same problem with the smoke odor

[eval45]

I'm so glad to hear someone else is experiencing the same problem.  No answers and no solutions.  Yet, I have the same problem.  Smelling cigarette smoke in my nose.  By the way, when you are driving on the road, if someone is smoking and it's blowing out their window, it will come in through your air conditoner.  That's why you smell it when you are on the road.


This discussion is related to constantly smelling cigarette smoke.

[PandaBear117]

I thought I was going insane! I am perfectly healthy, no medications being taken for anything, blood pressure is fine, kidney's are fine, and still I am smelling cigerette smoke for the past 8 weeks, sometimes it gets so strong it almost smells/tastes like ammonia. I am hoping someone Has answers here. I looked up phantosmia, and I am taking it with me to the doctors next week. I will keep everyone posted

[Dr_Aparna]

Hi,
In an olfactory hallucination (phantosmia), you detect smells that are not really present in your environment.
The smells detected in phantosmia vary from person to person. Phantosmia and olfactory delusions may also occur in people with Alzheimer's disease. Although rare, phantosmia can occur as a symptom prior to a migraine.
There is also some evidence to suggest that phantosmia can arise due to a disorder of the smell receptor system rather than the central nervous system.
This can occur with some medications( cold medications) which shrink the blood vessels in the nose and could thus stimulate the reflex which is perceived by the brain as the sense of smell.
ref:http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/phantosmia/AN01684

[PandaBear117]

Thanks for the answer, This did come on right after a 5 day major sinus infection, and taking mucinex (sp?) and IBprofen (sp?) Another person pointed me to Anosmia, but I can smell some things still, just seem to have a smoke/ammonia scent to it as well. On my hunny moom last month it was horrible, because I couldn't enjoy any of the food. Is there something to get my nose back to normal?

[iwantsnow]

Well add me to the list on the cigarette smoke.  It comes and goes and it is so strong it is like lighting a fresh cigarette.  Not like second hand smoke or smoke on clothes.  It seem deep in the nasal cavity.  Mine has been happening for 7 months and it last for 5 mins and comes back every so often. Sometimes it is really strong that I can almost taste it.  I am seeing a neurologist on the 25th of July.  A little history on me: Ex smoker about 15 years ago and on metropol for high blood pressure, and my age is 43.  Since this is happening for 7 months in Minnesota, we had snow, spring, and now summer,  so elliminate pollen.

[donnajoy]

I have been smelling smoke for about a month now.  It's awful.  I hate the smell of smoke.  If I was going to smell something all the time why couldn't it be fresh baked bread or something that smells good.  I do not smoke myself and am never around smoke.  I also am on metropol for high blood pressure and am 46 years old.  I have been to the doctor and he said it could be a sinus infection but then ruled that out with an x-ray.  He says he does not know what the problem is.  
I have no idea what to do but this is really beginning to worry me.

[maxhealth]

OK, I thought I was going crazy.  I HATE the smell of cigarettes!  And now it's happening all the time.  My nutritional MD said he couldn't help and referred me to a neurologist to see if I have a brain tumor.  I go in tomorrow and I'm hoping they don't find anything... but then I have to live with this horrid odor!  Did anyone find out ANYTHING yet?  

[Pamalina]

I too same problem only mine is more of a wood fire? I don't smell cigarettes but definatly smoke 7 days now I'm 27 no meds. no one else smells it but it is very strong to me, like standing next to a bonfire. When looking for answers I found you.

[LyndaJane]

I can that add my experience is exactly to that of (iwantsone 9 July 2008) above, and started only abut two weeks ago. What pompted this search now, is that as I sit here this moment i am in the presence of cherry tobacco. a fresh smell, as though someone was smoking in the same or very next room as myself. The smell has been of different tobacco types at other times. No one in our home smokes.

[mmtrichey]

I began smelling cigarette smoke about 2 years ago. I went to an ENT specialist about a year ago and he scoped my nasal cavity and did a CAT scan. No polypps or tumors were found. Beyond that he had no explanation. When the smell comes for me it is very strong (almost to the point of making my naseous). It’s really bad when I’m trying to fall asleep.
I’ve had 2 yrs to try to figure this out now and, for me, it clearly seems to be stress related. When I’m stressed out it comes on. I also have bad allergies, but I don’t believe the allergies are the sole cause. I really don’t think they are a factor at all. I strongly feel my phantom smell is triggered by stress. Next step for me is to find ways to deal with my stress and see if that helps.

[Gulia]

I suddenly, for about a year now, feel disgusted by the smell of frying oil, and sometimes the smell of sweat comes out of no where. The same sensations I had during pregnancy, and when sick with stomach flu for 10 days. During pregnancy and during flu  I've been very dehydrated, nauseous, so, perhaps, severe  dehydration, and  loss of minerals from the body causes smell distortion. Also, I've been using breath mints a lot last year, they also constrict vessels around mouth and respiratory system, kind of like certain medicines would do, including nasal spays, so, may be, all those reasons together contribute to condition.

[VIRGINIA1951]

If you wear glasses and have plastic on the frames it will absorb odors.  I have had this problem for years and finally figured out it was the little pads on the nose of my frames.  This gets worse in warm weather.  So when I start smelling something repeatedly, I have new pads put on and the problem goes away.  Hope this helps some of you.

[catman222]

Just had a MRI yesterday for lower back pain. I too detect a strange smell from time to time. I am a smoker (sorry, I'm working on quitting). The smell that I sense is not of cigarette smoke but a sweet chemical smell. Someone  in another forum described it as an alien like smell. I've never smelled an alien (martian) before but if I did, this smell would most likely fit the bill.
Very odd.

[LadyJane109]

Oh dear,  I was hoping to find some answers as to why I smell cigarette smoke but although many people seem to have the same problem, there do not seem to be any answers.

Mine started about 7 years ago.  We had just moved into a new home and I at first thought our new neighbors were smoking in their yard, but then learned they didn't smoke.   I began to feel paranoid......was there somebody living in my attic space, smoking and it was coming thru the vents,  but when I started smelling it when in my car or in a store, I started looking for other answers.  I went to an ear,nose, throat specialist and he said he'd never heard of anything like this.

I have never smoked, nor does anyone in my family or social life. It is so strong sometimes that my eyes will water and my throat will feel sore.

The only common connection I can see is that I am on blood pressure medication.......Benicar.  Otherwise, I am in very good health.

[invisiblemuse]

I could just take most or all of your symptoms aand say yes I have those too...driving me crazy and making me ill!...any news on what these smells may be?.....also my lips and nose burn when the smells are strong..... and yes i agree why not fresh baked donuts of coffee or something plesant and not gross

[Jeannie143]

Well, I must say I am surprised.  I thought it was just me... I have been smelling cigarette smoke on and off for almost two years.  Sometimes it seems like  I am licking an ashtray, it's so strong.
I haven't smoked for years ( quit in 2000) and am not around anyone who smokes.  My house and car are smoke free ( no smoking allowed)

So, what gives?