To top off everything else I'm going through, I've discovered that my sense of smell has becomed very sharp, lately.

I noticed this a year or two ago, but thought nothing of it then. I became unable to use perfume on myself, because it started to overpower me to the point of nausea. That was certainly something new to me! So, I threw all of my perfume and cologne out, and I switched to using scented lotions, the kind that are available from chain stores (am I allowed to say the name here?) that specialize in lotions, cologne, perfume, etc.

But, eventually those, too, became too nauseating and disgusting for my poor nose to handle. I'm now only able to use cheapo lotions that have very light scents. I'm wondering how long that will last, before I will have to use unscented products . . .

What's really annoying about this heightened sense of smell is that it's hard for me to be around people who use perfume or cologne. Yesterday, while in the grocery store, I could actually smell a woman coming up my aisle, even before I heard her or looked up to see her! I then quickly got my cheese and moved to the vegetable section, only to have my nose bombarded by a woman who had some type of "fresh rain" scent on.

This smell thing is just one more aggravation right now. I'd love to go buy some delicious perfume and feel pretty wearing it . . . but, it would surely make me sick, literally.

I feel like an old bloodhound. Anyone else have this problem?

oh gosh, Bugaboo, you and i are so alike! i have this problem too! it's very depressing! and the funniest one, is that i actually smell things that aren't there! that's a good one! like, one night, we're sitting on the couch, watching TV, when all of a sudden, i smelled cigarette smoke,,,,I WAS POSITIVE! now, nobody in our family, smokes. SO WHAT THE HECK?
I jumped up, ran to the front porch, positive, somebody must be out there, smoking.....NOPE!


lol..........isn't this to much?

Oh, that is funny! LOL! No one smokes here, either, but I can smell out cigarettes like one of those scent dogs the police use! LOL!

Yes, mydarling, it DOES sounds like we're alot alike! I could tell when my brother started smoking again? - but not because I was immediately around him. My mother sent over some food for me (yes, she still makes certain foods I like - and they're all bland, which is a good thing, because my stomach is so sensitive) - and my brother had been at her house, smoking, but she makes him smoke outside! Somehow, I could faintly smell the smoke scent, even though my mother is very clean, doesn't smoke, and prepares her food in her kitchen, of course.

I have this same problem with my nose. Every smell is intensified. This has be the worst of the peri-symptoms because if affects my social life. No movie theaters, no church services unless I sit by myself, and no luncheons with friends unless they swear not to wear any perfume. My food tastes like perfume if I smell it while eating. Just this past week I was at the grocery store and a lady was on the same aisle as me and I was trying to get away from her perfume but she kept following me. I had to cut my shopping short and leave because I was gagging on the scent. When I got into fresh air I felt so much better. I can smell cigarette smoke from a mile off.
MaryB26

I hear ya, MaryB26! - but the movie theaters haven't gotten to me, yet. Well, I don't go to movies that often, but just the thought of the gooey popcorn or candy bars is enough to turn my nose (and stomach).

Yes, EVERY smell is intensified. I can't even stand to smell the test paper strips (in magazines) where companies put sniffing samples of whatever perfumes/colognes they're introducing. Eeeewwww!

For years, my signature cologne/perfume was Estee Lauder's "Beautiful." For some reason, it did real well with my body chemistry, and EVERYONE who ever smelled it on me commented on how lovely the scent was on me. Well, I can't bear to have it anywhere near me, anymore. I've tried to use VERY SMALL applications of it, here and there on my skin, but it's so overwhelming to me now - so toxic smelling - that I've had to shower it off. So, I threw it out. Had to.

Now I know how my dog feels. LOL

Funny enough, my smell for foods hasn't changed but I now smell EVERYTHING in my house. I walk around asking my Children "You smell that"??? They say "No"". It makes me crazy. I always feel like there is a smell in my nose, you know? I guess you do know, that is why you posted
Girlsmom

Hi, Girlsmom! -- I know exactly what you mean. I DO feel like there's a smell in my nose. I can't even stand "odorless" creams or ointments, because they DO have scents. Yes, I smell everything in my house, too. My habit is to bleach everything when I clean, but that has become very hard for me to do, because of my nose. I think I'm going to start wearing those little, white paper masks, especially when I'm cooking or cleaning.

Doesn't Michael Jackson wear those??? Gawd.

Yep. I always buy a natural soap laundry detergent. The other day I was shopping for a friend and picked up another brand for my Girlfriend that was on sale. I figured I'd try it too. The smell is making me crazy. The perfume in it smells so *fake*, don't know how else to describe it. I have a HUGE bottle of it and plan on giving it to her. I buy house cleaners all the time because I can't find one that dosen't have an offensive smell! What I had done in the past and will do again is add a couple of drops of organic oil /(vanilla or citrus)to the cleaning solution. Kinda like choosing your smell

btw, there isn't a perfume out there that my nose dosen't find agressive and repulsing!!!!! I smell my daughter a mile away!!!! So much for walking through the cosmetic counters in the department stores....esp. in summer, I avoid it like the plague!

