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I smell exhaust fumes all the time

I have been smelling exhaust fumes where none exist for about 2 weeks now. I can be in the shower or laying in bed and the smell won't go away, it smells like i'm in an enclosed garage with a gas powered vehicle running. Is this common?, I have never had any allergies.
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Avatar universal
I have an observation that I think may be very IMPORTANT to many of us.  I also have had these phantom fumes and smells for over five months...and they have ranged from sickly sweet/ moldy to pungent chemical and diesel fuel/kerosene- like in odor.  Many times I have had these smells early upon waking , but the worst times have been middle of the night, where they would wake me up with a sickening start!  I had felt all along that we had mold issues in our HVAC, and over the months had an entirely new system installed, inside and out, with new ductwork, etc.  We even added the UV light, and had a major cleaning done...we are in an almost brand new home...   Guess what....the smell came back just as before.  About two weeks ago, doing research on these fumes and moldy sickening odors...I stumbled across several blogs and sites describing Phantosmia.  WOW!  A frightening realization slowly overcame me...that it has all been internal...and not external at all.  No one else ever smells the odors that I have complained about, of course.  So, the other night, to test my theory, I went to bed, and upon waking up early in the morning...checked to see if I could smell the "fumes"....  Slightly, but not overwhelming.  THEN, I made a slight depression in my pillow, and breathed into it four or five times without using my nose to breathe in...I then smelled the area slowly...and WOW!  Overpowering fumes there in the pillow...exactly of the same scent as the diesel and sickening sweet moldy smells I have had over many months.  

Here is my major take away from this  (and of course I did this little experiment about 20 times, to make sure the odor was coming OUT OF ME)........that we may not all be 'hallucinating odors' , or having some other worldly sensing type of wierd experience...but we may actually be smelling a very strange odor from our own breath!!!  Maybe coming from lungs...or abdominal/gastric areas, or sinuses.    I remember times my wife would occasionally have 'acetone' breath in the morning, and I would be amazed at how it smelled just like nail polish remover...exactly.  She could breathe at me, and it would be pure acetone. It only happened four or five times over the years. We looked it up and found this is common and is explained in medical literature as a known breath abberation.

So this leads me to this conclusion...we may ALSO be 'manufacturing' the odor that we frequently smell, and we may smell and percieve different versions of the odor, depending on our internal bodily conditions.  I do NOT know what may be producing the odor...but I do believe it is real...and we are highly sensitive to smelling it.  Try the pillow test next time you wake up to the nasty fumes.....breathe a bit of your own breath back in...and see if it is very strong and more intense.  I also had several moderate head bump situatiuons in the past year....sports related, which many claim can cause phantosmia....but I also have frequent sinus allergies  (not infection)...and this has also been implicated in the medical sites.   So, let's see if anyone else out there can determine whether their phantom smells and fumes are being 'imagined'/ hallucinated......OR rather being just plain produced by our bodies...and sensed very acutely when we breathe it in.  That is likely why it comes and goes randomly...depending on our day to day physical condition.  

I think that if people can develop 'acetone' breath, as my wife has in the past, and that itself is a very noxious smell....and is accepted as being caused by metabolic changes in an individual....then we may be producing a breath scent in a very similar manner.  We may just smell and taste our own noxious scent being produced for some unknown reason!!!!  The smell that I breathed into my pillow was the EXACT fume smell, times ten!!!  It comes from inside of ME!!!
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1 Comments
The acetone smell of your wife is actually kitosis. She needs sugar. A result of the body burning lactic acid from muscle to produce sugar to keep the brain alive.
Avatar universal
Holy crikey!  This forum is a gold mine and quite a relief.  I too have started having this phantom exhaust smell that is driving me insane.  I recently moved to Minneapolis from Salt Lake City, and I am staying in a hotel room that is near the parking lot.  At first, I attributed the smell to a car idling in the lot (it's quite cold here, and people start their cars by remote to let them warm up).  But after checking the lot for running cars multiple times over the weekend and now having the smell hit me at WORK (where there are no cars and no one else smells anything), I'm beginning to think there may be something to all this.  Fortunately, I do have insurance now and can go to see a doctor if this doesn't go away on its own; my sinuses are terrible, and I have to take a sudafed everyday to keep them clear (yes I know, my body is already "addicted" to the sudafed - been on it for 15 years now...), and my sinuses have been dry and bleeding for some time now.  I suppose it's off to the ENT for me - if I find resolution, I will post more.  Good luck everyone - thank you for making me feel sane again.
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Avatar universal
I have found that using Fluticasone Propionate nasal spray helped re-leave my symptoms greatly. I had went crazy enough to completely tear down my furnace to check the combustion chamber for leaks. Before i went on line and found this bunch of people that were going crazy with the same symptoms too (LOL). Please pass this along to the person above your posting. As it would take me for ever to post to everyone. I know they will appreciate it.
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Avatar universal
What did it turn out to be? I'm having the same issues
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Avatar universal
For a moment, I thought it was all in my head. I also smell and almost kinda taste fumes. It's been happening for a few weeks. It comes and goes and happens in many different places. Glad to read of others having the same problem. It's comforting that I'm not alone in this. Will go discuss with Dr.
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Avatar universal
I smell exhaust fumes also. Its been going on for years with me.i too am usually in bed sleeping and awake. It's nauseating at times. I am curious to find out why also. I ask whoever I'm around if they smell it and they look at me like I'm crazy. Lol something has to cause this and I'd love to know what and why its happening.  Thank You, CB
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