Been smelling smoke and getting paranoid about my health. Any advice please.
Hi guys, so the last couple nights I have been smelling smoke. The first night I smelt it, I was adament it wasn't me because I smelt it on my landing in and in my bedroom, so opened my bedroom windows (had them on crack) and took a sniff and it stunk of something burning.
Last night again I smelt similar, but what made me more paranoid it didn't smell as strong last night, but I took a sniff out the front door and it did smell of smoke faintly so checked outside my bedroom windows and not much smell at all, but maybe a slight smell of smoke. It's hard to know whether I am smelling something that isn't or if someone is burning something nearby. I live in a semi-rural area surrounded by farms etc, so maybe someone is burning something I don't know.
Apart from the last couple nights, I have not smelt burning at all. I was thinking that maybe it could be the boiler as been having issues with it for a few weeks, where's it's lost pressure than I have had to repressurise it.
I share a place with my cousin, but he's not home much as spends a lot of time with his girlfriend so I am often on my own and it makes me paranoid that I'm smelling this. Today I haven't smelt burning at all and I am thinking "is it me? Am I going mad?" haha. You google "smelling smoke" and it comes up with worrying stuff so I've avoided google searches and just staying away from diagnosing things.
I have been suffering from anxiety/depression and panic attacks for many years. I turned 30 in August and have had anxiety since my early 20's. It has often affected my life in a big way as I have spent a lot of time long term unemployed due to my mental health issues. Anyway, recently (past few weeks) I have been very anxious.
I haven't been exercising as much as I used to and I'm just a bit frustrated. I have been experiencing panic attacks (only mild/moderate ones) and thinking that everything I am paranoid about is my anxiety playing with my mind. I have so many symptoms with panic attacks, it worries me when I experiencing something different.
I obviously hope it's nothing sinister. I occasionally google symptoms and I know it's the worse thing someone with anxiety can do as all kinds of things come up. I have no out of ordinary symptoms that aren't common with anxiety, so I think my anxiety and head are playing tricks with me.
I didn't want to write this out, but was feeling very anxious that I had smell issues the last couple nights. Maybe it is someone burning something outside like my cousin.
Re: Been smelling smoke and getting paranoid about my health. Any advice please.
I started on a really awful HA spiral in June of 2017 due to smelling phantom smoke. I ended up in the ER and got scans of my brain, which showed that everything was fine. Once I was anxious, though, it led to me moving from one disease to the next and googling like a madwoman. Now, under the care of a supportive doctor and psychiatrist, I am back (mostly) to my old self. Don't Google, don't obsess about your body. I have had thousands of dollars in doctor appointments and tests only for them to find nothing.
Re: Been smelling smoke and getting paranoid about my health. Any advice please.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Anxiousamyj
I started on a really awful HA spiral in June of 2017 due to smelling phantom smoke. I ended up in the ER and got scans of my brain, which showed that everything was fine. Once I was anxious, though, it led to me moving from one disease to the next and googling like a madwoman. Now, under the care of a supportive doctor and psychiatrist, I am back (mostly) to my old self. Don't Google, don't obsess about your body. I have had thousands of dollars in doctor appointments and tests only for them to find nothing.
Thank you for the response. It's weird, I haven't smelt it all day then all of a sudden I smell it again. I just sprayed some air freshener and smelt smoke again. I wonder whether it's my anxiety thinking certain smellls like air freshener are strong smokey smells lol.
It's all a bit mad. Glad to hear you was okay. Yeah anxiety can be a real horrible thing to deal with. You never know what is a genuine symptom or anxiety related symptom because so many listed anxiety symptoms are very similar to other symptoms.
Re: Been smelling smoke and getting paranoid about my health. Any advice please.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MrAlexander88
Hi guys, so the last couple nights I have been smelling smoke. The first night I smelt it, I was adament it wasn't me because I smelt it on my landing in and in my bedroom, so opened my bedroom windows (had them on crack) and took a sniff and it stunk of something burning.
