Smelling perfume when there’s none around, terrified

[heavyweightworrier]

Hi, I’ve had this happen two times now, I’ve smelled perfume (or something similiar, sweet in scent) out of nowhere. I also feel like I’ve been more forgetful and stuff lately but I don’t think I can afford to get an mri or whatever you’re supposed to get done in this situation. I’ve also been experiencing chest pain on the left side of my chest, just now when I smelled the perfume/strange scent I was also having them at the same time so now I’m scared they’re connected. Absolutely terrified, really wanna get tested but extremely stressed as I probably can’t afford it, I’m panicking. Any words of advice at all??

[Anxiousamyj]

I had the phantom smell thing last year, it actually kicked off my current HA spiral of one thing after another. My smell was cigarette smoke though. Anyhoo, a brain CT and MRI showed no problems, for what it's worth. You should probably tell your doctor just so they can keep an eye on it, or something. I ended up in the ER late on a Sunday night and got abCTt scan. Amazingly, the smells disappeared forever after a week or so after the CT scan.

[Cptdebbie]

I am convinced that anxiety can do ANYTHING to our bodies. I went through a phantom smell thing last year just like Anxiousamyj. I didn't just smell one thing though. I smelled all kinds of random things in all kinds of random places. I was absolutely sure I had a brain tumor. My therapist told me to acknowledge the smell and then "get back to life." Getting back to life wasn't always easy. Often I just turned on a tv show or started perusing social media. I just tried to find something that would change my mind's focus. Amazingly, a few months later I realized that it had been a really long time since I smelled a phantom smell.

If you go to the ER, they might do a CT scan. That is what they are supposed to do. They make sure you don't have the BIG things wrong with you. I've learned to always talk to my doctor about my worries, even if I have to go crazy waiting to get in to see him. Usually what happens is that by the time I see my doc whatever I was worried about has either gone away or been replaced by a new worry.

All of the above applies to phantom smells, forgetfulness (which totally freaks me out too as my mother had Alzheimer's disease), and things like that. If you are having chest pains, though, for heaven's sake, GO TO THE ER and figure out how to pay for it later. Chest pains can be from anxiety, but you don't want to bet your life on that assumption.

[Fishmanpa]

True story I've shared before. Prior to my cancer diagnosis in 2012, I was sitting on the couch in the living room and smelled perfume about two weeks before I went on a business trip. It was the kind that an older woman would wear. It was only in a specific area on the left side of the couch. I thought it was very odd but just kept it to myself. It happened nearly every day too.

So I go on the trip and when I get home, I'm talking with my wifee and she tells me she smelled perfume in the area I smelled it! Holy :scared15: !! It kept happening and we both could smell it! After my diagnosis and when I got my team at Johns Hopkins, it eventually stopped. That was a full 3 months from when it started.

A month or so later, I spoke to my Mom (RIP) and asked her what perfume my Mom Mom used to wear and she told me. While we were out shopping, we stopped by the perfume counter in the store and yep, you guessed it... The perfume my Mom Mom used to wear was the same scent we smelled by the couch! I'm convinced it was my Mom Mom keeping an eye on me until she knew I would be alright. We've not smelled it since.

Positive thoughts