bad smell in my nose

[publix]

I have a very bad smell in my nose. I have had a sinus cat scan,mri of my brain and an eeg . everything is negative. four months ago I smelled a sweet sicking smell in my apartment. No one else could smell it, For one month I cleaned out everthing in my place. All my flowers and plants. The air conditioning, the fabric softing all fragrance soaps etc.then I realized it was me.So I saw a internist and he sent me to a neurologist and then to a ent doctor and my dentist. everthing negative. then I went to acupuncture and to an allegist. they thought I had an overgrowth of yeast. i tried the diet but got so sick,i had to stop.I am 83 years old,and look and feel 70  very active .go to art school ,play cards and try to be nomral so everyone  will not think i am crazy.  my smell is always the same and it comes and go. does anyone out there have this or heard of this.. Thank you so much.

[National Jewish]

Your description suggests atrophic rhinitis.  You should consult with an ENT specialist who has an interest and experience in treating this condition.  This has been studied at Mayo Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA.

[caregiver222]

Atrophic rhinitis sounds like it might be the problem. Let's try something simple. Get spray saline from the drug store and four times a day irrigate the sinus passageways. This is a simple, inexpensive naturopathic treatment that often works wonders.

[publix]

I have since found out that I have disorder of the olfactory nerve. I had all the scans .mri eeg and sinsus cat scan. They say I have phantosmia. I do not have it all the time,but if i pass someone with perfume on I do not smell their perfume.but my smell that is a sweet sickening smell and it lasts for hours. Or any other chemical smell like nail polish etc.or perfume soaps.so they call mine intermitten phantosmia or paramisa. I use a saline rinse called simply saline ,and if you live in canada its hydrasense and is even better.I do this a few times a day and it does help. If anyone has heard of this please write to me. thank you

[bemerry]

Hi,

Just to rule out the obvious... I had sinus symptoms that seemed to appear out of nowhere with the bad odor and all that lasted over a year.  I finally learned that I had an infected root canal in a maxillary tooth that was the source of my sinus infection.  Unfortunately, with the nerve stripped out of the tooth I had no pain sensors and was oblivious to the infection until I had routine dental exam/x-rays.  I had the tooth extracted and my sinus problems abated within a couple weeks.

I was disturbed that the ENT Dr. did not consider this contingency when he did my assessment.  It should be asked of everyone with sinus problems if they have any dental work, specifically root canals, in their maxillary teeth...  

Food for thought.

[publix]

thank you for your comment.. I did have x rays and everything is okay.. does anyone have what i have?    thank you

[RHCountess]

I have also been dealing for almost 6 weeks with smelling something that is not really there.  Mine is the smell of smoke.  I FINALLY found a name for what this condition is:  PHANTOSMIA - which are olfactory hallucinations.  They seem to be connected to olfactory nerve damage which can result from viral infections, certain medications, and sometimes even eplilepsy or brain tumors.  Mine was the result of a viral infection which caused MASSIVE sinus infection and respiratory problems which were treated with Zithromax and Prednisone.  I ended up with Thrush from the Prednisone which is a fungal infection of the tongue / throat.  After taking Nystatin and Diflucan - still dealing with the thrush.  The smoke smell is very stressful to deal with and have had to start taking anti-anxiety medications to deal with the stress.  Vicks Vapo-rub helps somewhat to mask the smell in order to get to sleep - but this is getting really old.  Fininshed a round of Cipro - but no improvement.   Had a cat-scan - but no definative results from that.  Told by ENT specialist that this type of nerve damage can take months or up to a year to heal and perhaps never.  Investigating possible surgical relief.  Can contact me at:  ***@**** to discuss further or if you have any helpful info.  Thanks.

[publix]

sent you an email but i guess it was wrong. hope you are feeling better.. there is a dr leopold in nebraska. if you would go to yahoogroup and type in paramosia/phantosmia, there is a group that knows everthing about this weird disorder.they are very caring good people. If you cannot find it let me know and I will get it for you. publix

[Diver Ray]

I have something similar but the doctors can't tell me what it is.
My teeth & gums are in excellent health and I have never had problems with bad breath as I brush and floss regularly. (mornings may be the exception)
For over the past month I can smell some kind of infection or something in my sinuses. It smells as though it is some kind of rotten halitosis when I breath through my nose. If I breath from my mouth with my nose plugged into a paper back it smells just fine, however, when I breath in and out through only my nose the smell in the bag is terrible. I can breath fine through my mouth and sinuses . There is no sign of any infection per the Dr. My MD put me on 500 mg Amoxicillon for 10 days and it didn't help. I have tried sinus rinses, nose sprays and the like. I was referred to a E.N.T. and he had xrays and a CT scan done along with a culture from my sinuses and everything was negative. I did find out that I have no sinuses in my forehead since birth. I Abalone free dive and have for 25 years  and the sinuses don't bother me at all. This is so frustrating because my salad smells like halitosis, as does my beer and anything else I eat. It is real bad when I travel in confined cars for hours. I have to sleep with the fan on to dispurse the smell!
Please help if you have any ideas..   Thank you!

[publix]

Hi Ray.. I posted a letter to countess.. Maybe you could read it. I also have phantosmia and none of the doctors in my city know much about this. I was very lucky to find a group that has all the information I needed about clnics, doctors , etc, and how to cope with this weird disorder.It is on yahoo phantosmia /parosmia group. If you cannot find it post me your email and I will help you. publix