Smelling Smoke All the Time - Part 2

I, too, have been smelling smoke off and on for the past 6 months or so.  Has anyone been to an ENT and found out anything?  I've read that it could be related to polyps, brain tumors, sinus infection, epilepsy, etc.  I guess I could have a sinus infection and not realize it.  But I doubt the others are causes.  I'll certainly try the netti pot.  And if it lasts too long, try to find a decent ENT.  I'm a former smoker (9 years smoke free) and after quitting the smell of cigarette smoke makes me ill.  So this is driving me nuts.  Fortunately at times it's more of a wood smoke smell than cigarette.  Still..... If anyone has found an answer please post it!

Unfortunately, the burning smells I get are very easily detected by anyone close to me. It's almost like I'm slow-roasting over a wood firepit or something. I'm sure of this because my son commented once when we were doing the Eskimo-style nose kiss. I need answers FAST! This has been going on many years for me. My doctor just told me to keep something handy to displace the smell. I do my best, but I'd prefer the problem not keep presenting itself. I've heard too that it might be a brain tumor that causes this issue.

Sick of Smoke wrote:

Guest wrote:

It's nice to know I'm not crazy.

I started smelling cigarette smoke about 5 days ago and it hasn't been constant but it's been quite often enough. At work, at home and I don't smoke, smoke free work environment.

Yesterday, I was getting so annoyed I took the box of downy sheets and put it next to me just to smell something else. At least I can smell normal smells, it's just when there's "nothing" to smell, it smells like cigarette.

It had happened to me maybe 3-4 years ago that I was smelling something in the air (as if my nose had woken up and was overly sensitive) but at that time it wasn't cigarette smoke. It went away after a day or so.

I was sick a few weeks ago with a cold. I didn't get stuffed up as much as I usually get with a cold but I did take a couple of tylenol cold (not tylenol sinus) which was unusual for me. But that was a few weeks ago so that should have been flushed out by now.

I'm thinking too that with the change in season, my nose is irritated. Here's hoping it goes away like it did before. However, I will ask my mom if she smells it if I exhale hard through my nose.

Unfortunately, the burning smells I get are very easily detected by anyone close to me. It's almost like I'm slow-roasting over a wood firepit or something. I'm sure of this because my son commented once when we were doing the Eskimo-style nose kiss. I need answers FAST! This has been going on many years for me. My doctor just told me to keep something handy to displace the smell. I do my best, but I'd prefer the problem not keep presenting itself. I've heard too that it might be a brain tumor that causes this issue.

Hello, i just find this post.. as i smelled a cigarte smoke for 1 week on my nose while i'm not a smoker, post seems very old as most of comments 6 and 3 years ago, i hope everyone suffered of this bad thing finished from his noes.. if any one find a treatment or can give an advice i would appreciated really

I just started smelling smoke all the time this week.  I was getting so pissed thinking that a new house built across the street had a wood burning fire place and the smoke was filtering directly into our house, but my hubby didn't smell the smoke, and I realized I smell it everywhere, not just in my house.

I've looked on lots of discussion threads - this is happening to a lot of people!  Some commonalities I saw were thyroid issues, sinus issues, weight loss medication and computers.

I was feeling so sick from the smell and a headache last night, so I turned off my desktop computer.  VOILA... woke up without smelling smoke.  Even sat down at my computer this morning and was doing great for about 3 hours, but now the smell is back.  I'm feeling like it is some sort of ozone or related emission from computers.  Laptops and desktops.  DARN~ I use computers all day and night!

I hope that's all it is.  I want to have good health and clean smells in my nose!!  Good luck to everyone else trying to find the culprit of the phantom smoke smell!

I am comforted to know that I am not alone!  I started to smell smoke constantly about a week & half ago.  My husband who is a physician said I need to see a neurologist.  Because I had a cold and thought it might be a sinus infection, I went on a z-pac for 5 days, which ended two days ago.  I still smell smoke. I am going to make an appt with an ENT and a neurologist.  It's driving me nuts!

I was so relieved to find this thread. I was very sick with a bad cold/fever about a month ago. Used nose sprays and cold meds for about four days. Went on vacation afterwards, and did not have any problems for about two weeks, and then suddenly I started smelling smoke all of the time.  Same symptoms as everyone else here. I tried my neti pot after reading this, but I still smell the smoke. It's been ten days now, and after reading this, I am thinking that I need to see the doctor. There seem to be quite alot of you that had problems after a cold and using nose sprays. I feel healthy other than the smell of smoke. No congestion, pressure or anything else.  I use the computer for about two hours a day, and it's not a laptop, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not. I also use my kindle for reading an hour a day, and I notice some people complained after using their LCD screens. Don't know if that is related either.  I am disturbed that so many people have mentioned neurological or brain problems, so I think I will go to the doctor. If anyone else goes to the doc, and gets results, please post your results. Thanks. k

I dont take any medications for sinus problems, but my eyes water all the time. The wood burning smell is almost every day, several times a day. It is annoying. No one else can smell it, ever.

So weird that this is a "thing" that happens to people. WTH is it?

