a year ago I had an accident which resulted in head trauma. It was only later that I was diagnosed with anosmia. No one has attempted treatment. I was told that unless the nerves regrow on their own there's nothing that can be done. My faith in the medical profession has been damaged. Not one doctor seems to take my loss seriously, not even the neuropsychologist. So far all I've heard is "if you have to lose one sense, smell is the easiest". But I feel like someone who is dealing with an invisible disability. I even saw a psychologist and he told me that I should join a support group.

case 0055

More than a year ago I used nasal spray but the strong odor was very irritating to me so I stopped using it after a couple of doses. I continued to smell the medication for several weeks on a regular basis, then I went on to smell it occasionally for many more months. It smelled like a pungent burst broke loose in my sinuses. A while later I began smelling a sickly sweet chemical smell on and off. At first I attributed it to the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, but I smelled it in many different settings. I thought I was somehow carrying it from my office everywhere else on my clothes or body. Later when I no longer worked there it finally dawned on me that it couldn't be my office. Next I thought it was my refrigerator motor, again with my clothes picking up the stench. At this point the odor took on a smoky quality. When I asked my family if they smelled it they would say they could smell something slight coming directly from the motor component, then they would say I was really sensitive to smells. I was concerned for the refrigerator, so I called a repair man. I don't think the refrigerator repair person appreciated my request to figure out what the cause was. He couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary. About a week later I went to a perfume store and found that all the scents smelled exactly the same and very toxic, a cross between ammonia and alcohol. I also noticed that I seemed to have a much reduced sense of smell in general. For example I tested eating a bite of raw onion, something that I normally would never eat alone. It tasted watery and only slightly like onion and had no strong odor. With this new stuff I finally figured out that the fake smells must be me, not something in my environment, and that something is up.

case 0056

I was a smoker for more than 20 years. When I gave up smoking I saw a remarkable difference in my sense of smell within a month. My sense of taste and smell were fantastic.

case 0057

Within the last 6-8 months I have noticed that the air smells like ash... somewhat like a cigarette ashtray. I quit smoking two years ago. At first I thought it was the fireplace that needed cleaning but after it was cleaned the whole house smelled ashy. Next I noticed that the outside air smells ashy as well.

case 0058

I lost my sense of smell and taste gradually three years ago. I was using nasal spray for congested sinuses at the time. I do smoke cigarettes. Doctors have said this is the reason for anosmia in my case, but I've been smoking since I was a teenager and was always able to taste and smell. I've been to many different doctors and got very different answers and treatments. There has been no improvement in this condition that really has messed up the quality of my life: Imagine not being able to smell a delicious meal, or the lovely scent of morning/the ocean breeze/mowed grass. Maintaining regular meals is the most difficult, as is the depression that accompanies a poor diet. I never considered losing the senses of smell and taste would have such a debilitating effect, but it certainly does.

case 0059

I was involved in an accident over a year ago. I suffered a traumatic brain injury and have since lost my sense of taste and smell. This has affected my life dramatically. I no longer enjoy cooking, eating out with friends and numerous other things. I've become extremely depressed and I would do anything to get it back.

case 0060

Two months ago I was involved in a car accident. Three weeks after the accident I started experiencing a weird smell.... out of the blue. I'm not sure that I've correctly identified it, but I think it's the odor of the gray smoky powder that filled the car when the airbags deployed. Several times each day the smell fills my nose, without any particular thought or activity. I might be reading, watching TV, doing things around the house. I did not have a head injury, although my neck ached for some time after the accident. It is a disconcerting thing! 

case 0061

After a barbecue during which everything smelled and tasted just as it always had, I was watching a movie when I thought I smelled smoke — to the point where I went outside to see if the grill had been properly distinguished. The smoky smell came and went over the next 24 hours, and when it was finally gone, so was virtually all of my sense of smell. When, after a month, it hadn't returned, I saw my doctor. She diagnosed a sinus infection and prescribed antibiotics which did clear my nose but did nothing for my sense of smell. She referred me to an ear nose throat doctor for further examination. I was advised to wait and see if my sense of smell returned — and warned that the odds of that happening weren't all that great. I'm not entirely without a sense of smell; I get occasional whiffs of actual things in my environment — my shampoo, food, that cat's litter box — but they come and go, and even when I can smell things, they don't smell right. Citrus, for instance, smells vaguely chemical; anything cooking smells like toast. I can tell when I'm smelling perfume, but not what scent it is. Other smells, even strong ones — garlic, for instance, or bleach — are completely absent. As someone with a lifelong love of cooking and eating, I've experienced this as a serious loss. My appetite has dwindled, and I've lost about 20 pounds since last summer; I've had to refocus my cooking on the taste bud flavors (sweet, sour, salt, bitter, umami) and the painful ones (cayenne, horseradish, etc.) to find anything appetizing at all. I wind up throwing a lot of food away because I can't detect if it's spoiled. My previously healthy libido is also affected, and I've found myself experiencing periods of situational depression (I have never been chronically depressed.) All in all, it's not much fun, though I hate to complain when I'm otherwise healthy as a horse.