I smell smells that are not there!!

I started smelling exhaust fumes in July 2011 while I was studying for a final.  It started slow and by day 3 it was unbelievable.  No one understands when you say you smell exhaust. So this smell lasted two weeks then started to go away and only coming and going for a few months.  

I kinda saw a pattern that when I was feeling stress the smell would come back and then leave again - could be a minute could be a few days - but I am was not 100%.  

I had an Appointment with a neurologist who said it is nothing that he has heard of and when I mentioned parosmia etc (that were mentioned above) he said those were symptoms not a disease and that he had heard of.. He also said of coarse it is olfactory hallucinations, you are smelling something that is not there.  So ya - I guess we are all having hallucinations - it sounds bad but we are.

So In the last little while I have been having immense stress and low and behold there is that smell again - BUT IT IS CHANGING - so I now have exhaust smell for when I have incredible stressful situations and then there are a few other smells not as bad that come and go.  I can tell now when I am smelling something that is not there.  

I am not 100% that it is caused by stress or my body's reaction.  I would love to hear if anyone has heard of what this is so I can bring it to a health care professional and get something done.  I do have an MRI booked for January and I have requested a referral to an ENT specialist, and I am also considering asking for a referral to an endocrinologist...  Any info anyone can share would be wonderful!!! I am fed up with it!!! :(

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

It could be olfactory hallucinations. Phantosmia most often occurs as a result of a head injury or upper respiratory infection. It can also be caused by temporal lobe seizures, sinusitis, brain tumors, migraine, Parkinson's disease and stroke. Discuss these options with your doctor when you happen to meet him next time.  

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[lofn70]

Thank you - they are olfactory hallucinations by definition.  I am leaning more toward stress indicators just because of when they happen, it is when I am studying, doing something new, in a stressful situation.. I am actually wondering if they could have anything to do with cortisol???

As soon as I get to my ENT and my MRI I will post - MRI due in a month :)

thanks for your reply!!

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Your symptoms of altered smell in the nose could sometimes be due to sinus infections. They are due to stasis and infection of the sinus cavities, and the resultant drainage into the nose causes the smell. Facial pain, fever and nasal discharge are the other symptoms of sinusitis. So, don't worry and discuss these options with your doctor.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[NatesSweetpea]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge in this forum.

For the last 9 months I have been smelling cigarette smoke. I am not a smoker and have no friends or family that are. I notice that this smell intensifies later in the day and even more so if I have been busy. Secondly, about a month ago I noticed a small lump on my left temple, just into my hairline. I've kept an eye on it and my husband feels it daily to see if it has changed, which it has. It appears to be a bony protrusion about an inch in diameter. It is not discolored in any way. It is now tender to touch on the back side of it, kind of like a bruised feeling. I cannot remember injuring myself, at least not in recent months. I am not one to get headaches but find that in the last several weeks I am experiencing an ongoing mild headache.   I have an appointment with an ENT in a week. Any insight you would be able to share would be helpful.

Thank you kindly.

[dolly627]

Have also had this same smell but with headaches take pain reliever but does no good hurts across forehead and lower back of head with that exaust smell and thought I was crazy was in tears til now If its because of stress never thought to pay attention just went everywhere in my house smelling everything ...Glad to know I am not the only one...dolly627

[Joycemac]

I too have been smelling exhaust. I have had TIAs in the past and wonder if strokes could play a part in the smell. The other night I could not see right I was unable to read, it was like I was seeing double and blurred. I was trying to type and continuously wrote the wrong word. I would also forget what I was writing in mid sentence. I was playing Drawsomething but it was I had no control over what I was drawing.