 

Hi everyone, I posted about this before, but now I have a clue as to the cause, at least for me. I found out that there is an ingredient in the new multiple vitamin that I have, "licorice extract" that I had a reaction to.  It closed down my sinuses, elevated my blood pressure, and had me sort of "hyped". After three months on it, I started smelling this smoke stuff we are all talking about. My doc also said that some people can have the opposite thing...if your multiple vitamin does not have enough vitamin B6, E or folic acid, you can have the same symptoms. Don't get me wrong, people have the same stuff with brain tumors and things more serious too, I had myself checked, and that was not the cause, but the inflamation in the sinuses from the reaction to the licorice extract (different from candy licorice!) was causing swelling and the same symptoms.  He put me on a new, just basic, multiple, with no herbal stuff in it, and I start it today. He thinks it could take a week or two, so I'll let you guys know. Something to look at though, if you take or don't take vitamins.

I am glad I decided to do a search on this.  I am driving my wife crazy asking "Do you smell that?"  What I constantly smell is best described as dirt and ash.  It has been about a week now and judging by the posts here, I fear this will be an ongoing problem.  One response that has scared me most, is the suggestion of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporal_lobe_epilepsy)  If this is the case, I fear I will not be able to deal with this.  If I go to a doctor and TLE is diagnosed, that means the possibility of my license being taken away.  That is not an option.  I suppose I will just deal with it by chewing very aromatic gum between meals and Vicks under my nose when I lay down to go to sleep. At least those dont allow the dirty ashy shell come through.I am sorry to hear that other people suffer from this, but am happy to read that I am not alone in this situation.  So far, the one person suggesting TLE is the only medical suggestion of a reason for the smell.  I also have a netti pot but am a little fearful using that since I saw this: 

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it has been at least two or three weeks since I stopped smelling smoke. For any of you following these posts, it was indeed due to a licorice extract in my multiple vitamin.  My doc said that there are many things that can lock down the sinus area and the most common are allergy related.  I suggest anyone having the same problem go get bloodwork done, find out if there is a vitamin deficiency, and if not, discontinue any new vitamins that you may be taking.  Another of my friends has this only during allergy season, so I definitely know that it is from the allergies. The sense of smell is stopped, and the brain makes up the smoke smell.  Good luck,

 

You may be experiencing phantosmia or "phantom smell," also called "olfactory hallucination" and defined as smelling something that simply isn't there.

In August 2009, The New York Times published an article by a woman who smelled dirt all the time, which she at first attributed to her potted plants until she found that the smell followed her where ever she went, even when no dirt or potted plants were nearby. Once she learned that she suffered from phantosmia, she had a round of medical tests, including "an M.R.I. of my brain (ruling out a tumor), a CT scan of my sinuses (to check for infection), and finally an EEG," because olfactory hallucinations can occur with seizure disorders. She received a clean bill of health and about a year later realized that the smell was gone. But then the smell of burnt chili replaced the smell of dirt eventually to be replaced by the smell of lavender.

Phantosmia can be associated with certain illnesses - in addition to epilepsy, it has been seen in persons who eventually develop Parkinson's and in others with brain tumors. And it may occur in patients suffering from depression or schizophrenia and, sometimes, inthose with Alzheimer's disease. But just because phantosmia happens in individuals with these disorders doesn't mean that all cases are related to serious illness. From what I've read, I understand that phantosmia often arises because of a loss of some of the ability to smell normally. The New York Times article quoted Donald Leopold, M.D., chairman of the department of otolaryngology at the University of Nebraska, who has been studying olfactory disorders for 30 years. According to Dr. Leopold, with impairment of the ability to smell, the brain overcompensates by offering up odors, usually disagreeable ones. When this happens, certain neurons, which previously had blocked such odors, turn off.

The good news is that phantosmia often disappears without treatment. You might want to consult an ear, nose and throat specialist with experience in treating distortions in smell. Available treatments include nasal saline drops, antidepressants, antiseizure medications, and sedatives. If all else fails and patients can no longer deal with the unwelcome smell, surgery to sever a portion of olfactory connections can help resolve the problem.

Andrew Weil, M.D.

I had a brain annuerysm/SAH and was going great guns now  on road to rcovery.

Wait though what can I smell  Diesel with a hint of neighbours woodburner.

Just when I  was going great.  Guess I'll have to see Doc again.

Good luck all

Win

 

 

 

 

I have been having similar symptoms the last couple of months...for me it smells like burning leaves.

I did discover that if I block one nostril, while breathing through the other, the smell is almost undetectable.  I use this tactic when the phenomena becomes intense and annoying.

I have been suffering with this constant smell of burning for almost two years yes two years and I after a very long time asked to see a neurologist, well she was a complete waste of time, after waiting to see her for almost two hours as she was late, did not even listen to a word I said and told me there was nothing wrong and said I will discharge you from the services, no test were offered no blood absolutely nothing, so I still suffer also with bad head aches and dropping off to sleep like a light being turned off. I don't believe there are any smart or even good doctors out there that are willing to listen to you and send you for the appropriate test. I work for the NHS and I am ashamed and so sorry for patients that can't get a good GP

Hi - I too have been having these smells for about 6 months. Saw an ENT today and had a CAT scan. Will wait to see what happens. Have been doing saline washes, steroid nasal sprays. I have gone 3 weeks back in September with no smell but then return with a vengeance. Will keep you updated on how I go.