3 ms·

This was an interesting read for me, particularly around the phantosmia. For the past few decades - since puberty or thereabouts - I started to smell something

by motrm 3y ago

This was an interesting read for me, particularly around the phantosmia. For the past few decades - since puberty or thereabouts - I started to smell something unpleasant and it wouldn't go away no matter where I was, or how recently I'd had a wash, leading me to assume it must be me and that I simply smell. After suffering for a while I finally reached out to family and bosses at work and of course their response was that I don't smell, which was news to me. I had assumed I stank and everyone was awfully politely putting up with it. Spoken therapy and CBT helped a bit, but being the NHS it trailed off in an unsatisfactoy fashion and so I dealt with it myself over the years by becoming a hermit. Later in life I paid for further spoken therapy and was prescribed an SSRI anti-depressant and that finally put me on the path to not smelling bad smells more often than not. SSRIs of course have side effects which aren't fantastic, but it's better than the godawful feeling that you stink! I feel for the author who dealt with this on top of tinnitus. It's not often that I get to talk about this, if anyone has any similar experiences I'd love to hear about them :)

nashashmi 3y ago
[flagged]
echelon_musk 3y ago
To say that I experienced a mental breakdown would be putting it lightly. However, in this time I experienced altered smell. I haven't spoken about this much. Nearly all food smelled rancid, putrid and rotting. Despite visually appearing to be free from decay - it was normal food. Humans stank, including myself and it was a horrible time. Eventually, also with medication, I was able to regain a more normal sense of smell. I suspect that human smell is something like a radio - capable of perceiving far more than we imagine, but that neurochemistry dictates where that smell frequency is dialled to. Perhaps as humans we are ordinarily on the evolutionarily optimal frequency, a kind of middle ground, despite much more being possible.
- LoganDark 3y ago
  I am unable to drink milk. I used to love milk. Used to drink milk all the time. All different kinds of milk. But one single time someone made me a bowl of cereal with spoiled milk. One single taste of spoiled milk and it was over. Well, my ability to drink milk. Was over. Now all milk tastes and smells spoiled. All milk. No matter how fresh it is. No matter where it came from. I can't drink it. It's so strongly rancid even though absolutely nobody else can tell what it is I'm tasting. I don't understand this. I can put any flavoring like vanilla or strawberry in the milk and it'll be perfectly fine. But for some reason, perfectly fresh, healthy milk just... tastes spoiled. Always. And it always will. Why? I loved milk. I love milk. There's no reason for it all to taste so terrible. I know what I'm tasting isn't the milk. I know milk is supposed to taste fresh and nice. I even know exactly what I'm supposed to taste, because it's what I taste if I mix anything else with the milk. But milk by itself is just undrinkable. :(
  - colonCapitalDee 3y ago
    That sucks. > I can put any flavoring like vanilla or strawberry in the milk and it'll be perfectly fine. Could you use this to train yourself to taste milk normally again?
  - Jarwain 3y ago
    This feels like a silly idea but if you take a glass of fresh milk and a glass of spoiled milk, would you be able to distinguish them? Would smelling them side-by-side maybe recalibrate things?
    - LoganDark 3y ago
      I smell the spoiled inside the fresh milk. Somehow. Like, I'm detecting whatever ingredient causes spoiledness, far before the milk has actually spoiled, but it just smells/tastes like the exact pure concept of spoil.
      - Jarwain 3y ago
        Do you smell these with other dairy products? Like half/half, heavy cream, different % of milk, lactose free milk, etc.?
2Gkashmiri 3y ago
I'm on the other spectrum. I've had runny nose, blocked nose, in between all my life. Result? My sense of smell is highly diminished. Like, I can "remember" taste of what a dish is so my brain makes up for it.... I can smell hot vapours or strong odors but not normal everyday stuff. The person next to me has smelly feet, I can't be bothered 'cos I can't smell it. Same for fruits and veggies. I can't go to a shop and choose by smell. This isn't that bad, it often feels my nose isn't there so there is just an absence of sensory impulses. Sometimes it causes issues but generally its okay

by motrm 3y ago

nashashmi 3y ago

[flagged]

echelon_musk 3y ago

To say that I experienced a mental breakdown would be putting it lightly. However, in this time I experienced altered smell. I haven't spoken about this much. Nearly all food smelled rancid, putrid and rotting. Despite visually appearing to be free from decay - it was normal food. Humans stank, including myself and it was a horrible time. Eventually, also with medication, I was able to regain a more normal sense of smell. I suspect that human smell is something like a radio - capable of perceiving far more than we imagine, but that neurochemistry dictates where that smell frequency is dialled to. Perhaps as humans we are ordinarily on the evolutionarily optimal frequency, a kind of middle ground, despite much more being possible.

LoganDark 3y ago
I am unable to drink milk. I used to love milk. Used to drink milk all the time. All different kinds of milk. But one single time someone made me a bowl of cereal with spoiled milk. One single taste of spoiled milk and it was over. Well, my ability to drink milk. Was over. Now all milk tastes and smells spoiled. All milk. No matter how fresh it is. No matter where it came from. I can't drink it. It's so strongly rancid even though absolutely nobody else can tell what it is I'm tasting. I don't understand this. I can put any flavoring like vanilla or strawberry in the milk and it'll be perfectly fine. But for some reason, perfectly fresh, healthy milk just... tastes spoiled. Always. And it always will. Why? I loved milk. I love milk. There's no reason for it all to taste so terrible. I know what I'm tasting isn't the milk. I know milk is supposed to taste fresh and nice. I even know exactly what I'm supposed to taste, because it's what I taste if I mix anything else with the milk. But milk by itself is just undrinkable. :(
- colonCapitalDee 3y ago
  That sucks. > I can put any flavoring like vanilla or strawberry in the milk and it'll be perfectly fine. Could you use this to train yourself to taste milk normally again?
- Jarwain 3y ago
  This feels like a silly idea but if you take a glass of fresh milk and a glass of spoiled milk, would you be able to distinguish them? Would smelling them side-by-side maybe recalibrate things?
  - LoganDark 3y ago
    I smell the spoiled inside the fresh milk. Somehow. Like, I'm detecting whatever ingredient causes spoiledness, far before the milk has actually spoiled, but it just smells/tastes like the exact pure concept of spoil.
    - Jarwain 3y ago
      Do you smell these with other dairy products? Like half/half, heavy cream, different % of milk, lactose free milk, etc.?

2Gkashmiri 3y ago

I'm on the other spectrum. I've had runny nose, blocked nose, in between all my life. Result? My sense of smell is highly diminished. Like, I can "remember" taste of what a dish is so my brain makes up for it.... I can smell hot vapours or strong odors but not normal everyday stuff. The person next to me has smelly feet, I can't be bothered 'cos I can't smell it. Same for fruits and veggies. I can't go to a shop and choose by smell. This isn't that bad, it often feels my nose isn't there so there is just an absence of sensory impulses. Sometimes it causes issues but generally its okay