Somebody please tell me they have experienced this!
I've begun smelling things that aren't there. I've always had a very good sense of smell (NOT a blessing with three sons), but in the past few months I smell things that simply are not there.
For example, last night I woke up around 2 am to a very strong odor of chili in my room. Today, I smelled an odd cologne while driving alone in my car with my windows closed. Etc. Thus far, they have been mostly pleasant odors (roast beef, roses, grapefruit, etc), but my family now officially thinks I am nuts.
Posted by dmc (Member # 5102) on :
I too have this...driving my husband nuts. Got a new van, instead of a "new car smell" I smell skunk.
Posted by Penn92 (Member # 9207) on :
Yup - mine is usually a strong chemical smell like a Sharpie marker kind of smell. At times it has been strong enough to make me nauseous/lightheaded.
Thankfully, this hasn't happened to me in a long time.
Posted by hshbmom (Member # 9478) on :
TX Chaos...I also have smelled perfume that didn't exist. I was about to string my husband up when I smelled it in my bedroom. Another time I smelled burned popcorn. Neither of these were real smells.
Penn92, my teen daughter smelled Sharpie marker mixed with a sweet smell several times. She also smelled dead animals at times.
Isn't it strange some neuro lymies smell some of the same odd smells???
The first cranial nerve is the olfactory nerve which carries impulses for the sense of smell from the nose to the brain. Phantom smells must be caused by damage to the 1st cranial nerve.
Definition of Cranial Neuropathy--- "Disease or damage of a cranial nerve or nerves. The cranial nerves are the 12 nerve pairs that arise directly from the brain and are involved in conveying impulses for various functions including smell, hearing, vision, and taste; pupil contraction; eye movements; facial expressions; movements of the tongue, head, and shoulders; etc. Cranial neuropathy may result in associated muscle weakness; abnormal sensations, such as numbness, tingling, or pain; or other findings. ... www.dbs-stn.org/glossary.asp Posted by TexasChaos (Member # 7465) on :
Thank you for your responses!! I am hugely relieved that this seems to ne just another "normal" symptom... funny that several of you should mention Sharpie markers, as I've had that one too.
Also, thanks for the info on the cranial nerve damage. Makes a lot of sense.
Now, if I could just get this weirdness to stop before I start smelling skunks and dead animals...
Posted by Ganjagal (Member # 11095) on :
I smelled bug spray, months & months of bug spray. I hunted all over for an open can, but we don't have any.
2 am pot of coffee- that I have to get up and check to make sure no one got into my house and made a pot of coffee.
I quit smoking and looked forward to all the wonderful smells I would smell again. NOT!
Posted by Beverly (Member # 1271) on :
My son and I both has this along with visual and sound hallucinations.
Posted by sick (Member # 9143) on :
Just last night this started for me but I didn't know why. I was in the bath room twice and I smelled a cigarette. It was in the middle of the night and no one smokes in this house. At first I wondered if someone was outside but then it happened again in the middle of the day.
sick
Posted by Visual Afterimage Man (Member # 10435) on :
I have smelled a Cinnamon candle that wasn't there. Potpourri, and beef stew. This stuff didn't last long after starting treatment.
Posted by LisaS (Member # 10581) on :
acouple times Ive had the skunk smell, or dead animal smell. But the worst one was when I smeeled smoke when I was at work at the nursing home. I actually had people looking for a fire. I think I had them convinced they smelled it too! Needless to say there was no fire. Posted by klutzo (Member # 5701) on :
I often smell various foods that are not there, especially cinnamon.
I also hear a sound like the front door slamming, just as I am falling asleep, and I have to get up and make sure nobody has broken into the house.
Klutzo
Posted by notkrazybrian (Member # 10621) on :
Just today, I woke up and thought I smelled some sort of like pasta cooking, like lasagne or something, went downstairs and there wasnt anything cooking!! brian
Posted by groovy2 (Member # 6304) on :
Hi All
Candida can cause this also-Jay-
Posted by Starfall1969 (Member # 17353) on :
Just did a search on odor hallucinations and I found your post.
I've had a lot of odd symptoms for the past 7 months, still waiting for a confirmed diagnosis, but this started even before the main symptoms.
I'd be sitting in our living room and suddenly start smelling cigarette smoke, like someone was right next to me smoking.
So I get up and start smelling things to see if there's a lingering odor from something I brought back from my parents' house (both died within the past 3 years, and both smoked). Nothing.
My husband is VERY sensitive to the small of cigarette smoke, and he can never detect it, so it was just me smelling it.
At first it was just occasional whiffs, but now I smell it all the time, and it's really getting annoying.
I had to start smearing Vicks Vaporub on my nose at night to get to sleep because the small was so strong. Now I even smell it through the Vicks.
So I'm glad to see I'm not the only one.
Posted by JKMMC09 (Member # 15795) on :
My daughter has this and auditory hallucinations as well. They are definitely a part of LD, Dr. R. B (LL Psychiatrist) has written extensively about this.
Posted by feelfit (Member # 12770) on :
I have had the olfactory hallucinations and auditory...I heard Ernie Harwell broadcasing a baseball game one night and he has been retired for years.
Feelfit
Posted by AnnaL (Member # 18464) on :
On a related note, when I was on Rifampin for bartonella, my normally acute sense of smell became SUPER STRONG.
