I have been smelling phantom cigarette smoke(update)

[kokopup]

I went to the spoiler test at Talladega last Tuesday. I was around smokers while there so the smoke smell was every where.

I have been smelling smoke ever since that day. I have tried everything to get the smell away from me. I have double washed all of my clothing and purged my sinuses with saline solution. Sitting here right now it is like I have an ash tray up my nose. I have Googled the Phantom smell and have found scores of people with the same problem but no real solutions. Some have contacted doctors about getting MRI's, and all doctors responding suggested seeing a neurologist or an ENT. I spend to much time at both so am reluctant to bring this up. I'm hoping it will just go away. Anyone else had this problem?

[lvpets2002]

:) Yup I hear ya.. Now put a small amout of Vicks Vapor Rub under your nose each day & or each moment of the cig smells.. This will divert your brain & nose towards the Vicks.. Pluss the Vicks will be good for you.. Now just put a small amount each time under the nose ok..

[happylabs]

:) Yup I hear ya.. Now put a small amout of Vicks Vapor Rub under your nose each day & or each moment of the cig smells.. This will divert your brain & nose towards the Vicks.. Pluss the Vicks will be good for you.. Now just put a small amount each time under the nose ok..

That is a good tip! I am going to try it too.

Last week I had my taxes done and the man who prepares them smokes heavily. I was there for over an hour. Everything in his office wreaks and all of the papers I brought home smelled too. I had to wash my coat that I was wearing.

[pomtzu]

I've experienced phantom smells from time to time, but they just go away by themselves. The longest I can ever remember having one, was probably just a few hours.

I don't know if this is relative or not, but with me, it is always the smell of something burning - anything from wood to electrical - and always in or around the house. I drive myself bonkers looking for the source if I am home by myself, but if others are home and say they don't smell anything, then I just ignore it. :p

[Pinot's Mom]

Wash or replace your pillow. They hold smells unbelievably long. That's my only suggestion....

[Medusa]

I experienced the phantom smell but not of cigarette smoke but of Pine Sol. When I was cleaning houses, a client asked me to use Pine Sol and I obliged but when I opened the bottle, I hit the floor. When I came to, I had to go home and the smell was so overpowering that I had to drive w/all the windows open in the dead of winter. I was sick in bed for 3 days b/c of it and I smelled and tasted Pine Sol for two weeks after that. It just finally went away on its own but I never want to experience that again. I feel for you, truly.

[kokopup]

Thanks everyone for the advice and stories of similar experiences. I have done everything but the Vicks trick. I will give it a try tomorrow. Vicks is sure better than an ashtray. I hope that it will eventually go away on it's own because it's really driving me crazy. I have lived in my home for 17 years and there has never been a cigarette near my home but right now it seems to reek of cigarettes. My wife assures me it's in my head because she can't smell a hint of cigarettes. Tomorrow out comes the Vicks.:D

[kitten645]

Have you tried a Neti Pot? It takes a couple of times to get used to it but I swear it has helped my sinus and nasal passages greatly. I highly recommend it.
Claudia

[Catlady711]

I've experienced phantom smells from time to time, but they just go away by themselves.
I don't know if this is relative or not, but with me, it is always the smell of something burning - anything from wood to electrical - and always in or around the house. I drive myself bonkers looking for the source if I am home by myself, but if others are home and say they don't smell anything, then I just ignore it. :p

I know the feeling!! I'm frequently convinced something in my house is going to burn up, but everyone else swears they don't smell a thing.

[Karen]

I had an unpleasant moment yesterday, when I was running errands, I stopped at one place, and as I exited the car, all I could smell was hot rubber - like engine trouble, a hose melting, a soft tire that has been driven on ... immediately checked all my tires, they were fine, then stepped away from my car and realized the smell was just as strong ten feet away from my car ... and when I went into the building and came back out, there was the smell again ... must have been something that was happening in the neighborhood, or was there earlier, but that small certainly lingered!

Hope you can get rid of yours, kokopup!

[wombat2u2004]

Now this is REAL Engrish.


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t7/wombat2u2004/Chingkaido.jpg

[kokopup]

By WOM


Now this is REAL Engrish.

The writing on the top of the poster makes more sense.

Update;

I am still in the ashtray with my smell. i tried the Vicks approach with some success. When i first put it in that is all I smelled, but in a short time i am smelling the smoke again over the vicks. I guess it's sort of a Menthol cigarette. I will need to put the vicks in more often to suppress this smoke smell. I have noticed that it seems to be worst when I am still, like watching TV or after I go to bed at night. It seems to come and go because at this moment there is no smell.

