I am also experiencing a phantom smell of car fumes. It's getting very upsetting and I feel like I am really smelling car fumes so I get dizzy and nauseous. I take cholesterol lowering statins, Omega 3 (Rx), and Aspirin 81 mg. Occasionally, due to my sleep deprivation I have to take modafinil, low doses, but this is only once in a while so I am not sure if it's any of these medications causing it. I thought I was the only weird one sensing that smell ... is there any treatment?
I would suggest reading through all the older posts. I only know that mine is caused by something in aerosol cans, so I stay away from those. I'm guessing there could be a lot of toxic causes that you're exposed to that could irritate the sinus area and cause this horrible sense of exhaust fumes. I used a lot of Simply Saline and mine would subside after a couple of weeks.
I am so thankful to have found this thread. I believed I was going insane. The exhaust smell started for me 4 days ago, about the same time my Dad was put in Hospice. I do not take any meds, no health issues (other than sinus problems). I have not used any bug sprays or aerosol of any kind. I am tired of this smell!! So strong right now, it has given me a headache. Why couldn't it be the smell of strawberries or cake or anything pleasant! I will be trying the vitamins. Oh I hope this works!
Try the "Simply Saline" too
Could you update? It seems to be over a yr since you posted Thanks
There's Phantosmia where you're smelling something that isn't there and Parosmia where normal odors are altered to a different, usually unpleasant smell. I've had both and the latest is the phantom fumes. What surprises me is that like others, it makes my eyes water and sometimes makes it hard to breathe. Also sometimes when I wake up the fumes smell isn't there until I think about it so I'm wondering if it's partly psychological. My sense of smell hasn't been good for a long time and I read this is common in people who have this altered sense of smell. I am low on vitamin D but all my other blood tests are fine. I'll try taking D and other vitamins just in case and also put Vicks under my notes to see if it helps. This isn't the first time I've smelled fumes and I've also had in the past an intermittent smoke smell. All these episodes so far have resolved in a few weeks so I'm hoping this one will go away too.
Thanks very much for your answer. Mine comes and goes, but is quite annoying. I wonder what causes Phantosmia - I will google it!
Again, thank you.
I have been having the same problem! No one else smells it when I do. I get headaches from it. What is the cause? I have taken gabapentin and blood pressure meds for years but this just recently started.
I have the fumes smell occasionally and it always seems to go away after a few days to a week. This time it stayed for 3 weeks so I looked online here to find all these people with the same thing. I was beginning to get worried since it seemed to be hanging around longer than usual so I decided to try the Vitamin D and B complex mentioned in other posts. After taking them the fumes smell was gone the next day for half the day then returned. I kept taking them and slowly the smell went away over the next week and is almost completely gone now. Maybe it would have gone away on it's own like it before but I thought it was interesting that the improvement was the very next day. I'm going to take a multi vitamin daily now as I didn't take any before.
I thought I was the only one with this problem, at least I know I'm not just
Thank you so much! I stopped taking B vitamin months ago, sort of just lapsed on that. I hope this helps for us all!
Jean,
I was low in vitamin D on my lab work a few months ago. I started taking multi vitamin/minerals.
For about 2 weeks the smell would go away just for a day or two, but now after taking these vitamins/minerals daily I rarely notice the exhaust smell,
Of coarse those vitamins Im taking also have vitamin B in them so...
My lab work shows my vitamin D level is fine now, and I rarely have the exhaust smell, and when I do it is for a very short time.
Hope someone figures this out!
I was low in vitamin D on my lab work a few months ago. I started taking multi vitamin/minerals.
For about 2 weeks the smell would go away just for a day or two, but now after taking these vitamins/minerals daily I rarely notice the exhaust smell,
Of coarse those vitamins Im taking also have vitamin B in them so...
My lab work shows my vitamin D level is fine now, and I rarely have the exhaust smell, and when I do it is for a very short time.
Hope someone figures this out!
Yes it's not a good smell, my eyes burn and it makes me short of breath. It must have some psychological component to make us feel we are really surrounded by the fumes and breathing/feeling it in our eyes. I tested low on Vitamin D a few years ago. I wasn't good at taking them regularly but started again when the fumes smell lingered. I take them regularly now plus a good multi vitamin.
Same thing, same smell, It was a bad sinus infection.
Everything I smelled or taisted was as close as I can describe it as being the smell of car exhaust. I had a very bad sinus infection. Antibiotics and nasal spray and two weeks of this medication ended this nast smell and loss of taist for me.