Last night again I smelt similar, but what made me more paranoid it didn't smell as strong last night, but I took a sniff out the front door and it did smell of smoke faintly so checked outside my bedroom windows and not much smell at all, but maybe a slight smell of smoke. It's hard to know whether I am smelling something that isn't or if someone is burning something nearby. I live in a semi-rural area surrounded by farms etc, so maybe someone is burning something I don't know.
So you smelled smoke and upon further investigation, it was coming from outside. Obviously, you have an explanation. Why this would be considered odd or threatening from a health standpoint, I don't know :shrug:
Positive thoughts
Re: Been smelling smoke and getting paranoid about my health. Any advice please.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fishmanpa
So you smelled smoke and upon further investigation, it was coming from outside. Obviously, you have an explanation. Why this would be considered odd or threatening from a health standpoint, I don't know :shrug:
Positive thoughts
I don't know if it was coming from outside though because I still smelt it in the morning yesterday and today, which is odd for a smoke smell to linger for that amount of time.
I know it sounds silly, but it's just made me a bit more anxious and worried it's something else. It's only been a couple days, well a day and half, so I probably need to give it longer to see.
I am trying to keep positive, just annoying when I get even more anxious about it and it's a vicious circle you know. :shrug::unsure:
Re: Been smelling smoke and getting paranoid about my health. Any advice please.
Please don't take this the wrong way, but it's only we health anxious types that would smell smoke and even consider phantom smells. Non-anxious people would just presume it was something outside.
I live in Sheffield and there was one day this summer where the whole city smelt of smoke, and it was moorland fires all the way in Staffordshire. It's been a very warm, dry summer and autumn and there are a lot of fires around in the countryside, with the smoke smell drifting for several miles, way out of sight of where it's come from.
Now stop Googling ;)
Re: Been smelling smoke and getting paranoid about my health. Any advice please.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MrAlexander88
I don't know if it was coming from outside though because I still smelt it in the morning yesterday and today, which is odd for a smoke smell to linger for that amount of time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MrAlexander88
Apart from the last couple nights, I have not smelt burning at all. I was thinking that maybe it could be the boiler as been having issues with it for a few weeks, where's it's lost pressure than I have had to repressurise it....Today I haven't smelt burning at all...
Again, you have very real and logical explanations. This is just your anxious mind creating havoc where there is none. Having suffered with anxiety as long as you have, deep down I believe you know this.
Positive thoughts
Re: Been smelling smoke and getting paranoid about my health. Any advice please.
Since you live in rural area it could just be farmers and property owners doing burn offs, burning off their dead vegetation and doing controlled burns to prevent forest fires in the warmer months.
I live in rural Australia and its not uncommon to smell smoke continuously for weeks as the farmers get rid of all their dead trees before summer.
Has anybody here had prolonged diziness/dry eyes due to anxiety?
I have been experiencing, for the past week a wooziness feeling in the head along with dry eyes. I am not unsteady on my feet or anything like that, but it's just I have this strange wavy feeling in my head.
I am going to the doctors tomorrow morning to speak about my symptoms. I have had a similar feeling like this before a few years ago when I had panic attacks etc. I was just feeling a bit concerned because anything to do with the head is a worry.
I think I would prefer to have a scan of the brain to ease my mind, but I am not sure whether the doctor would allow me to have one. I don't know, It's just irritating because the more I worry, the more panic I suffer from and then it doesn't help in any way. There are so many symptoms associated with anxiety disorder that I never know whether they're more sinister or just anxiety. It's very frustrating.
Would really appreciate your thoughts.
Re: Has anybody here had prolonged diziness/dry eyes due to anxiety?
MrAlexander88
The sort of dizziness they worry about is dizziness which makes you unsteady on your feet e.g. fails balance tests. Even then its almost always a simple problem with the inner ear.
You're describing subjective dizziness e.g. dizziness that can't be verified by medical testing. This is almost always caused by anxiety.
I'm 99% sure you're fine, but follow up with your doctor if you continue to be worried.
