Thankfully, it's not just me! I've been reading forums at various spots on the internet and other people have the same thing happen to them. I've had this for maybe a year now. Currently, I have the odor of Captain D's grease stuck in my nose. Hubby wanted that last night so I ate some of their fish. These episodes last for weeks sometimes and it's maddening! Once it was the smell of a burning candle wick. Another time it was the smell of a vaccuum cleaner. Some people I've read of with this "condition" have IBS or other intestinal illness. Someone likened it to Tinnitus, with a smell being stuck instead of a sound. Several people with this "sticking smell" problem also have Tinnitus. I have IBS and Tinnitus. Anybody here have this weird thing going on?
Ive an mcs.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_chemical_sensitivity and smells do get stuck in me. but I can usually combat them with a shower .. but its annoying .. its just to much to get into all the smells that irritate me. but its mostly grease, perfumes, dry air scented with cleaners, fabric soft, foods cooking, irons heating up ..
I've recently encountered this myself. I have a scent which comes and goes and I narrow it down to the scent of sweat. More honestly, when my riding helmet goes a week or so without washing it produces a distinct oily sweat scent. Nothing offensive but just there. Ever since getting back into fitness I've noticed this scent come and go but I'm not wearing a helmet or dirty clothes. I've washed my hair, my ears, back of ears, neck.. Anywhere where I might be trapped into not cleaning thoroughly and nothing. Though I believe it is my nose for on occasions I will rub my nose and immediately scent this smell straight after.
Yeah, neti pots were mentioned but it is reported they don't always work. Some people think the scent is stuck in nose hairs. I don't have a neti pot but I did try saline nasal mist over and over. It didn't help. Others think it is stuck in the brain, so to speak. It's a phantom smell. After I'd been smelling this Captain D's grease for over 24 hours, I rubbed some Vick's sauve under my nose and went to bed. When I woke up it was gone. I'll have to try that sooner next time before I can try to draw any conclusion. I've had these things stick with me for days on end.
Rubbing alcohol, take the top off and huff it thru your nose. It hasnt any inhalant effects it wont get you high .. but it will reregister your scent hemisphere ..
I'm glad I saw this thread again. For a couple of weeks now, I've been imagining that I smell curry. I'll have to go huff the rubbing alcohol, per Orison's instructions.
I wonder if coffee can clear the smell memory. I've heard of olfactory dishabituation before, but I just looked it up, and the first couple of pages I found on Google involve studies with mice. I guess dishabituation might not have anything to do with it. I just figured that since olfactory habituation makes us unaware of a scent after a certain amount of exposure, that dishabituation, or possibly a trait that causes something similar, might be an explanation.
I know it's probably obvious that I was talking about the smell of ground coffee beans, and not the use of coffee in a neti pot. However just in case some viewers out there are partying hard tonight and become confused...please don't suck coffee into your nose without first consulting your doctor.
I used to have a phantom smell of formaldehyde trapped in my nose. I would smell it at random, and wonder where it was coming from. The ghost of high school animal dissections.
