Sense of smell weirdness

[sewandsew]

That's me too.  Extremely sensitive nose I guess.  I can smell a fire miles away, the neighbor's gas meter that was leaking, and I can smell my husband brushing his teeth on the way otherside of the house.  Sometimes I have to hold my breathe on a crowded elevator.

I thought maybe it was due to my failing hearing and the other senses taking over.

[stephL]

I'm oversensitive and react easily to smells, bright lights, loud sounds, motion, and temperature. I once left the library because I couldn't stand someone's strong perfume. Lawn mowers outside or a barking dog can drive me to distraction. I can't tolerate sunlight at all nowadays or it flares me. The motion issue is especially a problem because if I rise too quickly from my chair or change direction when walking, I lose my balance. Rides at an amusement park sicken me. Certain games I play online can make me dizzy and lightheaded. Mild cold or heat makes me flare. I think when inflammation irritates the central nervous system, it changes the way we react to sensory input.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irritation

[lisa09calgary]

Me too!  I drive my husband nuts with my over blown sense of smell.  It's especially difficult when we are travelling.  I just can't make myself stay in a hotel room that has any sort of smell.  And I hate phony lotion and soap smells.  If my husband washes his hands in the bathroom I smell it in the living room.  Also, if someone is sick, even before they know it, I can smell a different smell around them.  When my mother had a heart attack and didn't know it, I knew the second I was around her that something had changed, just by her smell.  I never related all this to Sjogren's Syndrome before thanks for bringing up this topic.  I feel abnormally normal now!

[Jackie]

This is very interesting since I can't smell or taste hardly anything. I don't know which would be worse!

[Doxie]

When I was at the NIH being evaluated, they wanted to know if I'd lost some of my sense of smell. I had to tell them that I've never had the sense of smell, never!

People say I'm lucky, because I don't have to smell the bad smells. Well, all the time, I still hear about things that smell, and I had no clue.  (you mean rain smells?).

I never missed it a whole lot (other than feeling I was dumb in elementary school because I couldn't tell what anything smelled like), until a student walked past my desk. Stopped, backed up and took a big sniff of the rose sitting on my desk, and went "ahhhh it smells so good", and walked on.  Wow, that blew my mind!

There are issues: I can't smell smoke, rotten food, or sour milk. But I have my sense of sight, and I can see!

[theosof]

I too have had an acute sense of smell- I thought it was from the fibromyalgia. Sometimes it can be annoying.
In regards to hearing- I have tinnitus in one ear- don't know what to do about that. I wish my hearing was better. Interesting

Glad you brought the topic up.

[susanep]

Ditto on all the smell/nose stuff, and even the phantom thing.

In the winter I have a strange thing. If I laugh, my nose will have a sudden shooting pain go through the bony part. This is mostly when out in the cold.

susanep 

[Luna]

I have always had the bionic sniffer. Drives me and my family crazy. We always wondered why I had this. I have all the same problems everyone has mentioned in here. I have had this sinse I was a kid. I have really freaked people out with it. Cause they think Im crazy or imagining smells,then once proven, it freaks them out.. LOL The worst is ssmelling stuff we really don't want to smell. You know what i mean. UGH!!!  The good side of it is it has helped us at times. My sniffer warned us in plenty of time.
Thank you all for showing me im not a freak..

Luna..

[Jackie]

When you can't smell, you can't taste. Two senses are lost. It is difficult to take. When your sense of smell is enhanced, does it impact you sense of taste?

[Doxie]

 A lot of people think they can't smell, but have a very faint sniffer. They actually went through tests and confirmed that I have no sense of smell.  Even though I can't smell, I can taste. I don't know how things taste to all the "smellers", but I'm sure I can't come close. I've heard it put that I can taste, especially some of the basic flavors, but I can't taste all of the different flavors that everyone else does.

I love strong flavors like mint and lemon.

When I have a cold, things don't taste different to me. I hear they do to other people. . .