Food Odors

[gertie]

Do any of you have any kind of reaction to food odors? Any food odor. even the ones I'm not allergic to causes me to start sweating profusely, sometimes I feel like I am going to pass out. I've been this way since Dys over 20 yrs now. Thanks.

[Broken_Shell]

Hi Alicia,

I don't suffer from these symptoms, but I do experience a wide array of inappropriate autonomic symptoms related to any gastrointestinal activity or stimulation. I wonder if maybe you get these symptoms because the smell of food gets your GI tract stimulated? Does it only happen with certain foods? Hmmm.... that's my only thought.

~ Broken_Shell

[brownsea]

hi

i know certain smells affect me, like petrol, i have only put my in the car twice in all the time ive been driving because i cant tolerate the smell. and certain chemical smells affect me. x

[Kitsakatsa]

I don't have sweating, but there are days that I am so hypersmelling everything that I wonder if 1. I'm going crazy, or will by the end of the day, 2. Have suddenly gained super powers. I work in a hospital, so you can imagine how distressing this can be! I can smell sheets, shampoo, water, everything at all once. It doesn't make me sweat but I wonder if the area of the brain that identifies smell is connecting with dysautonomia in some way. Wait, is that the hypothalamus? I forget. I'm not a clinician and I took classes of that sort BEFORE the Adderall LOL!

When I was first experiencing the sputterings of POTS when it first started, I would be really sick and smell motor oil. My mother had the same problem when she experienced and after her brain hemmorhage. Her brain was shifting blood to areas that were trying to compensate for the damage. I wonder if the same is true of POTS patients.

I bet Dr. Low at Mayo would love to see you though with your smelling=sweating thing. That sounds like the kind of patient he would love.

Kitsa

[gertie]

Thanks you all. I would love to be able to see Dr Low at Mayo but not able, physically or financially. I'm super sensitive to all odors. I can tell what kind of detergent a person uses when they walk in the door. If my DH goes shopping I can identify which stores he went in by the smell on his clothes. He laughs & tells me my nose is more sensitive than a Bloodhound. When DH mows the lawn or anything where he might have petrol products on him he changes clothes in the garage b/4 coming into shower. I was hoping I might finally figure out why I'm this sensitive but I can see it is not a normal symptom of Dys.

Kitsa, I don't know how you manage to work in a hospital the days you're super sensitive. I would have to wear a mask all the time. I've noticed people react very negatively to anyone wearing a mask. I guess they assume the person with the mask is sick. I appreciate all of your support.

[erik]

I can intuitively buy in to the "shifting blood flow" thesis. Seems possible to me. Perhaps an fMRI project has/will looked at this, particularly after injuries. I had a head injury and a lot of subtle and not so subtle things changed after that day.

[Mrs. Burschman]

I'm sort of the same way, but with taste. I'd probably make a great sommellier (however that's spelled) if I liked wine more!

I once called the city's water department because something tasted different to me. Sure enough, they had made an adjustment in the chemicals. They sounded pretty surprised that anyone had noticed.

Amy