My sense of smell is present, but for the last 6 weeks I have been smelling a foul scent that is not really there. It is almost like a pungent soap. Originally I thought it was coming from the clothes that were washed and may have had too much soap or something, but after this long it is most definitely not the case. I can smell it when I wake, wear a mask, when I am outside in the fresh air and even in the shower. Does anyone else suffer with this very weird thing? I know most people suffer with a loss of smell, but a phantom smell.... anyone??
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Missy0202
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I had a virus about 10 years ago where I lost 15 pounds in 15 days (so it wasn't all in my mind), felt a sudden dropping sensation just as I would fall asleep (fell asleep only thanks to Ambien) and would get this sickly sweet stink smell every couple of minutes. Went to ER because I had just had a synoplasty -- assumed a post op infection. I still get the smell every rare once-in-a-while.
So my guess something minor wrong with your brain wiring -- but likely nothing physical actually wrong.
Sometimes I can smell like something is baking like cake or cookies that no one else can smell and the oven isn’t even on. But it only lasts a few minutes. And at least it’s something pleasant to smell. Lol
My doctor calls your experience “hallucination”. LoL, as long as you don’t think that a lonely lady is singing a sad, wistful song somewhere around the home.
I have had various phantom smells for a few years. Some are pleasant and some are unusual. So far, none have been hard to tolerate. I don't know if they're connected to my Parkinson's. I'd love to find out, though. I've just gotten used to this phenomenon since it's neither painful nor limiting.
As a kid I smelled things that weren't real. I'd walk into a room and smell fresh paint but no painting had been done for years. Someone called it olfactory hallucinations. During stressful periods, such as final exams, the smells were much worse. They generally weren't objectionable. Rarely I'd smell cigarette smoke. I've never smoked anything EVER. I had developed vertigo and had an MRI that said I had M.S. I took Tysabri infusions once weekly for more than two years. The vertigo went away with one steroid treatment. The smells would stop after the infusions and recur a day or two before the next treatment day. Eventually the smells stopped recurring. Then I was diagnosed with Parkinson's.
I am so sorry you had that terrible journey. Were you misdiagnosed as having MS? It is interesting that your olfactory hallucinations stopped when you got diagnosed with PD, and mine just started.....
The MRI showed white spots in the brain so the Dx was M.S. I stopped the M.S. treatment but it was another year or so before the PD diagnosis. Both diseases are brain-based.
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