constantly smelling cigarette smoke

for the past week i am contantly smelling cigarette smoke?  I don't smoke, I am not with people that smoke, and yet this smell is very overwhelming and nobody else can smell it.  I semll it at home, at the office, in my car?? Any insight?

[National Jewish Health]

This is not an easy one!  It is possible that you have smelled smoke in the recent past and this sensation has persisted.  Sensory recall can occur after smoking certain very distinctive odors.  It is not likely that this is caused by any significant medical problem.

[Skipper47]

Amazing! I thought I was nuts. I had exactly the same phenomena-smelling cigagrette smoke-for about the past 3-5 months. I don't smoke and never have. I live on a remote ranch in the mountains and no one around me smokes. Go figure. I saw this post and was astounded that someone else experienced this. It happened suddenly one evening. It didn't matter where I went, I just constantly smelled smoke. I would find myself unconsciously trying not to breathe deeply because I didn't want to inhale smoke. Finally, after many months the sensation has finally disappeared. I will also mention that I had no sinus or allergy symptoms during this time and no apparent other health problems.

[mama_frances]

I'm glad I'm not the only one...here lately in the last two weeks, i constantly am smelling smoke.  This happend back last year and then went away, now it is back.  My co-worker  and my dad/step mom smokes.  I try not to be around them when they are smoking but I can't seem to get away from it.  I am constantly asking my husband - Do you smell that smoke? He's beginning to think I'm crazy. It's like it's burned into my nose, and once I smell it - it does not go away.  This weekend I was fine, but then Monday morning she went out to smoke and then came back in, and passed by me...that was all it took.  I hate that smell...is there anything that can be done (other than find a new job amongst non-smokers) to get rid of it?

[quemujeron]

How crazy!  I thought I was the only one in the world with this problem!  I first got the smell of smoke about 10 years ago, but I thought it was because i worked with someone who smoked heavely - and I thought the smell was just sticking to my clothes and thats why I smelled it 24/7!  Even on the weekends, day/night all the time!  After I left that job I noticed that I was still smelling smoke and I was sure that no one around me smoked!  Finally it just dissapeared!  Well its back!  The smell of cigarret smoke is so strong and like its embedded into my nose and sometimes my eyes get irritated as if someone really was smoking around me!  I mentioned it to my doctor once and she looked at me like I was crazy so I just never mentioned it again - but it is just so bad now that I am online trying to figure out what the heck it is! i have headaches and soar throat from the constant smell of cigarette!  Anyone have any advise???

[boit]

Count me in.

I have a theory; cigarette companies are adding something to cigarettes to keep their customers hooked while causing us non smokers a case of public nuisance.

I can smell when someone is smoking in traffic, that's how strong cigarettes are today. Do we have a new legal case against big tobacco?

[1Mesmereyes]

First of all, if your doctor looks at you like you're crazy when you describe your physical symptoms, your first course of action is to find a physician who did not obtain his or her diploma from a bubble gum machine.  For this particular problem, an ear, nose, and throat specialist is the way to go.  The symptoms described in this thread are a form of Phantosmia, the cause of which can range from olfactory nerve damage, depression, Parkinson's, Alzheimers, brain tumor, or a simple matter of toxin allergy (surgery or medication side-effects, allergies to chemicals, et al).  Google "phantosmia," and get some research under your belt.  Then consult a specialist who can identify the cause for your symptoms.

[lauriev]

Here I am, thinking I wouldn't even begin to find anything when I google "smelling cigarette smoke when no one is smoking", and I find I'm not alone.  For the most part, I am not subjected to smoking anywhere - no one in my family smokes, my friends don't smoke, I work in a no smoking environment and in a state that doesn't allow smoking in any public place.  Suddenly, like everyone else, I'm smelling cigarette smoke - whether in my car, my office, my home.  It happens periodically during the day, and I can't find any pattern.  Thanks mesmereyes, I'm going to check out "phantosmia" and go from there.  I'm glad I'm not going crazy, well at least not right now!

[douff]

you need ANA/ANCA, especially if you have respiratory symptoms.  also try 250mg of harden-the-****-up QID oral/PR.  works a treat.

douff

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[sunshine0511]

It makes me feel much better to know I am not the only one.  I have had this same sensation first at work - I even had the bldg mgr check out the other floors thinking it was coming through the vents.  But now I am smelling it all the time and like one of ther posts mny eyes are burning and I am getting headaches and feel like I have been in a smoke filled room all day.  No one else smells it, just me!  Very strange!