I had a bad cold at the beginning of the year and have only just started getting my smell back! The rose soap I use smells like ammonia. All I can smell in my perfume is the propellant. I have been plagued by the smoke smell. I Googled and they say it's sinuses or something to do with your brain (Fits! ). My DH has got sick of me going on about it...it's like gagging on an ashtray... then last night he sat in my usual seat and he could smell it too!

When I first noticed this I was around my husband's grandmother. She would douse herself in cheap perfume. It would drive me crazy. She has since died but now my MIL seems to be using the same cheap stuff. I just want to gag... And top it off my husband smokes. He smokes outside or in the garage and even though there are 2-3 doors between me and his smoke, I still smell it. I so wish he could quit.

Recently, it's gotten to wear I smell the dust in my house. Which I suppose is good because it gives me reason to clean but... ughhh.

I have this problem too!!!! I am so glad you posted about this because I thought something was wrong with my nose. Like you, it seems that everything I smell from flowers to cologne is enough to make sick to my stomach. I no longer wear perfume, use scented anything, nor does my hubby because I cant stand it.

Thank you so much for talking about this.

Jeaninne

That is really a good idea, about adding organic oil to cleaning solution. I'll have to try that, because I've been very unhappy with the various detergents I've tried lately, all of which have had unbearably strong scents.

He could smell it, too? Hmmm. Well, at least you know you're not imagining anything! When I recently put on a scented lotion that used to be a favorite of mine (it's too strong for me now) and asked my husband to smell it, he said he couldn't smell anything. I had worn that lotion all day long, and I could still smell it, but my husband couldn't. So, I had to wonder if I was imagining it . . . but no, I'm certain my nose could pick up the scent.

I know, I know exactly what you mean. I can smell dust now, too. I just don't understand why my nose has become so sensitive, the past couple of years, but by golly it has! It's really made me become very selective about what kind of products to use, etc. I'd like to keep using Dreft soap, but even its scent has become too strong for me.

No problem, stitchnanny. It's comforting for me to know that I'm not the only person out there whose nose has gone nuts! Funny you should mention flowers . . . it's the same for me, too. Today I was out jogging with my dog, because I've decided to try to exercise whenever the stress becomes too much (which is quite often), or when my bottom (urethra) problems bother me (alot, lately), or when my bones/muscles start aching (alot, lately), etc. -- my feeling is that if I jog, even just a mild, easy jog, I might pound some of this stress out of my system. Lord knows I need the exercise.

Anyhow . . . I was out jogging with my dog today, and we usually just jog around our neighborhood. (Well, she trots, while I jog and try to keep up with her - she's a Whippet.) So, today we went on one of our usual routes, past a lovely home where the homeowners clearly try to keep the yard clean, etc. Well, they planted flowers there! - lovely, fresh, spring flowers, which are really beautiful . . . HOWEVER, they planted zillions of petunias - and garlic plants!!! Lord have mercy, my nose nearly fell off. I could smell that petunia scent and the garlic, and it was sickening to me, because it was so strong!!

And speaking about hubbies and their cologne, I've got to tell mine to quit wearing it. It's really disgusting, no matter what kind he puts on. When I smell that strong, sickening stench of cologne on him, it makes me think I'm in a highschool boys' locker room, or something. Eeeewww!!! Yuck!

Bugaboo:

I know exactly what you mean. My poor husband put his usual on at Christmas time and I said what the heck is that awful smell. He said I just showered and put on cologne it cant be me. I looked around and around and come to him and said yep it is you! Poor man turned red and went and washed it off. I feel terrible because this is the cologne that he wore that I loved so much just a year ago.

Bugaboo:

If I walk by someone's house and smell dryer sheets - you know, through the dryer vent, I want to scream! I feel like it's SMELL POLLUTION.

That's extreme, no?


xoxoxox Pooks

It's amazing to me how quickly these various symptoms (peri/menopausal) can come and go - or as the case with me, come and stay. I've become just so, SO sensitive to anything and everything. It's almost like all of my sense are on "overdrive." The nose sensitivity has been completely unexpected - and I'm wondering if that's why certain foods are now so distasteful to me . . .

I've got to find a nice, thicker-type of lotion (for my increasingly dry skin) that feels soothing and also smells nice - something that has a delicate scent to it. The cheapo lotions seem to work best for me right now, as far as the scents go.

Hi, Pooks! No, not at all! I don't think it's at all extreme! A year or two ago, I noticed that my dryer sheets were just too strong smelling, to put all of one with one dryer load. So, I started cutting each sheet in half, but then a half-sheet was still too strong smelling. So, I then cut the sheets into thirds . . . still too strong! So, now I don't use dryer sheets, at all. I also have to be careful with my detergent. One of my favorite detergents is a baby detergent (am I allowed to name it here? I don't know) - and it starts with the letter "D." But it's very expensive $11, for a small box - so, I'm still searching for a good detergent with a light (or no) scent.

I DO believe in smell polution.