Sensitivity to smells

[cattia]

Has anyone suffered from this? I notice every little smell and sometimes I fixate on smells and can't find a source for them so I don't know whether they are real or phantom ones. The other day there was a really strong smell that was really bothering me and it turned out it was my son's coat smelling of washing powder. When I smelt it the next day it wasn't even that strong but at the time it was really strong and it wasn't like it had just been washed. Another time I kept smelling this odd smell in my car. It was only in the car so it must have been something I was picking up on but nobody else could notice it.
I m basically worried about either a brain tumour or early onset Parkinson's, because like a loser I googled and that's what came up. I have chronic allergies and sinus issues but I have had these for years and this smell thing is new for me.
I am definitely not pregnant and too young for the menopause.

[Gary A]

It's a difficult one to answer because nobody can really tell you if what your smelling is actually there or not.

What I will say is that so called "phantom smells" associated with brain deficits are almost always completely awful smells that overwhelm the other senses. The smells tend to be things like burning rubber or rotting garbage.

The region of the brain that processes your sense of smell is known as the olfactory region. It's true that brain tumours can cause a type of seizure in this region that gives you these so called phantom smells, but what you describe in no way sounds like this.

My personal opinion is that you've googled, saw that phantom smells can be a sign of something nasty, and you are now so zoned in on what you're smelling that it's actually making you think you're sensitive to smells. It's most likely just another example of hypersensitivity caused by your anxiety.

[KeeKee]

It's a difficult one to answer because nobody can really tell you if what your smelling is actually there or not.

What I will say is that so called "phantom smells" associated with brain deficits are almost always completely awful smells that overwhelm the other senses. The smells tend to be things like burning rubber or rotting garbage.

The region of the brain that processes your sense of smell is known as the olfactory region. It's true that brain tumours can cause a type of seizure in this region that gives you these so called phantom smells, but what you describe in no way sounds like this.

My personal opinion is that you've googled, saw that phantom smells can be a sign of something nasty, and you are now so zoned in on what you're smelling that it's actually making you think you're sensitive to smells. It's most likely just another example of hypersensitivity caused by your anxiety.

Good response and I agree.

A few years ago I could smell a tobacco like smell everytime I went to bed, nobody in my household smokes and we haven't had any smoking visitors for years so wasn't that. I started worrying about a brain tumour as like Gary suggested I'd been googling (even if you no longer Google it's hard to forget what you've already read). Eventually I forgot about it and haven't noticed it for a very long time now.

[cattia]

Thanks so much for the replies. I have fallen into that trap of thinking 'well I noticed that smell when I wasn't even thinking about smells, so it can't be caused by my anxiety.' I guess the unconscious mind can create symptoms even when we are not consciously focused on it. I hope you're right. The smells change all the time and are not just one thing.

[Gary A]

Thanks so much for the replies. I have fallen into that trap of thinking 'well I noticed that smell when I wasn't even thinking about smells, so it can't be caused by my anxiety.' I guess the unconscious mind can create symptoms even when we are not consciously focused on it. I hope you're right. The smells change all the time and are not just one thing.

Smells associated with seizure activity are always the same each time it happens.

As I said, nothing you've described sounds remotely like hallucinations involving the brain.