Like, crazy strong.
I could smell my husband from ten feet away, just after he'd gotten out of the shower.
I could smell every single person in the grocery store.
I had to bleach my hairbrushes because they smelled of "human" too much.
I've also had the occasional smell hallucination...the Rifampin just made it worse!
It got bad enough that I couldn't sit next to my husband (or anyone else).
So my LLMD switched my Rifampin to Bactrim. Took about a month for the supernose to go away, though.
Posted by Tiramisu (Member # 15082) on :
I had super-nose with my 12 days of Rifampin, too.
DH used a small amount of carpet fresh powder one evening, which I yelled at him for doing. I had a hard time sleeping because I couldn't get away from that smell, even with a shirt over my mouth.
Finally at 2am, I ran to the window and opened it, practically gagging. I felt like that powder was inside of me, making me almost vomit.
I think the Rif. amplified my already sensitive sniffer.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
-
These can actually be a type of seizure and are actual somewhat common for lyme patients. You might read the Sherr article at www.ilads.org in "articles and presentations" - I think she speaks to this.
-
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
-
I would not use the word ``nuts'' or ``hallucinations'' - hallucinations are highly misunderstood and, very often, have a neurological or toxic explanation.
If they are seizures, the normal EEG does not help. An isolated olfactory seizure could be missed on routine EEG. . . .
A sensory seizure such as an olfactory seizure typically only lasts seconds to miutes and then either stops or changes into a larger seizure. The larger seizure could simply be staring and unresponsiveness or a full convulsion. . . .
-===============
www. turner-white.com/pdf/hp_sep03_zoster.pdf
Olfactory Seizures Related to Herpes Zoster Encephalitis
You can also search Google for: "olfactory seizures" lyme
Again, I would drop the terms "hallucination" and "nuts" - these are real and with medical explanation. NEVER give anyone a chance to relate the term "nuts" with any lyme symptom.
From my experience, it has been nearly impossible to regain the respect deserved once anyone think this is wacko.
-------
I deal with lots of different kinds of seizures. I I can't tolerate any seizure meds and am on my own to treat the lyme (with very little money), Magnesium, fish oil and Gotu Kola help. Andrographis, too.
If you feel like you take a brain "hit" or instant fatigue from odors, you may have an overload of porphyrins. More about that here:
Adrenal exhaustion can also be a player here (with many kinds of seizures) but I can't get into that right now as I'm too tired.
Good luck.
-
[ 11. January 2009, 06:20 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
-
Giving this some more thought - and rereading your first post -
I would not necessarily count on the odors not being there - even if your car windows are closed.
there is so much that comes through the car - even with the vent and windows closed. It's amazing.
As for an odd perfume, that could be from a number of sources and perfumes or colognes can last for years, even after laundering clothes. Magazines, etc. are huge offenders, too.
Library books also carry the scents from previous readers' homes. The list goes on . . . .
As for smelling chili at 2 am - that happens to even "normal" people and can be a sort of dream/memory stimulation now and then but I'd also wonder if your husband had chili that day or was around it.
- and as for why others don't smell what you do - they are simply not as "tuned into it" as are you with the sensitive nervous system and liver challenges brought on by lyme.
I'd question their odor detection mechanisms before mine for their NOT smelling things that you are clearly able to recognize. But we'll just leave that between us.
I know I could hire myself out as an odor detective. Most of the time, I smell things about 5 minutes before others begin to notice. It's nearly like an early warning system.
Good luck with however this works out. If it becomes more frequent, be sure to tell your LLMD. While much can be explained by lyme, there may be some other neurological tests that may be good to rule out other brain conditions.
If you want to add just two things that might help decrease this I suggest increasing magnesium and taking Gotu Kola.
I just posted a lot about Gotu Kola at another thread today - it can really help if this is at all seizure or toxin related. Here's that other thread:
Yes, I had them as well prior to a seizure, and they were part of my auras, along with a dread all day long. At night when I would fall asleep or when I would try to wake, I would have a seizure.
The hallucinatory smells for me were oranges or gasoline--neither of which were in my bedroom.
Posted by Curiouser (Member # 14128) on :
My "smell spells" have varied as far as the odor is concerned. Sometimes it's not just a smell either, but like the odor is filling my entire being.
It's usually burnt oil or rubber. I've also smelled feces, rotting garbage, a combination of spoiled milk/candle wax, rotten oranges, and a few other things.
All not pleasant; all not really there.
Will tend to smell things "wrong" too sometimes. Will be expecting one smell and something else completely different comes through.
Quite the surprise when it happens.
Posted by Sojourner (Member # 9424) on :
My daughter and husband both smelled ketchup and dirt (whatever that smells like.... )
Neither knew the other had the same odor experience until we were in a llmd's office. It was truly a bonding moment for them Posted by lymeladyinNY (Member # 10235) on :
Just last week I was sitting in my living room and smelled the strongest odor of cigarettes. No one smokes in my house so I didn't know what to make of it.
I am very sensitive about how my house smells. I always ask my husband what stinks - I smell garbage all the time. No one else smells what I smell. I hate to have people over because I'm worried they smell what I smell.
![[bonk]](graemlins/bonk.gif)
![[confused]](graemlins/confused.gif)
)![[Eek!]](eek.gif)