Olfactory Hallucinations

Hello,

Ok, so for the past 6 months or so I have been having olfactory hallucinations. When I began having them I was confused (and slightly ammused) by this. I usually have about 7 a day or so, and they last anywhere from 5 seconds to 30 seconds. 99% of the time, its something plesent that I smell. Sometimes there very pertucular. Like, I would smell something like a cross between cedar, hot choclate powder, and rain. Like something you would not normally be able to imagine. The majorty of the time though its something normal (sorta). Certian smells I will taste weakly simoltainously, usually a fruit or something citrus. I can usually tell if they are a halucination, but not always. The best way to describe it would be remembering a smell, but its 50x more powerful, and you actually smell it. There really seems to be no rhyme or reason to this. They are always completly random, and have nothing to do with what I am doing or thinking about.

I informed my dad about this and he was concerned. So one thing led to another and I went to several doctors to see what was wrong. At first they thought I had a brain tumor, I had my head scanned and found that I did not have one (thankgod). So after that, they noticed that my (I think its my temporal lobes or somewhere near it) were very asymetrical. So, the doctors hooked me up to an EEG machine to see if I had a form of epilepsy. Turns out I don't, at least they think. The doctor said that nothing might have shown up because I did not have an olfactory halucination durring the test. After talking to me he said I COULD have temporal lobe seziures, but there extremely small. I decided not to take the test over 3 days to find out if I really did because I was leaving for college very soon.

I have not been to an ear, nose, and throat doctor. My dad subjested that I go to it before I left but since it didnt appear to be anything serious, I decided not to. The reason is, because it came up through talking to doctors that I eat very spicy foods, and alot of wasabi. Since I was 10 or so, I loved wasabi and whenever I do eat it with food, I eat it raw, and alot of it. (By the end of dinner I usually will have gone through a tablespoon or more). My dad thinks I "burnt out the inside of my nose" because of this. The doctors I went to said it could be this, but they didnt think so completly.

*Phew* ok, so in a nutshell, what is causing these olfactory hallucinations. Is it brain related, nerve related, or nose related? And generally if someone has some insite to this.

Thanks!
Pieter (18 year old male)

[Molly730]

Pieter, I understand what you are experiencing. I have the same thing. My suggestion is go to a Specialist at a University, there they have experts. Someone will be able to help you, but they must be an Expert, in Sinus Disease .It is imparitive, you are such a young man. I am suffering with mine and I am 63. I have an appointment with an Expert on the 8th as a regular ENT Dr. doesn't seem to have any anwers.
Best of Luck
Molly