[lizbud]

I had an unpleasant moment yesterday, when I was running errands, I stopped at one place, and as I exited the car, all I could smell was hot rubber - like engine trouble, a hose melting, a soft tire that has been driven on ... immediately checked all my tires, they were fine, then stepped away from my car and realized the smell was just as strong ten feet away from my car ... and when I went into the building and came back out, there was the smell again ... must have been something that was happening in the neighborhood, or was there earlier, but that small certainly lingered!





We get that smell every Spring when they are filling pot holes after
the weather warms up. Smells like hot asphalt mix. Yuck.

[wombat2u2004]

The writing on the top of the poster makes more sense.

It says "Yong Peng Diddle Eye Poe"

[Catty1]

Hmmm...here are some links....take what you want from them...

http://www.doctorhoffman.com/wwphant.htm

http://boogerz.blogspot.com/2006/09/those-phantom-smells.html


http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/11/10/2123696.aspx
Dr Alan Hirsch:

“By all means, a phantom smell could mean something serious,” says the psychiatrist and nationally recognized smell and taste expert. “It absolutely needs to be evaluated. It could be a tumor – that’s on the top of your list of things to rule out – but it could also be a cyst or some infectious agent housed in the area of the brain where the smell is processed.”

Brief episodes of phantom smells or phantosmia – smelling something that’s not there – can be triggered by temporal lobe seizures, epilepsy, or head trauma. Phantosmia is also associated with Alzheimer’s and occasionally with the onset of a migraine.

But it’s not typically something sweet that’s conjured up by the brain.

“It’s usually more unpleasant stuff or odors that are hard to describe,” says Hirsch. “People will say it’s chemical-like or talk about a burning smell.”

Common olfactory hallucinations include lots of icky odors. Sufferers report smelling hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs), bad perfume, garbage, a gas leak, wet dog, pungent body odor or spoiled fish or feces. The brain may trigger such sickening odors instead of agreeable ones because humans learned very early to avoid noxious smells for survival.

[kokopup]

catty1

“By all means, a phantom smell could mean something serious,” says the psychiatrist and nationally recognized smell and taste expert. “It absolutely needs to be evaluated. It could be a tumor – that’s on the top of your list of things to rule out – but it could also be a cyst or some infectious agent housed in the area of the brain where the smell is processed.”

Brief episodes of phantom smells or phantosmia – smelling something that’s not there – can be triggered by temporal lobe seizures, epilepsy, or head trauma. Phantosmia is also associated with Alzheimer’s and occasionally with the onset of a migraine.

But it’s not typically something sweet that’s conjured up by the brain.

“It’s usually more unpleasant stuff or odors that are hard to describe,” says Hirsch. “People will say it’s chemical-like or talk about a burning smell.”

Common olfactory hallucinations include lots of icky odors. Sufferers report smelling hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs), bad perfume, garbage, a gas leak, wet dog, pungent body odor or spoiled fish or feces. The brain may trigger such sickening odors instead of agreeable ones because humans learned very early to avoid noxious smells for survival.

I will definitely call my ENT Monday, I had read some forums that hinted at
tumors or migraines but had not read any posted by Doctors. I will try to
rule out the tumor/ brain issues. thanks.

[wombat2u2004]

Catty1 is so sweet telling you all that Bill....don't you think ??? :D:D
Yup....she's covered everything except leprosy....LOLOL. :p
Just remember mate, if for any reason your arm falls off.....definately go to the doctor. You COULD have leprosy. :p

[Catty1]

Well. Wom, it's gone on for a while, and nothing has worked yet.

It could just be a sinus infection, or it could be something else.

I suppose he should just stick his head in the sand?:rolleyes:

[pomtzu]

I suppose he should just stick his head in the sand?:rolleyes:

LOL - now that would work!!! He wouldn't be able to smell anything then! :p
Just joking..........:D

I'll bet it's a sinus infection, brought on by all the lovely Spring pollen. Here's hoping it's something that simple, and a big dose of antibiotics will clear it up.

[wombat2u2004]

LOL - now that would work!!! He wouldn't be able to smell anything then! :p

Hee hee :D

[kokopup]

I contacted my ENT and Based on my prior history he thinks I have a Sinus infection. He has prescribed Cipro Antibiotic and Saline irrigation of my Sinuses 4 times a day. I hope this is all there is to it. This morning I am still smelling the Cigarette smell but earlier I had an episode of it smelling like burning plain old paper.:confused:

[pomtzu]

Yipee - I was right!!! Glad it's just a sinus infection and nothing more serious.

Isn't it weird - the burning smell? From reading those articles of the links posted, this seems to be the most common smell. I've never had anything other than the burning smell too.