having issues

[unluckyone27]

first question, on canlyme, it states phantom smell, what does that mean

[JackieCalifornia]

I sometimes get those awful smells too.  Mostly in the middle of the night, but sometimes during the day too.  During the day, the smells are not so disgusting, and are more like something burning in the kitchen, and they pass pretty fast, leaving me a little disoriented for 10 or 15 minutes.

Lyme testing is NOT very accurate and must be interpreted in light of your symptoms.  Unfortunately too many MDs just look at the tests and not at the patient.  If that happened to you, then I would suggest you check with a Lyme specialist.  Getting treated sooner rather than later can be very important in getting well.

About your symptoms starting in the winter, I would think it's possible that an infected tick could have been living on a dog and gotten onto you, or some other devious route.  Lyme is incredibly tricky in many ways, so I'd err on the side of caution and keep checking it out till you get an answer for your symptoms, whether it's Lyme or not.

Feel free to list your symptoms here if you'd like, and we'll give opinions ... but we're not medically trained, so don't rely on us as the last word, okay?  We've all been through where you are now, so we definitely understand how scary it can be.  (By the way, one of the symptoms of Lyme can be:  anxiety.  It was for me, and a different kind of anxiety than I get in normal circumstances.)

Best wishes to you --

[unluckyone27]

well I have most of the lymes symptoms that is listed on canlyme but I had a test done but was negative and I'm scared about all the stuff comes up on the internet that have the same symptoms as lymes. All my symptoms started in february but I live in jersey so obviously it is cold and tick arnt out in the cold. I'd list my symptoms but I don't want to bother you nice people to much.

[wonko]

Another term for phantom smell is "olfactory hallucination."  Some people with Lyme disease may think they are detecting a smell, be it pleasant or pungent, that is not really there.

I don't know the details as to the physiological mechanism behind olfactory hallucinations, but I would say (in my medically untrained opinion) that this symptom happens more often with Lyme patients with neurological involvement.  Once the infection is in the central nervous system, it can cause all sorts of bizarre symptoms.

I never experienced an obvious olfactory hallucination, but I did get a host of strange sensory symptoms or paresthesias, where it feels like something is happening (like water pouring down a leg) when it is not.